Smart: We expect a triple-digit increase in 5G users in the next few years

PLDT wireless arm Smart yesterday said that the company is expecting to triple-digit increase in 5G users in the next few years.

File photo: Smart 5G in SM Megamall

Smart 5G growth forecast

According to Smart, this prediction is based on the rapid growth of Smart 5G users, which have now reached around 800,000—a 200 percent increase from the number of Smart 5G users in December 2020. Smart also claimed that the company has delivered a three-fold increase in 5G data traffic in the first quarter and second quarter of 2021.

Due to this, the company said that it expects to continue leading in the local 5G space by providing the fastest 5G speeds and the widest 5G network coverage in the Philippines.

Smart also notes that this contributed to the company's 39.5 million mobile data users as of en-June 2021, the highest in the country. It resulted in a double-digit increase in mobile data revenues in the first half of 2021 versus the same period in 2020 as well.

Rival Globe Telecom may have more 5G users at 860,000+ as of July 2021, but global leader in internet testing and analysis Ookla said that Smart has the fastest and most reliable 5G mobile network in the country for Q1-Q2 2021 with a median download and upload speeds that are twice faster than its closest rival.

Opensignal also said that Smart is the only local telco included in its 5G Global Leaders for Video Experience. 

Smart is also claiming that the company has the widest 5G footprint in the country with 4,400 5G sites in more than 4,000 locations.

Just recently, Smart also fired up the first batch of its 5G SA site in Makati city making it one of the first standalone 5G networks in the world.