PLDT’s wireless subsidiary Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) posted higher data usage per subscriber and increased data traffic amid increased mobility as more people returned to work and traveled.

“This year, we will continue to strengthen the fundamentals of our business. Our commitment is to continue providing the best experience from our network, providing the most compelling offers, and exciting our subscribers with new products and innovations,” said Francis E. Flores, SVP and Head of Consumer Wireless Business-Individual at Smart.

In 2022, data usage per subscriber rose by 26% year-on-year to 9.2 gigabytes, while data traffic rose 32% to 4,393 petabytes from 2021. This is on the back of Smart’s efforts to stimulate data usage with data-packed offers enabling subscribers to watch and upload their videos on social media and play mobile games, for example. Last year, Smart launched its Free TikTok For All promo for Smart Prepaid, while GIGA Games enables gamers to play their favorite games such as Mobile Legends and Call of Duty Mobile.  Smart also launched GIGA Arena, their first all-in-one esports platform for Filipino mobile gamers which lets Smart and TNT customers match up with fellow players to compete in regular tournaments for prizes.

Active data users, on the other hand, grew by 4% to 41.5 million. 

Data/broadband contributed 84% of the Individual Wireless segment’s total revenues, which hit ₱82 billion for the full year 2022.

Mobile data revenues for the year reached ₱66.8 billion, up 2% from the previous year.

Meanwhile, Smart’s postpaid revenues also saw improvement for two sequential quarters, registering ₱2.4 billion in the fourth quarter alone. 

As Smart looks to improve its performance further in 2023, the leading mobile services provider is going back to the basics.

Recognizing the continuing impact of rising inflation especially on subscribers under Smart’s mass brand TNT, Flores said that offering competitive data packages will be key for Smart moving forward. “We have to make sure that we are putting more value for money in all our promos and that we are keeping them relevant to value-seeking Filipinos,” he said. “This also supports Smart’s thrust to narrow the digital divide by making connectivity and digital services accessible to more of our countrymen.”

Enabling the roll out of feature-packed offers, such as Smart Prepaid’s Power All promos and TNT’s Sulit Affordaloads and Doble Giga+ offers, is Smart’s mobile network, which was recently recognized by Ookla, the global leader in mobile broadband and network intelligence, for delivering the Philippines’ Best Mobile Network, Fastest Mobile Network and Best Mobile Coverage for Q1-Q4 2022.

As of end-2022, Smart covers 97% of the population with its 3G, LTE and 5G networks.

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