• January 24, 1991

    Anticipating the liberalization of the Philippine telecommunications industry, a group of Filipino investors led by Orlando B. Vea and David T. Fernando organized Smart (then named Smart Information Technology, Inc.).

  • April 1992

    Smart obtained its congressional franchise.

  • May 1993

    Smart was granted provisional authority to operate a mobile cellular service.

    December 1993

    Smart commenced commercial operations of its cellular service.

    By then, Smart had drawn in strategic partners who brought in managerial and technical expertise, and contributed substantial financial resources. These were: First Pacific Company Limited, a Hong Kong-based conglomerate; its Philippine flagship Metro Pacific Corporation; and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation of Japan (NTT) – one of the world’s largest telecommunications companies.

    In compliance with the government’s telecommunications program, Smart established a local exchange service in the cities and provinces assigned to it under the “service area scheme.” Smart also obtained licenses to provide international gateway, paging, and inter-carrier transmission services.

  • February 1994

    Smart broadened the market and made cellular phones available to a wider range of people. Instead of charging high monthly fees and airtime rates, Smart introduced its PriceBuster Plan, which offered subscribers a choice of monthly service plans going as low as the then unheard-of sum of only P120. Smart launched this revolutionary plan with a hugely successful advertising campaign that featured a “Man with a Bat” smashing glass barriers to owning a cellular phone.

  • Date to be confirmed

    Using a well-developed analog platform called TACS (Total Access Communications System), Smart rapidly rolled out a cellular network with its own nationwide digital transmission system.

  • February 1997

    Three years after it commenced commercial operations, Smart had won over 360,000 subscribers and had become the Philippines’ largest cellular operator.

  • November 1998

    First Pacific Company acquired a controlling stake in the PLDT, the Philippines’ largest telecommunications company.

  • April 1999

    With digital cellular services gaining popularity in the Philippines, Smart launched its postpaid GSM service called Smart Gold. Operating on the 900 and 1800 radio frequency bands, this was the Philippines’ first dual-band digital cellular service.

    October 1999

    Smart launched its prepaid GSM service called Smart Buddy. This set the stage for the explosive growth of Smart’s GSM service in 2000.

  • March 2000

    First Pacific, its Philippine affiliate Metro Pacific, and NTT swapped their shares in Smart for shares in PLDT. As a result, Smart became a wholly owned subsidiary of PLDT.March 2000 – First Pacific, its Philippine affiliate Metro Pacific, and NTT swapped their shares in Smart for shares in PLDT. As a result, Smart became a wholly owned subsidiary of PLDT.

    Smart, together with Piltel and PLDT subsidiary ACeS Philippines Cellular Satellite Corp., formed the wireless business division of the PLDT Group.

    As part of its integration into the PLDT Group, Smart turned over its local exchange network to PLDT. In turn, Smart took over the management of the cellular business of Piltel. ACeS Philippines, which offered the satellite phone service provided by ACeS International, was also integrated into Smart.

    April 2000

    Smart introduced Talk ’N Text, which is dubbed the “people’s brand.” Talk ‘N Text offers the best value-for-money, with more affordable voice rates and text packages and reasonably priced SIM cards and mobile phones.

    December 2000

    Smart launched Smart Money, the world’s first bank-issued reloadable electronic payment card linked to a mobile phone. It combines the strength of Smart's mobile commerce services and MasterCard's wide merchant acceptance network, enabling consumers to enjoy a wide array of goods and services.

  • January 2001

    In an event witnessed by NTC officials, Smart, in cooperation with Nokia, conducted the first successful trials on experimental 3G systems in the Philippines. The company also started rolling out base stations that were easily upgradeable to 3G technology.

    December 2001

    Smart launched in Batanes Islands the country’s first fixed satellite service called Smart Link. A service that allows subscribers to make calls anywhere in its coverage area, whether on land or at sea, Smart Link utilizes the technology of Asia Cellullar Technology (ACeS) which covers the entire Pacific region with three gateways in Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.

