Smart and McDo PH Collaborate to Provide Connectivity in 250 McDonald’s Classrooms Nationwide

Building on the success of their partnership last year, leading mobile services provider Smart Communications, Inc. is once again supporting McDonald’s Philippines in its initiative to turn 250 unused party rooms in select branches into McDonald’s Classrooms – safe and quiet spaces where teachers and students may conduct their virtual classes and meet their online learning needs.

To ensure they can connect to fast and reliable internet for their e-learning, Smart has turned over Smart Bro Prepaid Pocket WiFi Advance Kits for use at all the participating McDonald’s Classrooms across the country. This year’s program also adds 200 more branches to last year’s figure to cater to more users.  

Powered by Smart Bro Prepaid Pocket WiFi Advance, teachers and students may enjoy twice the speed of regular LTE Pocket WiFi devices because of a feature called Carrier Aggregation, which enables the device to combine multiple signals from different cell sites for a much faster and more reliable connection. The device also connects up to 10 WiFi-enabled devices for easier sharing and worry-free surfing among multiple users.

Extended until December 3, 2021

Started last Oct. 11, McDonald’s Classrooms will run until December 3 to cater to fully-vaccinated teachers and students aged 18 years and above.   

To ensure the safety of users, only two teachers or students are allowed to use the free service at two available timeslots: 8 a.m. to 12 noon and 1 to 5 p.m. from Monday to Friday. Each user also needs to reserve a slot at participating branches. To know more about McDonald’s Classrooms’ guidelines, visit https://mcdonalds.com.ph/mcdoclassroom.   

“We are grateful to Smart for their continued support of our McDonald’s Classroom initiative. Through Smart’s provision of Pocket WiFi, we are able to better serve and equip the teachers and students with their distance learning,” said Oliver Rabatan, Assistant Vice President for Marketing and Channels of McDonald’s Philippines    

“We are honored to continue our partnership with McDonald’s Philippines in this initiative to set up conducive spaces for teachers and students. This is just one of the many community programs we’ve been happy to support especially during these challenging times for educators and learners. As we transition to a hybrid work and learning setup, we shall continue to look for more ways to provide Filipinos with world-class connectivity to power their daily tasks at work or school,” said Jane J. Basas, SVP and Head of Consumer Wireless Business at Smart.  

From Ilocos to General Santos

The Smart-powered McDonald’s Classrooms are now live at select stores in Metro Manila, Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Albay, Aklan, Bataan, Batangas, Bohol, Bulacan, Camarines Sur, Cagayan de Oro, Capiz, Catanduanes, Cavite, Cebu, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, General Santos, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, and Iloilo.

There are also participating McDonald’s Classrooms in Laguna, La Union, Masbate, Misamis Oriental, Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Nueva Ecija, Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Palawan, Pampanga, Pangasinan, Quezon, Rizal, Surigao del Norte, Tarlac, Zamboanga del Norte, and Zamboanga del Sur.

Smart is The Philippines’ Fastest Mobile Network 

Smart Bro Prepaid Pocket WiFi Advance users nationwide can conveniently manage their device by linking it to the GigaLife App, which is downloadable on Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Through the app, users may easily check their data usage, earn exclusive rewards, as well as access the most comprehensive list of data promos, including Unli Data 499, which comes with unlimited data for worry-free and pure unlimited experience for online classes and other heavy data activities for valid for 30 days for only PHP 499.

Smart Bro Prepaid Pocket WiFi Advance is powered by Smart, the country’s fastest mobile network for the fourth consecutive year according to Ookla, the global leader in mobile and broadband network intelligence. Ookla also recently declared Smart as the fastest 5G mobile network in the Philippines with a median download speed that is two times faster than the competition.   

Independent mobile analytics firm Opensignal also recently gave Smart seven awards in its first 5G Experience Report for the Philippines. It declared Smart as the outright winner in five out of seven categories - 5G Availability, 5G Download Speed, 5G Upload Speed, 5G Video Experience, and 5G Games Experience - and a joint winner in the remaining two categories – 5G Reach and 5G Voice App Experience.

Know more about Smart’s promos and services by following Smart’s official accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at @LiveSmart.   

About McDonald’s Philippines (Golden Arches Development Corporation)  

McDonald’s Philippines master franchise holder Dr. George T. Yang who oversees and sits as chairman for 40 years founded and brought the first McDonald’s store to the country in 1981. Since then, McDonald’s in the Philippines has been a formidable player in the country’s quick service restaurant industry, having grown a store network of over 650 nationwide. McDonald’s Philippines continues to aspire to make a difference in communities where it operates through its charity of Choice, Ronald McDonald House Charities Philippines.