VISITORS of Cebu's newest tourist destination, the Cebu Safari and Adventure Park in Carmen, Cebu, will now experience the best safari adventure with the launching Saturday, August 11, of Smart's LTE cell site in the area.
"Nothing beats an adventure where you can take a selfie and upload it right away and get comments from your friends," said Anthony Ting, Smart provincial distributor, in his message delivered during the launching.
The cell site cost millions to build but Smart is committed to helping not just the park and its customers, but the community as a whole.
"Technology-wise, it's not only about YouTube, browsing. If you look at LTE, it allows you to do more. It's limitless technology," said Alvin Ilano, Smart's field operations head.
LTE stands for Long Term Evolution. Internal tests around the park showed LTE download speeds ranging from 20 to 30 Mbps and upload speeds at 12 to 15 Mbps. "But our commitment is to give more...to deliver a 110 percent customer experience," added Ilano.
MLhuillier Group chair and Cebu Safari and Adventure Park owner Michel Lhuillier thanked Smart for bringing "to the wild" the fast LTE connection.
"There will be more exciting things to come and we need Smart LTE. It's something to make people realize that this place exists," he said, stressing he considers the place, which he discovered 37 years ago, as "heaven."
For Edward Loop, the park's chief operations officer, having Smart LTE in the area will help make their operations more efficient.
"We are very grateful that we have this. We actually started our online payroll system now, thanks to the Wi-Fi. We are becoming more efficient, and we believe that with the partnership, it will be more efficient for us and it helps us market our park here," Loop said.
Alex Caeg, senior vice president for customer development of Smart, assured Lhuillier and Loop that they will help bring Cebu Safari and Adventure Park not only to the people of the Visayas, but also to the rest of the world.
"Together with Smart, our intention is to bring the Cebu Safari closer to Visayas and the rest of the world," he said.
Caeg also revealed that Smart has partnered with some airlines and they have been giving SIM cards and tourist kits to foreign travelers to help promote Cebu.
The tourist kit highlights the travel destinations in the province, and Smart will include the Cebu Safari and Adventure Park in the list, said Patrick Tang, the company's regional marketing head for Visayas and Mindanao.
Aside from promoting Cebu Safari to the rest of the Philippines and the world, the partnership is also one of Smart's ways to promote the strength of its LTE, added Tang.
"We will always ensure that our capacity and coverage will be ahead of the curve, with respect to the inbound traffic that the Cebu Safari is expecting in the following months...It's very important to bring the face of Cebu Safari to the rest of the Philippines and the world," said Caeg.
Other tourist destinations powered by Smart LTE include those in Oslob, Moalboal, Daanbantayan, Medellin, Toledo City, and Bogo City in Cebu.
Smart has also expanded its LTE capacity in areas in Cebu City, Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu, Minglanilla, and Talisay, while it has also been rolled out i Balamban, Barili, Catmon, Madridejos, Sibonga and Tabuelan.
But for Cebuanos to enjoy the best LTE experience, they need to have an LTE SIM card and an LTE-capable smartphone.
"Our Smart Prepaid and Smart Postpaid customers can check if their SIMs are LTE-ready by texting SIMCHECK to 5832 for free," said Alexis Winters, Smart Distribution Sales senior manager, in a press release.
"Smart, TNT, and Sun customers can also easily upgrade to an LTE SIM without changing their existing number by going to a nearby Smart Store or through an LTE-Ready Self-Service Upgrade SIM, which is available for P10 a Smart loading partners nationwide, with free 1GB data valid for three days upon upgrading," Winters added. (With PR/SunStar Philippines)