MANILA, Philippines - Riding on smartphone offers bundled with mobile data, mobile Internet usage in the Philippines is growing.
Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart)’s first quarter mobile Internet revenues rose 71%, driven by a “solid portfolio of postpaid data plans bundled with best-in-class smart phones,” according to Chief Wireless Advisor Orlando B. Vea.
Smart launched in the first quarter its limited-edition Data Plan 1000, which bundled free calls, SMS, and mobile Internet, with a choice of smartphones from all the top manufacturers, at discounted and amortized prices.
The local trend follows the growth of the worldwide smartphone market, which grew 42.5% year on year in the first quarter of 2012, reported the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker last week.
The report also cited manufacturers such as Samsung, Apple, Nokia, Research in Motion, and HTC shipping an estimated 144.9 million smartphones just within the period.
Banking on the popularity of smartphones, Smart is stepping up efforts to promote smartphone adoption and usage. The telco leader is set to offer the anticipated, third-generation Galaxy S, the Samsung Galaxy S III.
Samsung, which moved 42.2 million smartphones and made a new record for the most number of smartphones shipped in a single quarter according to the IDC report, pumped the BillGalaxy S III’s hardware with intuitive technology.
“As smartphones become more pervasive and easier to use, more Filipinos will use it to access the Internet,” Vea projected.
But the only way to truly maximize the features of all these great smartphones is to use them on a strong and reliable network.
So far, Smart has the widest HSPA+ network in the country, ensuring coverage in most places, and is the only telco in the Philippines with a dual band 4G HSPA+ network – which gives mobile devices better signal reception, faster connection speeds, and better battery life.
source: mb.com.ph
