Smart Regains Footing, Ties Dito as Philippines' Top Telco

MANILA, Philippines — Wireless giant Smart Communications Inc. has retrieved its crown as the country’s leading telco, edging its competitors across all experience factors – from online gaming to video streaming. Opensignal, in its Mobile Experience Awards for July 2026, named Smart as the best Philippine telco for gaming and voice experience, as it also tied with Dito Telecommunity Corp. on video. Dito, on the other hand, sustained its dominance on experience quality and network performance, allowing it to top the same number of metrics as Smart at eight. Dito led on reliability, download speed, 5G download speed, upload speed, time on network and time on 5G. Smart outperformed its rivals on 5G upload speed, 5G coverage, games, 5G games, voice app and 5G voice app. Opensignal awarded Dito and Smart as co-winners on video and 5G video. Globe Telecom Inc., for its part, struggled to keep up, winning only two: consistent quality and coverage. Opensignal senior market research analyst Valentina Salome said Smart has managed to recover its throne – albeit shared with Dito – as the country’s leading telco by ensuring that subscribers can access online services reliably. Still, Salome said Dito is tough to beat because it has invested in all-5G infrastructure, providing customers with the quickest download and upload speeds among all telcos. “Dito users enjoy the fastest upload and download speeds, have the most reliable experience and spend the most time connected to the network overall and to 5G, [while sharing] the best overall and 5G video experience with Smart users,” Opensignal said. Likewise, Dito is expected to widen its national reach through a network sharing agreement with Smart’s parent PLDT Inc. The deal allows both carriers to expand network coverage by tapping into each other’s tower sites at no cost. Globe is also taking steps to improve its service availability. In June, the telco launched Starlink Mobile, a direct-to-device service, in the Philippines, allowing subscribers to access the internet anywhere they go as long as they have a clear view of the sky. The solution is the first of its kind in the country, and Globe will be relying on it to connect the remaining four percent of Filipinos outside the reach of its land-based networks. Salome said the country’s telco landscape would shake up again toward the end of the year once telcos comply with the shutdown of 3G signals by the Dec. 31 deadline. Information Source: Philstar Business