Smart End Yr With 40 M Subscribers

[Travis]

http://www.mb.com.ph...40m-subscribers what economic slow down SMART ends year with 40-M subscribersBy EMMIE V. ABADILLADecember 30, 2009, 3:59pmDespite economic slowdown, natural calamities and fierce competition, Smart Communications, Inc. (SMART) ended the year with 40 million cellular phone subscribers and 1 million broadband via subsidiary Smart Broadband, Inc. (SBI).As of end-2009, SMART has also extended the coverage of its cellular network to all of the country's 1,619 cities and municipalities.Its broadband service covers the country's major cities, through a network of 3G/HSPA cellular and fixed broadband base stations. The bulk, or ninety-eight of its cell sites, are powered by renewable energy source - wind and/or solar energy - an initiative that won for SMART in February 2009 the Green Mobile Award from the GSM Association (GSMA), the global trade group for the mobile industry."SMART continued to roll out our 2G, 3G and fixed wireless broadband networks nationwide to reach even those in remote locations," according to President and CEO Napoleon L. Nazareno. Last month, SMART likewise completed testing of the most advanced broadband technologies such as HSPA+, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access or WiMAX, and Long Term Evolution or LTE in various parts of the country."Broadband is the key to success in the increasingly converged world of telecom, Internet or data, and media. SMART made wireless broadband Internet more affordable and widely available - whether via mobile phone, the PC, or laptop - anytime, anywhere," according to SMART Chief Wireless Advisor Orlando B. Vea.