Mobile services provider Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) is ramping up its 5G roaming availability to include the world’s top countries that offer the best 5G experience, as it teams up with Etisalat Group (Etisalat) and du – the two mobile telco brands in the United Arab Emirates — for 5G roaming services.
Customers with a Smart 5G-capable SIM and a Smart 5G-certified device can experience 5G roaming speeds when they subscribe to Smart’s special GigaRoam UAE Plan which includes 3GB of data for P999/15 days. Interested subscribers can visit roam.smart.com.ph to discover and subscribe to available data roaming plans.
This partnership with the largest mobile operators in UAE will allow Smart prepaid and postpaid subscribers to enjoy worry-free 5G service while they are in the Middle Eastern country.
“This is part of Smart’s commitment to deliver superior customer service. The United Arab Emirates is among the top roaming destinations for Smart mobile subscribers. Our 5G roaming services deliver an excellent experience by enabling access to any sites that our kababayans need to stay connected to their families and loved ones back home,” said Alice Ramos, Vice President for International Roaming and Consumer Business at Smart.
Etisalat is one of the world’s leading market players in the global telco industry. In December last year, the telco firm logged the world’s fastest 5G download speed at 9.1 Gigabits per second (on a prototype device). Meanwhile, du – backed by the Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company PJSC (EITC), the second largest telco operator in UAE – is also heavily investing on their 5G rollout.
The launch of Smart’s 5G roaming service in UAE with Etisalat and du follows the recent groundbreaking 5G partnerships established by Smart with Taiwan’s FarEasTone and South Korea’s KT Corp. UAE, Taiwan, and South Korea are the world’s top three countries for best 5G experience, according to a February 2021 report by mobile analytics and insights research company Opensignal.
This series of 5G roaming partnerships with the world’s top operators is testament to Smart’s commitment to provide world-class roaming services to its travelers as travel restrictions are anticipated to relax with mass vaccinations.
5G leadership in PH
Smart, the wireless arm of the Philippines’ largest integrated telco PLDT, launched its commercial 5G service in July 2020 and was the first in the country to roll out its 5G service nationwide.
Smart also recently kicked off its nationwide 5G experiential caravan to bring the possibilities of 5G technology closer to customers, following the nationwide roll-out of its ultrafast 5G network in Metro Manila, Cebu, Boracay, Iloilo, Cavite, Laguna, Pampanga, and Davao.
5G is expected to make Smart, the Philippines’ fastest mobile network as recognized by third-party analytics firm Ookla, even faster.
These initiatives on 5G form a large part of PLDT’s sustained network investments, which totaled some Php286.3 billion from 2016 to 2020. To meet the requirements of their mobile and fixed line subscribers, PLDT and Smart are prepared to invest between Php 88 billion and Php 92 billion in capital expenditures in 2021.
