Smart, in collaboration with Searce, is among the pioneering communication services providers in the Asia Pacific region to integrate Telecom Subscriber Insights.
Smart will use insights from Telecom Subscriber Insights, powered by Google Cloud, to enhance the accessibility of digital services for Filipinos.
Manila, Philippines – Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart), the mobile services arm of PLDT Group, and Google Cloud have announced a partnership aimed at enhancing the availability of essential digital services for Filipinos, with Searce providing technical support. As part of this collaboration, Smart will be among the first communication services providers in the Asia Pacific region to adopt Telecom Subscriber Insights, an AI-driven solution from Google Cloud that analyzes data from various sources to provide personalized recommendations to subscribers for activating services.
The digital economy in the Philippines is expected to grow by 20% year-on-year by 2025, highlighting the increasing role of mobile connectivity in enabling Filipinos to access essential services such as food, transportation, and everyday purchases. By leveraging Telecom Subscriber Insights to analyze customer data securely hosted on Google Cloud, Smart aims to gain a deeper understanding of how Filipinos engage with digital services and the challenges they encounter in daily usage. This understanding will inform the development of services that empower Filipinos to manage and optimize their mobile data consumption effectively.
Smart will utilize Telecom Subscriber Insights to design more inclusive mobile services by identifying usage patterns and connectivity gaps. Real-time insights from customer data could, for example, help subscribers optimize their data usage while streaming content by suggesting adjustments to video resolution. Additionally, subscribers could be prompted to top up their prepaid plan through integrations with local digital payment services, eliminating the need to physically visit a store to purchase a prepaid load.
“Our collaboration with Google Cloud to be the first communication services provider in Asia Pacific to adopt Telecom Subscriber Insights will empower us to better serve Filipino mobile users whenever and wherever they need us. This is a huge step toward our commitment to always put our customers first and provide them with the best mobile experience powered by our superior network,” said Alex O. Caeg, Senior Vice President and Head of Consumer Business – Individual, Smart Communications, Inc..
“The rapid pace of digital transformation has created increasing concerns among Filipinos about running out of data when they need it most – from booking a ride-hailing service to completing important financial transactions on the go. Google Cloud’s enterprise-grade AI solutions will help us provide our subscribers with simpler, faster, and more affordable access to the data services that best suit their evolving digital lifestyles, while guiding our efforts to improve mobile connectivity nationwide,” said Emmanuel C. Lorenzana, Chief Transformation and Customer Officer, PLDT Inc..
In addition, Smart aims to enhance subscribers’ interactions with agents and chatbots by integrating Google Cloud’s generative AI capabilities, such as Google’s first-party foundation models, into Telecom Subscriber Insights. By leveraging the Vertex AI platform to access and customize these models, Smart envisions enabling its subscribers to engage with natural-sounding virtual agents that offer personalized insights and guidance on their data consumption.
“As CSPs increasingly strive to provide personalized customer experiences, the ability to navigate and understand complex datasets has become crucial for success,” said Gabriele Di Piazza, Senior Director, Global Product Management, Telecommunications, Google Cloud. “With Telecom Subscriber Insights, Smart can extract real-time customer insights and leverage machine learning capabilities to identify digital sales opportunities based on customer readiness, price sensitivity, and lifetime value.”
“Strategic deployment of AI and gen AI by CSPs can significantly enhance inclusivity and equity in digital access by utilizing data managed and stored as part of their core operations,” said Malis Selamat, Country Manager, Philippines and Vietnam, Google Cloud. “Smart’s use of Telecom Subscriber Insights demonstrates the potential for CSPs in Asia to contribute to national digital transformation efforts through the use of AI in a secure and privacy-controlled environment, empowering consumers to make more informed decisions about their data usage in a rapidly evolving digital world.”