Smart Communications seeking Asia telco 3-peat

MANILA, Philippines—Smart Communications Inc. has garnered seven nominations at the prestigious Asia Communication Awards (ACA)—the highest number of finalists from a single company this year.

Smart is seeking a three-peat as Asia’s Operator of the Year, having won the award in 2011 and 2012. It is the only Philippine operator short-listed in this category.

Its “Live More” campaign, which encourages people to make the most out of life by connecting to the Philippines’ largest and strongest mobile network, is in the running for Best Brand Campaign. SmartNet, the mobile application platform of Smart subsidiary Voyager Innovations, was named one of two contenders for Best Content Service.

Two of Smart’s customer service projects were selected as finalists for Best Customer Service Initiative—the Jump Springboard Customer Education Program, which provides guests of the Jump Experience Center in SM Megamall free and fun learning sessions about communications technology, and the Customer Ambassador Program, which entails the deployment of trained ambassadors in Smart Stores to quickly resolve visitors’ concerns.

Short-listed for the Social Contribution Award are Project Zero, a livelihood initiative for an Iloilo community which promotes zero waste, and Smart’s expanded implementation of the Dynamic Learning Program, a nontraditional teaching method developed by Ramon Magsaysay awardees Chris and Marivic Bernido.