Smart is teaming up with OPPO in ramping up LTE smartphone adoption among its customers. Under the partnership, Smart and OPPO are offering the OPPO A71 phone kit bundle to Smart, TNT and Sun users at a discounted price to encourage more customers to upgrade their devices to LTE.
Present at the signing ceremonies were PLDT-Smart SVP and Head of Consumer Business Market Development Oscar Reyes Jr, PLDT-Smart FVP and Consumer Marketing Head Andrew L. Santos, Smart Vice President for Prepaid Marketing Carlo Endaya, OPPO Vice President for Channel Sales Zen Han, OPPO Vice President for Marketing Jane Wan, and OPPO Vice President for Operations Garrick Hung.
As Smart accelerates its LTE migration campaign, the number of LTE handsets now surpass the number of 3G phones on the Smart network. The number of new LTE handsets in the Smart network also rose by 75% in the first half of the year.
As a result, the average revenue per user (ARPU) among prepaid subscribers increased just three months after the SIM upgrades. As more subscribers upgrade to LTE, mobile traffic on Smart’s network also grew by 79% in the first half of the year, higher than the industry year-on-year growth of 54% for the same period.
Under Smart’s Level Up to LTE campaign, customers are encouraged to upgrade to an LTE-capable smartphone and an LTE SIM to be able to fully enjoy Smart’s upgraded networks.
Alongside device partnerships, Smart is also continuously upgrading its network. As of end-June, Smart has installed over 3,900 new LTE base stations across the country, not only to expand LTE coverage but also to lay the ground for LTE-A, which can provide even greater capacity and speeds to users with capable smartphones. This puts the total count of LTE base stations at over 12,600
