Smart bags best mobile operator award

SMART Communications was named the best mobile operator in the World Communication Awards, an annual program for innovation and outstanding performance in the global telecommunications scene.

Smart, owned by the country’s biggest telecommunication services provider, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., said in a statement it was selected for the top prize over Australia’s Telstra and Middle Eastern operator Ooredoo.

This is the second straight year for Smart to earn this recognition, the statement showed.

Last year, Smart won in the invitation-only category over six other finalists, including Globe Telecom and Turkcell. The WCA is organized yearly by London-based industry publication Total Telecom.

In naming Smart Best Mobile Operator, the WCA recognized the company’s ability to “develop its business by moving into new areas or through service innovation.”

The award came as Smart posted an all-time high growth in its mobile data and broadband businesses in the first nine months of 2015. Combined revenue reached P15.6 billion, aided by a 139-percent upsurge in mobile data usage within the network.

Smart recently forged partnerships with leading global digital technology companies like Uber and Airbnb, and with entertainment companies like iflix, FOX, MCA Music and Sony Music.

These new partnerships are tied into a more streamlined suite of mobile data offerings, bannered by Smart’s Big Bytes 50 offer that includes 350MB of open-access data, plus 600MB of additional data for iflix, FOX, and SPINNR, valid for three days.