Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) has formed a partnership with Google Cloud to enhance access to digital services for Filipinos. This collaboration allows Smart to integrate Google Cloud’s AI-powered solution, making it one of the pioneering communication service providers in the Asia Pacific region to do so. Searce, a leading global provider of cloud computing solutions and technology services specialized in cloud, AI, and analytics, will offer technical implementation support for this partnership.
The collaboration involves the utilization of Google Cloud’s Telecom Subscriber Insights, which collects data from various sources, provides contextual insights on subscribers’ likelihood to use services, and offers personalized recommendations for device activation. By leveraging this tool, Smart aims to gain a deeper understanding of subscriber behavior in terms of mobile data consumption and identify gaps in rural coverage.
As the digital economy in the Philippines is projected to grow by 20% annually until 2025, mobile connectivity plays an increasingly vital role in accessing essential services such as food, transportation, and daily purchases. Smart plans to analyze customer data securely hosted on Google Cloud using Telecom Subscriber Insights. This analysis will provide valuable insights into how Filipinos interact with digital services and identify pain points in everyday usage. This knowledge will inform the development of services that empower Filipinos to better understand, manage, and optimize their mobile data consumption.
Furthermore, Telecom Subscriber Insights will assist Smart in designing more inclusive mobile services by identifying patterns and gaps in connectivity. Real-time insights derived from customer data will allow Smart to help subscribers optimize their data consumption while streaming content, for example, by providing alerts to adjust video resolution. Integrations with local digital payment services will also enable subscribers to top up their prepaid plans directly on their devices, eliminating the need to visit physical stores.
Alex O. Caeg, Senior Vice President and Head of Consumer Business – Individual at Smart Communications, Inc., states that this collaboration with Google Cloud will make them the first communication service provider in the Asia Pacific region to adopt Telecom Subscriber Insights. He emphasizes their commitment to prioritize customer satisfaction and provide the best mobile experience using their superior network.
Emmanuel C. Lorenzana, Chief Transformation and Customer Officer at PLDT Inc., adds that the rapid pace of digital change has increased Filipinos’ concerns about running out of data when they need it most. Google Cloud’s AI solutions will enable Smart to offer subscribers easier, faster, and more affordable access to data services tailored to their evolving digital lifestyles. It will also aid their efforts to improve mobile connectivity nationwide.
Smart aims to enhance subscribers’ interaction with agents and chatbots by integrating Google Cloud’s generative AI capabilities, such as first-party models for text summarization and ongoing conversations, with Telecom Subscriber Insights. The use of Google Cloud’s Vertex AI platform will enable Smart to access and fine-tune these models, integrate them into their services, and provide subscribers with natural-sounding virtual agents that offer personalized insights and optimization options for their data consumption.
Gabriele Di Piazza, Senior Director of Global Product Management for Telecommunications at Google Cloud, stresses the importance of navigating and understanding complex datasets to deliver transformative customer experiences. Telecom Subscriber Insights allows Smart to extract real-time customer insights and use machine learning capabilities to identify digital sales opportunities based on customer readiness, price sensitivity, and lifetime value.
Malis Selamat, Country Manager for the Philippines and Vietnam at Google Cloud, highlights how AI and generative AI can promote digital inclusion and equity. By tapping into the data managed and stored by communication service providers, these technologies can support national digital transformation efforts while empowering consumers to make informed decisions about their data usage in a rapidly evolving digital world. Smart’s utilization of Telecom Subscriber Insights demonstrates the potential for CSPs in Asia to leverage AI in a secure and privacy-controlled environment for the benefit of their customers.
