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Tag: SmarTone

  • SmarTone, Ericsson conduct Hong Kong’s first 5G demo

    SmarTone, Ericsson conduct Hong Kong’s first 5G demo

    Hong Kong mobile carrier SmarTone has joined force with Ericsson to conduct the city’s first demonstration of 5G technologies using millimeter wave spectrum. The pair also committed to launch a mobile technology innovation lab later this year, paving the way for the 5G deployment in Hong Kong.

    During the demo, which took place Wednesday at Ericsson’s office in Hong Kong, the companies achieved a data throughput of 5.7Gbps over a 5G prototype [pictured] through the use of 4×4 MIMO antenna technology in the 15-GHz band. The prototype, built by Ericsson, comprises a 5G base station, next-generation antenna and a test mobile station.

    SmarTone chief technology officer Stephen Chau said the operator will later upgrade the 5G prototype to support 8×8 MIMO antenna technology, which will double the transmission speed to over 10 Gbps.

    Michael Lee, CTO for Hong Kong and Macau at Ericsson, said the demo uses 400Mz of spectrum and OFCA has allocated a total of 612MHz of spectrum for all mobile operators in the city.

    SmarTone and Ericsson also demonstrated use cases for potential 5G applications, including a so-called “Human-IoT Interaction arm”, which allow humans to control a robotic arm remotely in real-time with 5G capabilities of low latency and high-bandwidth. Such applications, Chau said, could allow surgeons to conduct operations remotely using robots or be used in road accidents, operations/activities in scenarios unsafe for human presence.

    In another proof-of concept demo, a robot was connected to the cloud via a simulated 5G network, using real-time analytics to balance the robot with the latency set at 10ms. In future this application could be used for mission-critical apps, AI and intelligent automation like self-driving cars or real-time traffic system.

    While commercial 5G services won’t be ready by 2020 and standards are still to be ratified, the advent of 5G will open up a lot of opportunities for operators and allow for range of different applications, such as AI, VR/AR and the IoT-enabled world of real-time applications and services. The demo just offers a glimpse of 5G capabilities that will enable users to download a 4K movie in mere seconds or sit behind the wheel of a driverless car, Chau said.

    The executive said SmarTone’s innovation lab with Ericsson, which is expected to be ready in the middle of year, is aimed to facilitate cross-industry collaboration and develop potential 4.5G/5G use cases and vertical applications.

    The innovation hub will provide a platform for development in areas such as ICT and wireless convergence,  mobile, IoT and cloud, Chau said.

    “5G will herald a significant shift towards the hyper-connected and real-time world of IoT. Our innovation hub will see SmarTone and Ericsson forge collaboration with other industry and technology leaders to usher in a new era of mobile possibilities for consumers and businesses,” he noted.

    As part of its ongoing investment in 4.5G, SmarTone plans to roll out Licensed Assisted Access (LAA) network later this year, which will leverage existing licensed and unlicensed spectrum to enhance the operator’s LTE network to deliver up peak speeds up to 800Mbps.

    The company also plans to introduce a narrow-band IoT (NB-IoT) network with enhanced coverage later this year. Last week SmarTone forged a partnership with Cisco Jasper to launch IoT services in the city, in its latest attempts to tap the burgeoning IoT market.

    Last November SmarTone contracted Ericsson as its sole supplier for core and RAN equipment in a five year deal which aimed at paving the way for 5G  deployment.

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  • SmarTone to Terminate 2G Services on October 14

    SmarTone to Terminate 2G Services on October 14

    SmarTone said that it would terminate its 2G services on October 14. This comes after Hong Kong’s Office of the Communications Authority announced the Communications Authority’s decision to grant prior consent to the application by SmarTone to discontinue its 2G services.

    In a press release, the company said that in response to the massive growth of mobile data usage in recent years and the decreasing market demand for 2G services, spectrum resources currently deployed for 2G network will be reallocated efficiently to drive 5G network development, bringing more innovative services and a better network experience to its customers.

    SmarTone said that in entering the 5G era, the need for and usage of mobile data and digitalized services are growing. The number of SmarTone customers upgraded to 5G has been increasing. As of April 2022, the number of SmarTone customers using 2G handsets or devices only accounts for less than 0.1% of its customer base.

