Smart Communications has taken Ookla's Best Mobile Video Experience award for the Philippines for the second year in a row, posting a Video Score of 72.82 — the highest among the country's mobile operators — based on Speedtest Intelligence data for the first half of 2026.
Ookla is the company behind the widely used Speedtest app, and its video award is not a speed contest. It measures what it calls Quality of Experience: how video streaming actually behaves on a network in the real world.
How Ookla scores mobile video
The Video Score weighs three factors equally, as detailed by Gadget Pilipinas:
- Start time — video should begin playing in under two seconds
- Smooth playback — sessions should run without rebuffering or stalls
- Resolution — the majority of sessions should stream at Full HD (1080p) or higher
Smart's 72.82 led all Philippine mobile operators for the January-to-June 2026 period, repeating its win from the previous year. Because the score is built from Speedtest Intelligence — Ookla's dataset of real-world measurements taken from ordinary users' devices — it reflects how streaming actually performed across the country during those six months, not a lab benchmark or a sponsored test.
5G devices on the network jump 30%
Alongside the award, the PLDT-backed operator said 5G-capable devices on its network grew 30% year-on-year to 12.5 million as of end-June 2026. That works out to roughly 21% of all devices connected to Smart — a sign that 5G phones are steadily trickling down to mid-range price points in the local market.
Smart executives, including wireless networks first vice president Debbie Hu and marketing lead Lloyd Manaloto, said the back-to-back recognition reflects the work of its network teams and sustained infrastructure investments as video becomes central to Filipinos' digital lives. The subtext for consumers: as more 5G phones land on the network, average streaming quality is being pulled up with them, since 5G sessions are far likelier to hit the instant-start, no-rebuffering, Full HD bar that Ookla measures.
What it means for your streaming habit
For viewers, the award is a useful independent data point rather than marketing copy: it comes from Ookla's own crowdsourced measurements, not from the telco. If most of your data goes to YouTube, TikTok, or live sports streams, start time and rebuffering matter more than peak download speed — and that is exactly what this metric tracks.
It also lands amid a busy stretch for the operator. Smart has been testing satellite-to-phone connectivity with Lynk for disaster response, and joined Globe and DITO in blocking over 100 sites that streamed violent content — part of a wider push by Philippine telcos to compete on network quality and safety, not just price.
Ookla's awards cover a six-month window, so the next round — covering the second half of 2026 — will show whether Smart can stretch the streak as Globe and DITO continue their own 5G build-outs.
FAQ
Does this award mean Smart has the fastest network?
No. The Video Score measures streaming quality of experience — start time, rebuffering, and resolution — not raw download speed. A network can lead in video experience without leading every speed metric, which is why Ookla issues separate awards for different categories.
Do I need a 5G phone to benefit?
No, the measurements cover video sessions across the network. But Smart's own numbers show why 5G helps: 5G-capable devices grew 30% in a year to 12.5 million, and those connections are the ones most consistently delivering Full HD streams without stalls.
