by Carlo P. Mallo
Davao City was one of the first cities where the Pangilinan-led Smart Telecommunications completed the upgrade of its network, which now allows the network to launch 4G, among many other improvements. “The upgrade for Davao City was completed as early as December last year. During the first quarter of 2012, we completed the fine tuning of the system,” Rodel Dacer Agustin, head for the Mindanao Network Operations of Smart Telecommunications, said. “Mindanao-wide, we completed it in May.” The upgrade is expected to boost the quality of the signal of the network, which is said to have the widest coverage in the country. “Our consumers can expect better quality of calls, SMS, and a better connection for mobile Internet. Internet users can expect increased speed in browsing and streaming,” Agustin said. The telecommunications giant is also rolling out its newest technology in wireless Internet here in the city, the LTE Internet or Long Term Evolution. The technology is believed to be the first type to actually tap on 4G instead of 3G. “There are already sites in Davao that are ready for the technology,” Agustin said. “But the speed is also affected by the gadget that you are using.” Last Thursday, Smart turned over to Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio the first tourism mobile app for android phones. Davao-based tech company, Alien Ware Group, which was commissioned by Smart, created the app. Based on commercial value, the app would have cost the city government P800,000 to P1 million. “This is part of our community engagements. For the next six months, we will help the city information office and train them for the maintenance of the app and for the content,” Haydee Bernabe of Smart said. Duterte-Carpio welcomed the creation of the app as its completion was also timely as it coincided with this year’s Kadayawan festivities.
