![\"Smart](\"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Smart-GSMA.jpg\")
<\/a>Smart chief wireless advisor Orlando B. Vea [second from left] and Smart president and CEO Napoleon L. Nazareno [third from left] receive an award for SafePH at the GSMA Global Mobile Awards ceremony in Barcelona.<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/div>Meanwhile, SmartNet won the \u201cOperator OTT Service Launch Award\u201d award at the inaugural Telecoms.com Awards.<\/p>\n \u2018Commendable on many levels\u2019<\/strong> Even before Yolanda made landfall, some local government units using Smart\u2019s Infoboard web-based solution were sending text blasts to prepare residents for the incoming typhoon. Smart also pre-positioned its personnel, equipment, and relief goods in major areas in Central Philippines for faster response.<\/p>\n The day after Yolanda hit the country, Smart was first on the ground to set up free call stations using satellite phones, which allowed survivors to communicate their needs to the outside world. In partnership with Telecoms Sans Frontieres, Smart provided emergency satellite communications services in Tacloban City. In partnership with Thuraya Telecoms, Smart was able to offer mobile satellite services on a larger scale.<\/p>\n Satellite communications enabled various agencies to coordinate disaster response efforts and efficiently deploy resources to affected communities.<\/p>\n Within a week after the disaster, Smart engineers helped integrate the Vodafone Foundation Instant Network to provide interim communications support to government and humanitarian agencies to affected communities in Palo, Leyte and Guiuan and Borongan, Samar.\u00a0 These were the first mobile communications restored in these areas. Despite the havoc wreaked by Yolanda, Smart fully restored network services in the affected areas just a month after the supertyphoon made landfall, the first telco to do so.<\/p>\n \u201cWe thank the GSMA for recognizing our disaster preparedness and response program, and for training the spotlight on Filipino resilience and the undying bayanihan spirit which came in full display in the aftermath of Yolanda. This award belongs largely to our dedicated network engineers who quickly restored communication links in affected areas. We salute and thank them for their commitment and hard work,\u201d said Smart president and chief executive officer Napoleon L. Nazareno.<\/p>\n Smart\u2019s additional services post-Yolanda included free SMS bundles (25 local and 3 international SMS per day) for 10 days, postpaid services assistance, use of APIs, and a tie-up with Twitter for receiving tweets from responding agencies via SMS, without the need for data connectivity.<\/p>\n Through its mobile money services, Smart was also able to help the global fundraising campaign \u201cHelp.ph\u201d of the Philippine Disaster Recovery Foundation (PDRF). This effort was also cited by the GSMA as finalist under the category \u201cBest Use of Mobile for Emergency or Humanitarian Efforts.\u201d Smart and its subsidiary Smart e-Money, Inc. provided the mobile money solution BayadLoad to the PDRF to allow mobile phone users from all over the world to donate via SMS.<\/p>\n Innovative response to OTT<\/strong>
\nIn comments posted at the GSMA Global Mobile Awards website, judges said SafePH was commendable \u201con many levels: preparedness, partnerships, and the rolling out of a whole portfolio of services aimed at improving communications access for the affected community in a rapid response fashion.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nAt the Telecoms.com Awards ceremony, SmartNet was recognized as an innovative response to the challenges presented by the rise of OTT (over-the-top) services.<\/p>\n