    To fully appropriate the existing spectrum resources utilized by the 2G network (i.e. the 900 MHz and 1800 MHz bands of spectrum), the spectrum will be reallocated on October14 to better provide more advanced mobile services to customers using SmarTone’s 4G and 5G networks. SmarTone’s existing 2G network will continue as normal until October 14.

    Norman Tam, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of SmarTone, said, “The value of ‘Building Network with Heart’ has always been at the core of SmarTone’s development, and we will continue to adapt to the ever-changing needs of our customers to deliver the best possible user experience in 5G and beyond.”

    To facilitate a smooth migration from 2G to more advanced mobile networks, SmarTone has been facilitating the affected customers to upgrade their 2G handsets or devices to options that have supported a higher generation mobile network since early 2021.

    SmarTone is also working with a few enterprise customers who are still using 2G devices to ensure their smooth transition to 4G/5G services. SmarTone will continue to assist the affected customers in their upgrade of handsets or devices for the enjoyment of its 4G/5G services, and endeavor to offer proper arrangements to those who do not intend to upgrade from 2G.

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  • 211 operators globally investing in 5G

    211 operators globally investing in 5G

    At least 211 operators across 87 countries are investing in 5G, according to statistics compiled by consultancy company Hadden Telecoms.

    Operators investing in 5G are at a variety of stages, ranging from network deployments, to technology testing, demonstrations and pilot trials.

    To date, 15 operators have commercially launched 5G services, including Telstra and Optus in Australia, which are offering fixed wireless 5G services on the 3.6-GHz band. Vodafone Australia and the market’s national broadband network operator NBN Co are also investing in 5G.

    South Korea’s KT, LG U+ and SK Telecom meanwhile switched on their 3.5-GHz 5G networks last year, initially for enterprise customers only, and are planning to simultaneously launch commercial services for consumers shortly.

    The list of operators investing in 5G in Asia Pacific also includes China’s big three operators China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom, Hong Kong’s 3 Hong Kong, China Mobile Hong Kong, HKT and SmarTone, and India’s Bharti Airtel, BSNL and Reliance Jio Infocomm.

    In Japan, KDDI, NTT Docomo, Rakuten Mobile and Softbank are spending heavily on 5G, while Malaysia’s Celcom, DiGi, Maxis, Telekom Malaysia and U Mobile and the Philippines’ Globe and PLDT are also trialing the technology.

    Singapore’s M1, Singtel and StarHub, Sri Lanka’s Dialog Axiata and Mobitel, Taiwan’s APT, Chunghwa Telecom, Far EasTone and Taiwan Mobile, Thailand’s AIS, Dtac, TOT and TrueMove and Vietnam’s Viettel are also at various stages of 5G development.

    “Operators globally are preparing for the large-scale introduction of 5G, the first services have launched, and the devices ecosystem is rapidly building and poised for the imminent scale availability of a range of smartphone models,” Hadden Telecoms director Alan Hadden said.

    “Dozens more operators are expected to launch their respective 5G services in the coming 12 months.”

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  • Hong Kong’s Ofca assigns first 5G spectrum

    Hong Kong’s Ofca assigns first 5G spectrum

    Hong Kong operators HKT, SmarTone and China Mobile Hong Kong have all been granted spectrum in the 26-GHz and 28-GHz frequency bands for 5G use.

    The three operators, which had each applied to be assigned spectrum across the two bands, have each been offered 400 MHz of spectrum on a provisional basis by telecommunications regulator Ofca.

    The applicants were all found to have fulfilled the required licensing criteria to be granted assignment of the non-shared spectrum.

    The administrative assignment of the 26-GHz and 28-GHz spectrum will be followed up with the auction of 380MHz of spectrum in the 3.3-GHz, 3.5-GHz and 4.9-GHz bands in the middle of the year.

    Hong Kong’s second largest operator by market share 3 Hong Kong declined to apply to be assigned 26-GHz and 28-GHz spectrum, opting instead to rely on its existing airwaves and the spectrum it expects to be able to acquire in the upcoming 5G auction.