    Smart Link is the communication of choice of Filipino seafarers, who use the service even while onboard vessels, and for those who travel or live in remote areas of the Philippines.

  • February 2003

    Smart became the first mobile operator in Asia and second worldwide to offer a Microsoft-powered smart phone named “Smart Amazing Phone.” A tri-band handset that offered both GPRS and MMS capabilities, the revolutionary Smart Amazing Phone is a fully loaded multi-media handset that made possible seamless connectivity with other Windows-based devices such as PCs and laptops.

    May 2003

    Smart introduced Smart Load, a revolutionary over-the-air prepaid airtime reloading service in sachet-like retail packages. Basic packages include Economy (PhP30), Regular (PhP60), Extra (PhP115), and PhP200.

    December 2003

    Smart launched Pasa Load (Transfer Load), a service that allows Smart Buddy and Talk ‘N Text subscribers to pass on to each other PhP15, PhP10, PhP5 or PhP2 worth of their own airtime balances.

  • January 2004

    Smart introduced Infinity, a premium postpaid plan that offers round-the-clock dedicated personal concierge services, international assistance services, premium handset packages, and exclusive lifestyle content.

    August 1, 2004

    Smart launched Smart Padala, the world’s first international cash remittance service linked to the mobile phone. “Padala” is a Filipino household word akin to remittance, which is a means of financial support from the estimated 10 million family members or relatives working abroad. Smart Padala Domestic was launched in June 2005.

    Smart Padala was one of the 12 finalists in the Asian Innovation Awards 2004 held in Singapore in October 2004. Presented by Asia’s premier business magazine Far Eastern Economic Review, Smart was the only Philippine company that made it to the finals.

  • June 2005

    Smart launched Smart Bro. Initially as Smart WiFi, Smart Bro is a revolutionary high-speed broadband Internet service of Smart subsidiary SBI. Smart Bro utilizes Smart’s nationwide cellular network to wirelessly link the computer to the Internet.

    November 2005

    In November 2005, Smart demonstrated its readiness to offer a full range of 3G services in a live video conference call and an international roaming call at the annual conference of the Inter-Working Roaming Expert Group of the GSM Association in Cebu City. Smart was the first Philippine telco to demo its 3G technology in an international conference.

  • January - February 2006

    Smart 3G was showcased in various festivals. Smart linked the Sinulog Festival in Cebu City and Ati-Atihan in Kalibo City through a Smart 3G video call broadcasted on screens. Smart also linked the Dinagyang Festival in Iloilo City to top tourist beach destination Boracay in Aklan. In these events, Smart engineers used the 3G video call service to “broadcast” the activities live to customers or through wide screen projections in festival venues.

    January 1, 2006

    To welcome the first day of 2006, a Smart 3G video call between PLDT and Smart chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan and celebrity icon Kris Aquino was aired over the popular television show The Buzz. This was the first time the 3G technology was demoed on television.

    February 14, 2006

    Smart became the first telco in the Philippines to offer 3G services to the public.

    Introduced as “Smart 3G”, the new service comes less than two months after the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) awarded Smart its 3G license after the telco garnered the only perfect score of 30 based on the regulatory body’s grading system designed to gauge the capability of operators to massively and effectively provide 3G service.

    The launch was highlighted by a 3G video call from Barcelona, Spain by then Smart network services division head Rolando G. Peña to an audience composed of members of the press and Smart personnel.

    The launch was a culmination of massive preparations, rapid network rollout, and mass market oriented public demonstrations in various key cities of the country.

    June 2006

    Smart 3G enabled the mobile viewing of selected traffic zones and vacation spots nationwide to smoothen the travel plans of motorists during the Holy Week. Using Smart 3G, motorists were able to use their 3G-capable phones to access traffic video and avoid bottlenecks.

  • March 2007

    Smart was first to offer a digital life solution via the Mobile Eye. A 3G device powered by Smart, the Mobile Eye functions as a security camera, allowing Smart subscribers to closely monitor their household, businesses, and everything else they value most via a video call using their 3G mobile phones.

