Smart Axiata, Cambodia’s second largest mobile operator, announced it rolled out a 4.5G network supplied by Chinese equipment vendor Huawei.

The upgraded network delivers ten-times faster internet speeds than normal 4G, Huawei said in a statement. The 4.5G technology will enable Smart to provide additional services including home broadband, HD video and IoT services, to households and industry verticals on its existing network.

Smart, with a 30 per cent market share, is the country’s 4G market leader with 720,000 LTE users at end-June, according to GSMA Intelligence. It added nearly 300,000 4G subscribers in the first six months of the year.

Margaret Hu, president of global wireless network marketing at Huawei, said: “I’m very pleased that together with Smart we are able to build a better connected Cambodia through accelerating the mobile broadband development. With increasing demand for personalised and diversified services, emerging markets represent tremendous new opportunities for the telecom operators.”