    In addition, 3 Hong Kong cited factors including Ofca’s requirement that operators establish thousands of radio units compatible with the spectrum within five years of the assignment, as well as the shortage of announced devices that support the two frequency bands.

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  • SmarTone launches smart building solution

    SmarTone launches smart building solution

    Hong Kong’s SmarTone has unveiled a new smart hotel and smart home solution, developed as part of the second wave of its Innovation Hub program.

    The new solution is an end-to-end, IoT-based solution aimed at helping property developers create a personalized and convenient experience for residence and hotel guests.

    It is designed to integrate existing property management systems into a single platform for providing services including check in and check out with mobile keys and app-based control of room facilities.

    SmarTone provides networking support for the solution via its mobile network, fiber broadband and Wi-Fi footprints.

    The solution will be made available to both property owners and consumers. It was developed at SmarTone’s Innovation Hub.

    “With the launch of our Innovation Hub last year, we have a dedicated open ecosystem to drive cross-industry collaboration and propel Hong Kong on its smart city journey,” SmarTone CEO Anna Yip said.

    “To cater for the trend of the hospitality industry and meet the needs of today’s digital-savvy consumers, at the outset SmarTone initiated partnerships with property developers at both the conceptualization and construction stages to deliver an intuitive and engaging experience.  This allows us to get closer to revolutionizing the quality of everyday life and achieving customer satisfaction throughout the smart journey.”

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  • SmarTone 1H17 profit falls 17%

    SmarTone 1H17 profit falls 17%

    Hong Kong’s SmarTone has reported a 17% year-on-year decline in net profit for the last six months of 2017, due largely to intense competition, increased spectrum expenses and lower handset sales.

    Profit for the six-month period fell to HK$328 million ($41.9 million), with revenue declining 23.5% to HK$4.1 billion.

    Service revenue fell 6% year-on-year but improved 1% sequentially to HK$2.52 billion, as a result of ongoing migration to SIM only plans.

    This and lengthening handset replacement cycles led to a steep 41% year-on-year decline in handset and accessory sales to HK$1.58 billion, although this was an 85% improvement on the previous half-year period.

    Net of handset subsidy amortisation, postpaid service revenue was flat year on year and increased 3% from 1H17.

    SmarTone increased its Hong Kong customer base by 7% over the course of the six-month period to 2.2 million, while postpaid customer churn fell to a low of 0.8%. But mobile postpaid ARPU fell 13% year-on-year to HK$262.

    During a presentation announcing the company’s results, SmarTone CEO Anna Yip detailed plans to roll out licensed assisted access (LAA) five component carrier aggregation (5CC CA) and improve its network speed to over 1Gbps in mid-2018, and deploy FDD Massive MIMO in 2H18.

    But she warned that the challenges facing Hong Kong’s mobile industry are expected to continue, including ongoing price pressure from the intense competitive environment and ongoing declines in voice roaming revenues.

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  • SmarTone, Ericsson trial FDD massive MIMO in Hong Kong

    SmarTone, Ericsson trial FDD massive MIMO in Hong Kong

    Ericsson and Hong Kong mobile network operator SmarTone have begun to trial FDD (Frequency Division Duplex) massive MIMO (Multiple Input, Multiple Output) technology as part of the operator’s network evolution plan towards 5G, said the companies in a press event in Hong Kong Monday.

    The trial, involving FDD massive MIMO on 1800 MHz, represents the first of its kind for operators in Hong Kong. The trial comes ahead of 2018’s planned deployment of AIR 3246, Ericsson’s new radio that can support massive MIMO over 4G/LTE with Ericsson’s 5G massive MIMO plug-in, said the companies.

    “Our extension of the strategic partnership with Ericsson in October last year includes a five-year network evolution plan towards 5G,” said Stephen Chau, CTO, SmarTone. “Ericsson’s FDD massive MIMO solution will play an instrumental part in providing our customers in dense urban environments with [the] enhanced user experiences they have come to expect from SmarTone.”

    “We are working closely with SmarTone to develop, trial, and deploy key 5G technologies that will further enhance the user experience,” said Nishant Batra, head of product area network infrastructure, Ericsson. The recent LAA field trial, and now the trial of FDD massive MIMO, enable us to jointly shape the next-generation network technology.”