    May 2007

    Smart was first to offer mobile social networking through C Me on Smart – the country’s first 3G video portal community where subscribers can meet new friends, join discussion fora, and build social and business contacts.

    November 2007

    As part of its thrust of broadbanding the country and making wireless broadband Internet services more accessible and more affordable to more people, Smart launched the Smart Bro portable USB modem - an innovative gadget that enabled users to easily link to the worldwide web anytime, anywhere.

  • July 2008

    Smart by launching the country’s first flat-rate, all-in-one, unlimited messaging service called Uzzap. Uzzap is an Internet protocol (IP)-based, downloadable application which allows users to merge several messaging services such as SMS, instant messaging, and email into their mobile phone.

    October 2008

    Smart launched its Islands Activations Program (IAP), which brings mobile money transfer services to poor communities in the country’s remotest islands which are under-served or unserved by the formal banking system. With the program, island residents were able to perform mobile remittances, e-load purchases, bill and utility payments, and other micro purchases, using their mobile phones.

  • February 2009

    Smart won the 1st Green Mobile Award at the 2009 GSM Global Mobile Awards for its “Alternative Power for Cell Sites” which promotes the use of wind and solar energy to power cell sites in remote areas of the country.

    The Green Mobile Award is given to companies that are able to demonstrate well-designed and successfully implemented ‘green’ programs.

    By using alternative energy to power some 124 cell sites in off-grid areas nationwide, Smart has been able to reduce carbon emission by 4,250 Kg of carbon dioxide per month per cell site or roughly 527,000 Kg of carbon dioxide a month.

    Smart installed the country’s first wind-powered cell site in 2006 on Malapascua, an island off northern Cebu, in an effort to make operations viable in off-grid or remote areas where a great part of the cost goes to diesel consumption and hauling costs.

    May 2009

    Smart introduced Sandbox, an online platform offering social networking, rich media content downloading, and other web services such as email and instant messaging. Accessible via PCs, laptops and mobile phones, Sandbox offers the convenience and innovation of choice content – such as songs, games, among others – delivered straight to the subscriber’s cell phone.

    September 2008 – Smart was honored at a special ceremony in New York City at the World Business and Development Awards (WBDA) for “giving the poor access to communication and micro-enterprise opportunities.”

    In particular, Smart was recognized for its “growth inclusive business model” – maintaining profitability while at the same time serving the needs of the poor by providing access to low cost telecommunications services, providing entrepreneurial avenues for the lower income segment of the market, empowering women through microfinance opportunities, helping boost the quality of education through Internet access, and practicing environmental sustainability.

    Smart was among the ten recipients of the 2008 awards chosen from among a field of 104 nominees from 44 countries. Smart was the only awardee from Southeast Asia.

    June 30, 2009

    Piltel’s stockholders approved the purchase of a 20 percent stake in Manila Electric Company (Meralco). The acquisition of a stake in Meralco was in line with the PLDT Group’s strategic intent to maximize operational and business synergies that could yield new revenue streams and cost savings for both the PLDT Group and Meralco.

    The stockholders also approved the sale and transfer of Piltel’s GSM cellular business and assets to Smart. This was concluded in August 2009. Smart likewise increased its equity in Piltel from 92.3% to 99.5% via a tender offer to Piltel’s minority shareholders. In June 2010, Piltel changed its name to PLDT Communication and Energy Ventures, Inc.

    September 2009

    Smart launched several mobile email services, the first telco to make email as ubiquitous as voice and SMS. Smart worked with leading handset manufacturer Nokia for the launch of Nokia Messaging in the Philippines. It likewise partnered with Research In Motion (RIM) to offer prepaid, flat-rate, unlimited BlackBerry® data packages.

    November 2009

    Smart is the first telco that had successfully 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.

