Best Community Telecom Project | Smart's NOAH Mobile |
| Last year's winner: | Smart's SHINE |
| Business segments: | Mobile voice and data, m-payments |
| President & CEO: | Napoleon Nazareno |
| Key stats (2012): | reported income of 30.3 billion pesos ($740 million), up 19% yoy (FY12); 54.2 million mobile subscribers, up 13% |
Smart keeps this award for the second year straight, hinting at productive partnership projects with government entities.
Knowing that the Philippines ranks fourth of 190 countries as most vulnerable to extreme weather events, according to the 2013 Global Climate Risk Index, Smart developed an app that allows mobile users to download real-time weather information from the Department of Science and Technology's website.
The app - NOAH (Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards) Mobile - gives the Philippines' 100 million mobile users easy access to critical weather forecasts such as typhoon tracking and location-based rainfall predictions. The service enables local disaster risk reduction officers to check weather forecast in their respective locations, allowing them to monitor potential danger, warn people and take the necessary actions to ensure community safety.
The service of course is dependent on widespread and high-speed access. Smart last year finished "super-charging" its network under parent company PLDT's $1.6 billion network transformation program. In August it launched the first commercially available LTE service in the Philippines, and one of the first in Asia. Two months later Smart linked all its Metro Manila cell sites via fiber-optic cables and completed linking its cell sites nationwide with those of sister company Sun Cellular.
"Smart has pursued an internet-for-all advocacy by launching a wide array of mobile internet-capable devices, and service offerings that make it affordable for Filipinos to use mobile data," said Ramon Isberto, head of public affairs at Smart.
The company launched its Flexisurf broadband plans - with several plans priced at between $7 and $15 a month.
Judges' comment
"Smart's app for downloading weather information is easy to use and provides convenient access to real-time updates. It is very useful for a country such as the Philippines that faces typhoons and other natural disasters constantly, making it a good disaster mitigation app for the country."
Telecom Asia Awards 2013 Winners:
- Best Asian Telecom Carrier - NTT Communications
- Telecom CEO of the Year - David Thodey, Telstra
- Best Mobile Carrier - SK Telecom
- Best Broadband Carrier - Telekom Malaysia
- Best Emerging Markets Carrier - XL Axiata
- Best Managed Services Provider - BT Global Services
- Best International Wholesale Carrier – Pacnet
- Best Data Center Services Provider - Equinix
- Best Community Telecom Project - Smart Communications' NOAH Mobile
- Most Innovative Telecom Project - Globe Telecom's My Super Plan
- Best Cloud-Based Service - NTT Communications
- Most Innovative Partnership Strategy - 3 Hong Kong and WhatsApp
- Most Advanced Approach to CEM - CSL
VIDEO: TELECOM ASIA AWARDS 2013 CEREMONY