    Ericsson recently launched its first radio, AIR 3246, supporting FDD massive MIMO for both 4G and 5G. The technology is designed to enable operators—especially in metropolitan areas—to bring 5G to subscribers using today’s mid-band spectrum and boost capacity in their LTE networks.

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  • SmarTone names winners of 24-hour hackathon

    SmarTone names winners of 24-hour hackathon

    An international team of students has won Hong Kong mobile operator SmarTone’s first smart Hackathon with a predictive maintenance solution for utilities.

    The team of of four university students and programmers from India, Poland, the Philippines and the US developed Prodict during the 24-hour hackathon, which had the theme of smart properties.

    Prodict analyzes data collected from various sensors and uses machine learning technology to predict the imminent failure of utilities services before they happen.

    The runner up was Pop UP, a virtual guidebook for office equipment that uses augmented reality technology, while third place went to Softhard.io, a property management solution that leverages internet of things (IoT), low-power wide area networking (LPWAN) and machine learning technology.

    The three winning teams shared in cash prizes of HK$50,000, HK$30,000 and HK$20,000 respectively, as well as new devices from sponsor Samsung.

    In addition, the winners will also be given the chance to join the Microsoft BizSpark Program and be entitled to a fast-track interview for the Cyberport Creative Micro Fund (CCMF) or Cyberport Incubation Program.

    “Hong Kong’s future depends on maximizing the potential of the next-generation and SmarTone Hackathon is the ideal platform to identify and nurture the brightest and best from Hong Kong’s budding technology talent pool,” SmarTone CEO Anna Yip said.

    “It is essential we foster the creativity and enthusiasm of the younger generation and events like the hackathon can serve to ignite their innovative thinking to fulfill Hong Kong’s smart city ambition.”

    The event was announced in August, and co-sponsored by Sun Hung Kai Properties and SUNeVision as well as Microsoft and Samsung. The hackathon attracted 120 participants.

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  • SmarTone FY17 profit falls 16%

    SmarTone FY17 profit falls 16%

    Hong Kong mobile operator SmarTone has reported a 16% decline in group net profit for the financial year ending in June to HK$672 million ($858.8 million) as a result of falling revenue amid a challenging competitive environment.

    Service revenue fell 6% to HK$5.16 billion as handset revenue declined due to increased migration to SIM only plans, as well as weakness in the prepaid segment and falling voice roaming revenues.

    But without the effect of handset subsidy amortisation, underlying postpaid service revenue remained flat and local mobile postpaid service revenue increased by 2%. Roaming revenue declined due to ongoing OTT substitution, but its percentage of service revenue remained 14%.

    SmarTone lifted its local customer base by 4% to 2.06 million. The operator reported a churn rate of 1% and mobile postpaid ARPU of $285.

    As a result of the operator’s operational efficiency efforts, opex remained flat while capex fell by 14%.

    “While it is clear that the environment has been challenging and our profitability has been impacted, we have taken proactive measures to reposition our business for future growth,” SmarTone CEO Anna Yip said.

    “Active measures are in place to drive productivity improvements and we are taking a long-term view to investing in our business. Our focus remains on delivering the best experience for our customers.”

    But the operator warned it expects the challenging operating environment to continue, due to factors including higher spectrum costs, ongoing declines in voice roaming revenues, lower handset costs and severe competitive pressures.

    As a result, SmarTone is focused on improving productivity and accelerating growth of new revenue sources, such as IoT and M2M applications, AI and ICT services.

  • SmarTone trials LAA on live network

    SmarTone trials LAA on live network

    Hong Kong’s SmarTone has completed a trial of license assisted access (LAA) technology over a live network using equipment from Ericsson.

    The trial combined 10 MHz of licensed LTE spectrum with three 20MHz carriers of unlicensed 5-GHz spectrum to ahieve download speeds of around 800Mbps.

    Using a Qualcomm Snapdragon LTE mobile test device and Ericsson micro radio technology, Smartone validated the use of technology over its network to improve speeds and capacity for users.