  • June 2010

    Smart partnered with MasterCard Worldwide to mobilize MasterCard payment solutions for consumers around the world. The partnership brought together Smart subsidiary Smart Hub Inc.’s tested mobile payments platform and telecom experience and MasterCard’s global brand, resilient network and electronic payments legacy in order to establish an optimal mobile payments infrastructure for the world’s developing economies.

    The joint venture built upon their introduction of the MasterCard Mobile Payments Gateway, an open mobile payment processing platform designed to facilitate MasterCard Mobile Payment Solutions in developing markets, with the first launch scheduled in Brazil with Itaú Unibanco and Redecard, along with mobile network operator Vivo in Brazil.

  • February 2011

    At the GSMA Mobile World Congress held at Barcelona, Smart unveiled the Netphone™ — its own line of Android-compliant, path-breaking smartphones designed for emerging markets. The Netphone™ is the world's first smartphone backed by an operator-managed platform (SmartNet).

    October 2011

    Smart unveiled its new logo during the highly successful Black Eyed Peas concert led by Filipino-American singer, education advocate, and Smart’s ambassador apl.de.ap.

    The new Smart logo reflects the evolving digital lifestyle of Filipinos. Smart’s corporate name in blue remains, but its signature rays have been replaced with eight dots in various vibrant colors, to reflect the freedom and empowerment that Smart's broader range of products and services make possible.

    October 2011

    Smart introduced “Tap Share” – a service that lets Smart subscribers download content by tapping on a poster. Tap Share uses NFC (Near Field Communications), a technology which allows for contactless data exchange between two devices in close proximity to each other.

    Smart is the first and only telco in the Philippines to utilize NFC technology through the use of smartphones and cards.

    November 2011

    Smart received international recognition for its “Alternative Power for Cell Sites” program at the World Communications Award ceremony in London.

    Smart won the Green Award for its use of renewable energy to power some 124 cell sites in off-grid areas nationwide.

  • June 2012

    Smart bagged three major international awards, including top honors as Operator of the Year at the 2012 Asia Communication Awards — winning over Singapore’s Singtel and StarHub, Australia’s Telstra Global, and Unitel of Laos.

    The only Philippine telco recognized at the prestigious awards program held in Singapore, Smart reaped the most number of operator accolades during the Annual Awards Dinner held in Singapore. Smart’s winning entries include the Netphone—the world’s first smartphone backed by an operator-managed system, under the Innovation Award category, and Secured Health Information Network and Exchange (SHINE)—Smart’s flagship mHealth program, under the Best Emerging Market Initiative category.

    August 25, 2012

    Smart was the first to launch the country’s fastest fourth generation (4G) mobile broadband commercial service running on Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology.

    Smart’s LTE deployment was made possible by the PLDT Group’s P67.1 billion network technology refresh program which has replaced the base station equipment in all of Smart’s over 9,500 base stations nationwide with 4G-ready facilities.

    This program has also strengthened the PLDT Group’s fiber optic networks and overseas fiber optic cable systems to ensure that high-speed broadband services offered via LTE will be fully supported.

    September 2012

    Smart scored another first in network and customer experience superiority as it extended its pioneering LTE commercial service into a multi-frequency offering.

    Recognized worldwide as a leader in innovation, Smart has fired up LTE in the 2100MHz and 1800Mhz bands officially making it the first multi-frequency service provider of mobile LTE in the country and one of the first in the world.

    September 2012

    Smart successfully made the Philippines’ first LTE voice call and SMS on its super-charged mobile network.

    Using LTE-enabled smartphones, Sun Star Cebu Business Editor and InnoPub Media co-founder Max Limpag and Cebu Bloggers’ Society president Ruben Licera Jr. contacted phones which were equipped with SIMs from competing networks via voice and SMS.

    Similarly, Smart Technology Services Division Head Mar G. Tamayo placed a call from the PLDT office in Cebu City to Smart Wireless Consumer Division Head Noel Lorenzana in Makati City.

    Overseas calls were also made by Huawei Wireless Technology Head Li Zhi Chao from Cebu to the Huawei Head office in China and by Smart representatives to the NTT DoCoMo office in Japan.