Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) on Monday said it is rolling out its commercial 5G service to key cities in Visayas and Mindanao, becoming the first Philippine telco to launch 5G services nationwide.  

Smart, which launched its 5G service commercially in July, is rolling out Smart 5G in key areas in Boracay, Cebu, Iloilo and Davao. 

These areas add to the live Smart 5G sites in Makati Central Business District (CBD), Bonifacio Global City CBD, Araneta City, Mall of Asia Bay Area, North Avenue in Quezon City, Taft Avenue in Manila, Ortigas CBD, New Clark City in Pampanga, EDSA, and in strategic locations in the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, and the cities of Manila, Quezon City, Makati, Taguig, Pasig, Mandaluyong, Marikina, Paranaque, Valenzuela, Caloocan, Navotas, San Juan, and Pasay

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“The commercial launch of 5G underscores our commitment to bring the best digital technologies to our customers across the country,”  Alfredo S. Panlilio, Smart president and chief executive and PLDT chief revenue officer said.  

“As we continue to lead the way in 5G in the Philippines, we are now bringing Smart 5G’s super-fast data service to even more customers as we expand into Visayas and Mindanao and extend our Smart 5G service to our Prepaid customers as well,” he added.      

Panlilio added that the rollout of 5G in more areas in the country complements the deployment of Smart’s LTE network and the expansion of PLDT’s fiber infrastructure. “Combined with our fiber and 4G/LTE resources, we are providing our customers with the widest range of powerful connectivity services, as the country’s only fully integrated telco and digital services provider.” 

To date, Smart’s high-speed broadband service serves 95 percent of the country’s population. Supporting Smart’s mobile network is PLDT’s fiber infrastructure, the most extensive in the country at 360,000 kilometers.     

The 5G deployment plan involved a steady investment effort by PLDT and Smart that has amounted to nearly P260 billion in overall capital expenditure (capex) from 2015 to 2019.

 For 2020, amid the regained momentum of the company’s network rollout efforts following the easing of lockdown restrictions, PLDT has leveled up its target capital expenditures back up to about P70 billion.