    “SmarTone is very pleased to have completed the first LAA trial in Hong Kong.  LAA is an important technological evolution that can combine licensed and unlicensed spectrum to provide LTE service. It will be widely adopted in the US and European markets in the near future,” SmarTone CTO Stephen Chau said.

    “We are very excited that with the support of Ericsson, our long-term technology partner, SmarTone has once again brought a ground breaking technology to mobile users in Hong Kong and taken a great step further toward 5G.”

    The LAA standard is expected to be enhanced next year to enable download speeds of over 1Gbps by adding support for five component carrier aggregation, according to Ericsson president for Hong Kong and Macau Petra Schirren.

    “LAA is a key evolution of mobile technology and we are pleased to be first in Hong Kong together with SmarTone to demonstrate the increased capacity, improved speeds and enhanced user experience through the combination of licensed and unlicensed spectrum. Through the introduction of advanced technologies, such as LAA, we enable Gigabit Class LTE on the road to 5G”.

    SmarTone and Ericsson entered a pre-5G collaboration in the fourth quarter of last year.

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  • SmarTone deploying smart robots at retail stores

    SmarTone deploying smart robots at retail stores

    Hong Kong’s SmarTone is deploying “smart robots” at its psychical retail stores to help enhance the customer experience. The initiative, launched last week on Valentine’s day, involves the leading mobile network operator in Hong Kong deploying the NAO robot at its stores.

    It marks the first time SmarTone is using actual robots for enhancing the customer experience. The idea is to streamline the customer experience while adding fun and improving engagement.

    At the launch ceremony at SmarTone’s apm store, NAO joined local Web-celebrity Lilian Kan to sing, dance and play games with customers while uttering words of love.

    Not to be outdone, Pepper, another smart robot, joined in the festivities as well. It was the first time both robots were pictured together.

    “SmarTone has always been pushing the frontiers of innovation, committed to innovating customer experience in the industry,” SmarTone head of marketing and sales Josephine Lam said.

    “The introduction of NAO will enable a fun and interactive experience, deepening in-store engagement with customers.”

    NAO can perform detailed actions and is multi-lingual. It offered details about the latest service plan offerings while providing recommendations on phone accessories.

    “Robotics is one of the hottest technologies and we know they will have a significant impact on our lives in the future,” SmarTone head of products and services Alex Kun said.

    “We will continue to seek ways to introduce the latest robotics technologies into our business as well as provide opportunities for local enterprises, organizations, and individuals to experience the technology.”

    SmarTone is not just looking to robotics to improve customer services and operational efficiency.

    The company is looking to improve overall robotics appreciation as a territory-wide effort. For example, it will include the introduction robot rental services and the organization of coding workshops to spur interest in robotics among the youth.

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  • SmarTone 1H profit falls 2%

    SmarTone 1H profit falls 2%

    Hong Kong’s SmarTone has reported a 2% year-on-year decline in net profit for the six months ending in December to HK$393 million ($50.6 million).

    Group service revenue fell 4% over the same period to HK$2.67 billion. SmarTone blamed the decline in part on on customers continuing to migrate to SIM only plans. This led to a 64% decline in handset and accessory sales to HK$7.45 billion.

    Other factors contributing to the decline included well as weakness in the prepaid segment of the mobile market, as well as ongoing OTT substitution impacting voice roaming revenues.

    SmarTone’s Hong Kong customer base grew to 2 million, with mobile postpaid ARPU stable at HK$299.

    Announcing its results, the operator said a strong focus on efficiency during the period helped the operator control costs – operating costs grew just 1% year-on-year despite substantial growth in customers’ data consumption.

    Looking ahead, SmarTone said it expects the pressures on profitability – including rising specrtum costs – to continue in the second half of the financial year.

    The company also joined PCCW’s HKT in urging the government to accelerate the release of more spectrum to the industry and provide a clear spectrum supply roadmap.

    HKT has expressed concern over the fact that no new spectrum is expected to be allocated for mobile use for the next three years, and has urged the government to start preparing now for the arrival of 5G.

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  • SmarTone developing AI-powered mobile security

    SmarTone developing AI-powered mobile security

    SmarTone plans to soon launch its innovative anti-cyberattack software, ST Protect, to enterprises in Hong Kong in anticipation of growing security threats targeted at smartphones.

