Smart-PLDT free mobile Internet offer OK but…

MANILA, Philippines—Gerald Quirino is skeptical about the free Internet promo that the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) announced on Friday.

Quirino, a paralegal adviser at Soo Gutierrez Leogardo and Lee Law Offices in Makati City, considers himself a responsible data user, spending no more than P500 a month on Smart prepaid offerings.

He said he would likely save money using PLDT’s free Internet promo, but he was skeptical because of the 30MB cap—“too small” for heavy data users or “social media freaks.”

“My bill may go down, but that’s because I’m a wise user. I check my e-mails then turn off my data,” he said, adding that his prepaid plan allows him unlimited use of Facebook.

“So I have e-mail and free Facebook. That’s a good deal already,” he said.

He said he was wary about PLDT’s offer because of the experience of other users who were not aware that their credits were being eaten up, as they did not know that the promo’s limits had already been breached.

The PLDT promo is good for two months, but may be extended depending on its success, according to PLDT chief Manuel V. Pangilinan, who announced the offering at a news conference on Friday.

Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares said PLDT’s new promo was “OK, but mobile phone subscribers would be happier if Smart and Globe would now refund the P7 billion overcharge for SMS messages.”

“We also hope that this promo [will] not make Internet speed slower due to congestion,” Colmenares said.

Pangilinan said at the news conference that about 66 million prepaid subscribers of Smart, Talk ’N Text and Sun Cellular started to get free Internet on Sept. 26 and the promo will run up to Nov. 30.

He called the news conference days after alerting subscribers to a “very important” announcement on Twitter.

The special offer, Pangilinan said, will also benefit the company’s electronic wallet business dubbed Smart Money and runs in line with its growing presence in Internet space following last month’s investment in Germany-based Rocket Internet, the company behind online retailers like Lazada and Zalora.

“This special offer is specifically designed to assist our prepaid subscribers who make up the bulk of our population. Many of them already have the mobile devices capable of accessing the Internet but have yet to use them to go online,” Pangilinan said.

Stimulating Internet habit

Prepaid subscribers account for more than 90 percent of all mobile phone subscribers, and Pangilinan said the special offer was aimed at unlocking the value of these subscribers.

PLDT officials added that their network is “ready” to handle the expected increase in Internet use.

“After we have stimulated that Internet habit, that is where we believe they will have started using it on a regular basis,” Charles Lim, who heads Smart Communications’ consumer wireless business, said.

Forgone revenue

PLDT president Napoleon Nazareno acknowledged the possibility of forfeiting potential revenue by offering the free service, but said “we hope this will be made up for by people coming into the service.”

Subscribers can access the Internet either through data-capable feature phones or smartphones running on Android, iOS and Windows operating systems.

The opportunity is huge, according to Nazareno. He said PLDT had 20 million subscribers using smartphones, with only a third of this figure using PLDT’s mobile Internet services.

Limitations

The promo, which Pangilinan said could be extended depending on its success, comes with certain limitations.

“This includes a limit of 30 megabytes per day, after which subscribers will be asked to purchase additional prepaid credits if they want to continue availing [themselves] of Internet services,” Pangilinan said.

Prepaid subscribers using the free service will also be charged the regular rate for downloading videos as well as using file sharing and messaging applications, Lim said. That means the promo was mainly for Web surfing, e-mail, social networking, music streaming and online navigation tools like Waze and Google Maps.

Referring to concerns like Quirino’s, Lim said breached limits would not happen, as subscribers would be informed right away when they hit the 30MB free daily limit.

PLDT officials said the cap was adequate for the average Internet user.

Globe flattered

The promo, which PLDT described as an unprecedented offer, drew a reaction from the company’s chief rival, Globe Telecom.

“As the telco [that] pioneered free FB (Facebook) for the world, we are flattered and honored that our competitors have chosen to follow the lead we have set,” Globe said in a statement.

“We wish to thank them for the compliment and wish them the best of luck. More people on the Internet is good for the Philippines and our ecosystem,” Globe said.

RELATED STORIES

Pangilinan’s big announcement: Free, but finite mobile Internet

After Smart’s free Internet, Globe subscribers ask: What about us?