The rising cost of living has challenged Filipinos to become more madiskarte and find ways to support their families. And for stay-at-home mom Hiyasmin Zambrano, 49, a fast and stable internet connection and reliable call and text service are must-haves to ensure that they can have the best experience in connectivity while at home in Baguio City.
A PLDT customer for seven years and a Smart subscriber for over a decade, Mrs. Zambrano shared how the fast and reliable services of the telcos have made a positive impact on her family’s life. After resigning from her office job, Mrs. Zambrano took up an online teaching job, enabling her to augment the income of their family while staying home to take care of her children with special needs.
“When you quit your job for your children, and the price of food and other basic needs have become expensive and every peso counts, the last thing you need is a terrible internet provider. My PLDT connection has saved me from that and has literally become my lifeline. I may have lost an important source of income, but PLDT gave me an opportunity to thrive with an online job,” Mrs. Zambrano said.
In its Q4 2022 report, global internet testing and analysis firm Ookla named PLDT as the fastest broadband provider in the city, with a median download speed of 64.48 Mbps as rated by over 150,000 homes. This is due to PLDT’s extensive fiber-to-the-home footprint in both Baguio and the province of Benguet.
Last February, PLDT Home and Smart also powered Baguio’s Panagbenga Festival with fiber-fast internet connection, exclusive product offers, and on-ground activities, including SIM registration assistance.
Aside from a stable and fast internet connection, the reliable voice services of PLDT and her Smart mobile subscription have likewise aided Zambrano’s family in critical times. When she was still working in the local government office, Mrs. Zambrano shared that the unlimited minutes in her mobile phone helped her fulfill her demanding job with ease. More importantly, the same service literally became their lifeline when her son had a seizure a couple of years ago.
“I was able to call my husband for help, and we were able to call our doctor for instructions. We were able to stay on the line for a long time during emergencies to save my son’s life,” she tearfully shared. “Without it, kung napuputol-putol, paano na?”
Recently, Smart was officially awarded by Ookla as the Philippine winner for Best Mobile Network, Fastest Mobile Network for five years in a row, and Best Mobile Coverage at the 2023 Mobile World Congress (MWC) held in Barcelona, Spain.
Smart is the first and only Philippine mobile operator to be given Ookla's prestigious Best Mobile Network award, an elite designation given to wireless services providers with both the Fastest Mobile Network and Best Mobile Coverage within the same reporting period.
Enabling this level of performance is Smart's 3G, 4G/LTE and 5G networks, which cover 97% of the country's population. Smart's continuous improvement of its mobile network is aligned with the PLDT Group’s endeavors to anchor initiatives on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG), particularly on SDG No. 9 – Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure.
