MANILA - PLDT Inc said Monday its wireless arm Smart Communications Inc has expanded its 5G service commercial rollout to key cities in the Visayas and Mindanao.

Smart is launching its 5G service in key areas in Boracay, Cebu, Iloilo and Davao, PLDT Inc said in a statement.

Its commercial 5G service went live in central business districts in Metro Manila last July.

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“The commercial launch of 5G underscores our commitment to bring the best digital technologies to our customers across the country,” said Smart President and CEO and PLDT Chief Revenue Officer Alfredo Panlilio.

“As we continue to lead the way in 5G in the Philippines, we are now bringing Smart 5G’s super-fast data service to even more customers as we expand into Visayas and Mindanao and extend our Smart 5G service to our Prepaid customers as well,” he added.

Panlilio said the 5G rollout expansion complements the deployment of its LTE network and PLDT's fiber infrastructure.

Smart said 5G offers "fiber-like" data speeds. PLDT Inc said it has invested nearly P260 billion in capital expenditure from 2015 to 2019 for its 5G deployment plan.

President Rodrigo Duterte urged telcos to improve services by the end of the year. The Bayanihan to Recover as One also has a provision streamlining process to hasten telco builds.

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