Ericsson deploys 250 additional LTE cell sites for PLDT’s Smart unit

Swedish equipment maker Ericsson has finalised the installation and commissioning of 250 new Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile sites for Smart Communications, a wholly owned unit of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT). In a statement published last week, the vendor said that the new 4G infrastructure will help improve mobile broadband service quality on the cellco’s network, which currently covers 46 cities and 69 municipalities in the Philippines. Elie Hanna, Ericsson Philippines and Pacific Islands President, said: ‘We can confirm that some of the sites we tested registered downlink speeds of up to 50Mbps, in real time and in the live network.’