Philippines: Smart is Filipinos’ mobile network to the world

RELATED STORIES

YOU ARE HERE: Home » All Entries, Press Releases & Statements » Philippines: Smart is Filipinos’ mobile network to the world

PUBLISHED ON July 10, 2007 AT 11:44 AM

MANILA — Mobile connectivity has no boundaries as far as a SMART subscriber is concerned.

He or she is able to connect to over 27 million subscribers almost anywhere in the country and in the world. In 2006 alone, over 3 billion international connections were logged on the SMART network.

“Filipinos here and abroad use SMART because we have the widest and the best coverage as well as the largest subscriber base that means access to more people at affordable rates. This, coupled with our worldwide international presence, makes SMART the Filipinos’ biggest mobile network to the world,” said Danilo J. Mojica, head of SMART’s Wireless Consumer Division.

Smart Communications, Inc. (SMART) enjoys the largest share of the Philippine wireless market at about 58 percent with a network coverage that spans 99 percent of the country’s population.

Its products and services are available in over 200 countries abroad in partnership with over 400 international network partners. Through PLDT Global, SMART also serves the mobile communication needs of Filipinos in Singapore and Hong Kong via 1528 SMART.

“SMART is anywhere that it’s needed,” said Jane Basas, head of SMART’s International Services.

According to Basas, SMART is the brand of choice in a number of the biggest OFW country-destinations. “In the Middle East for example, especially in Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Kuwait, our records show that most Filipino workers there use SMART SIMs to connect with their relatives in the Philippines,” she explained.

Commission on Filipino Overseas figures peg the total number of OFWs deployed in 193 countries abroad in 2006 at 3,802,345. There are now more than 10.1 million Filipinos living overseas.

To better serve its international market, SMART launched SMART Pinoy late last year, promoting an array of services that seek to keep the Filipino connected while abroad for employment, leisure or business. Services include IDD, international SMS and MMS, value-added services like international voice text and voice text to email, airtime reloading via Smart Load and remittance services like Smart Padala.

Last February, SMART also announced that it would soon launch pilot projects in the Middle East and Europe to offer low-cost remittance services using its mobile-phone based financial services platform called the Smart Services Hub. The platform enables migrant workers, using the services of Smart’s telco and banking partners abroad, to send remittances back to the Philippines via SIM-based services anytime, anywhere at the speed of a text message.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: INBOX is an archive of press releases, statements, announcements, letters to the editors, and manifestos sent to PinoyPress for publication. Please email your materials to pinoypress @ gmail.com. PinoyPress is not responsible for the content of these materials. The opinion expessed in these items does not reflect those of PinoyPress and its staff. Please refer to our terms of use/disclaimer.

RSS feed • Subscribe via email • Discuss

Leave a Comment (Moderated)

THE NEWS IN PICTURES

End The War. Members of the youth group Anakbayan denounce the war being waged by the government in Mindanao against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. (Photo: arkibongbayan.org)

Where Are They? Relatives, friends and colleagues of victims of enforced disappearances commemorate the International Day of the Disappeared with lighted lanterns and photographs at the Plaza Miranda and in Mendiola on Aug. 30. (Photo: arkibongbayan.org)

Free at Last. The so-called Tagaytay 5 -- Aris Sarmiento, Axel Pinpin, Riel Custodio, Michael Masayes and Rico Ybañez -- shown here inside their prison cell during their incarceration, were freed yesterday. “The dismissal of trumped-up charges and release of Tagaytay 5 is a victory for human rights,” said Ruth Cervantes, Karapatan's public information officer. (Photo: freetagaytay5.net)

Displaced. Residents of North Cotabato have been the ones badly affected by the military offensives launched against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. "As the government continues to indiscriminately drop bombs on Moro and Christian villages in Aleosan and Pikit, more and more civilians are displaced," said Kawagib, a Moro human-rights group.(Photo: Suara Bangsamoro/arkibongbayan.org)

In One Roof. Villagers who fled their homes after the clashes last week between government troops and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the south brought every human life with them, including their farm animals. They now live under one roof at an evacuation center in Pikit, North Cotabato. (Photo: Bong Sarmiento / Philippine Human Rights Reporting Project)

Emergency. A scene from "Ambulancia," a short film that tells of a painful twist in an ambulance driver's belief that a dying patient can be saved by running over stray animals on the streets. The award-winning film will be screened at the so-called "Woodstock of short films" in Germany. Richard Legaspi directed the film and it stars Alan Paule and Nor Domingo. (Contributed photo)

Sendoff. The Philippine Army dispatched today, Aug. 10, the 68th Infantry Battalion to Maguindanao. This battalion, together with the 46th Infantry Battalion from Samar, will augment the troops in Central Mindanao for the security operations that will be conducted to ensure peaceful elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao tomorrow. (Photo: Philippine Army)

Killings Denounced. Mindanao journalists gathered in General Santos City on Friday to denounce the recent attacks on their colleagues. On Monday, Dennis Cuesta, a Radio Mindanao Network commentator in General Santos, was shot and is fighting for his life. On Thursday, another RMN broadcaster, Martin Roxas of Capiz City, was shot dead. (Photo by Barry Ohaylan/davaotoday.com)

If This Wall Could Talk. With the pleasant scenery as a backdrop (and a constant reminder, perhaps, of a life they could have had), this poor family try to survive by actually living by the sidewalk outside the Chinese school in Davao City. (Photo by Barry Ohaylan/davaotoday.com)

Undaunted. Activists from Anakbayan scuffle with the police as the Chevrolet Suburban carrying President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo passes by the junction before the newly built Bankerohan bridge in Davao City last week. The president was in the city for the declaration of the merger of Lakas-CMD and Kampi parties. (Photo by Barry Ohaylan/davaotoday.com)

Freedom Denied. Lex Adonis, a former broadcaster of Bombo Radyo in Davao City, inside the Davao Penal Colony, where he was jailed after House Speaker Prospero Nograles sued him for libel over a story involving the Davao congressman's alleged sexual relations with a woman other than his wife. Despite a court order, Adonis remains in jail. (File photo by davaotoday.com)

Tribute to Ka Bel. Activists, artists, friends and supporters troop to the Philippine Independent Church on Taft Avenue Monday night to honor AnakPawis Rep. Crispin Beltran, who died last week. Beltran will be buried in Bulacan today, after a ceremony honoring him at the House of Representatives, where he served for several terms as party-list congressman. (Photo by Ayi Muallam/pinoypress.net)

Rare Sight. Moro women students of a madrasah play volleyball during a break in barangay Ugalingan, Carmen, North Cotabato, last week. While Filipina Moros are considered relatively open in their lifestyle compared to Muslim women in other countries, scenes like this are not very common in Moro areas in Mindanao. (Photo by Keith Bacongco/AKP Images)

Ka Bel's Fight. An activist mourns the death of AnakPawis Rep. Crispin "Ka Bel" Beltran, who died Tuesday. Ka Bel's remains lie in state at the IFI Cathedral in Manila. His colleagues, family and friends have lined up a series of tributes. Click here for the schedules, as well as statements and poems honoring Ka Bel. (Photo by courtesy of arkibongbayan)