Smart Communications is a wholly owned mobile phone and Internet service subsidiary of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT).
On June 30, 2010 the company reported that it had over 45 million cellular subscribers.
Anticipating the liberalization of the telecommunications industry in the Philippines in 1992, Smart (then named Smart Information Technology, Inc.) was organized in January 24, 1991 by a group of Filipino investors led by Orlando B. Vea and David T. Fernando.
The Company obtained its congressional franchise in April 1992 and was granted a provisional authority to operate a mobile cellular service in May 1993. In 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, a Hong Kong-based conglomerate through its Philippine flagship Metro Pacific Investments Corporation and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone of Japan (NTT) – one of the world’s largest telecommunications company.
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.” The Company also obtained licenses to provide international gateway, paging and inter-carrier transmission services.
On March 24, 2000, PLDT completed its share-swap acquisition of Smart, making Smart a 100%-owned PLDT subsidiary.