    “One of the interesting trends last year is that we started to see ransomware going through mobile,” said Zuk Avraham, founder and chairman of Zimperium, which specializes in providing mobile security solutions.

    The US-based company has invented the world’s first on-device artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning behavioral engine, which enables ST Protect to detect in real time known and unknown attacks on smartphones.

    SmarTone is rolling out the enterprise version of ST Protect eight months after it introduced the service, which is delivered via an app, to its subscribers’ iOS and Android device.

    Using AI for mobile security

    Based on data collected over the last six months since the launch of ST Protect, the AI and machine-learning engine has been successful in detecting 100% of known and unknown mobile threats, according to SmarTone CTO Stephen Chau.

    “The AI engine learns very quickly. By understanding the behavior of the OS platform, they have the knowledge to predict and understand when there is something is going on here that it shouldn’t. The beauty of ST Protect with the solution from Zimperium is that it is able to detect zero-day attacks. And while it is good that we can detect the known problems, it is even more important to actually detect that something bad will happen and we are still able to protect ourselves,” Chau said.

    In order to use AI to secure the mobile platform, Zimperium had to invent a new approach.

    “We had to because the traditional approach used with the PC does work on mobile. In the PC, you can see that attack and you can see the traffic. We cannot do that on mobile because the app sandboxing is very strong and there are permission separations,” Avraham said.

    He explained: “Let us say, I am drinking water and I am raising my glass. The traditional approach is that you use your eyes to see that I am raising my glass. On mobile, we cannot see because we do not have the permission to sniff packets, etc. So what we are doing is instead of looking at the glass, we measure the vibes of the table, and then we can tell you this table as moved and the temperature has changed because it is hot water. Then we can tell based on these behavioral data what happens here.

  • SmarTone enters IoT alliance with Cisco Jasper

    SmarTone enters IoT alliance with Cisco Jasper

    Hong Kong’s SmarTone has teamed up with Cisco Jasper, Cisco’s IoT division, to launch IoT services in the market.

    The companies will offer Hong Kong businesses the opportunity to leverage SmarTone’s mobile network and Cisco Jasper’s Control Center managed connectivity platform for their IoT-based services.

    Announcing the deal, Cisco Jasper managing director for China and APJ Hong Lu said the company sees SmarTone as an ideal partner for the Hong Kong market due to its status as a total service provider, including cloud, mobile, fixed line, ICT and IoT services.

    “For more than 10 years we have been helping businesses across every industry automate the delivery of IoT services that have a direct impact on their bottom line,” Lu said.

    “Today, more than 6,500 companies in over 100 countries use Cisco Jasper Control Center to automate the connectivity management of their IoT devices around the world.”

    Customers include 23 of the world’s major auto makers leveraging the platform for their connected car initiatives. Cisco Jasper is also particularly targeting smart cities, as well as the industrial manufacturing, retail, security and smart home sectors.

  • SmarTone signs pre-5G partnership with Ericsson

    SmarTone signs pre-5G partnership with Ericsson

    Hong Kong’s SmarTone has contracted Ericsson as its sole supplier for core and RAN equipment over the next five years, as part of a partnership aimed at paving the way for 5G deployment.

    The companies plan to conduct early trials and pilot deployments of key pre-5G technologies from this quarter.

    Ericsson will help SmarTone upgrade and expand its network infrastructure and refarm more spectrum for LTE, and will deploy NFV and SDN technologies to improve network performance and efficiency.

    The companies have been working to introduce technologies including LTE-Advanced and LTE-Advanced Pro to the SmarTone network.

    “SmarTone is pleased to extend our strategic partnership with Ericsson to pave the way for 5G in Hong Kong,” SmarTone CTO Stephen Chau said.

    “[We] will continue to invest in spectrum and pre-5G technologies within the next few years to provide a superior customer experience and to evolve our network into an advanced, dynamic and cloud-based network architecture.”

    He said the deployment will help the company capture future business opportunities from new types of applications including VR and M2M applications such as the IoT.

    SmarTone was established in 1992 and publicly listed in 1996. The company provides voice, mobile and fixed broadband services in Hong Kong and Macau.