After discussing the issue about the bandwidth limit and throttling of mobile internet with one of the reps of a local telco, we both agreed that the imposed monthly limit is a bit “limiting”.
My own postpaid account have been throttled several times before (read our story on What Happens After You Reach Your Data Cap).
What’s interesting that we learned from the conversation is that around 3,000 postpaid subscribers regularly exceed the 1GB daily threshold. The number might seem huge but it’s actually less than 2% of the subscriber base.
So the logic revolved around the idea that if you limit the usage of the 2% of the subscribers, you will be able to improve the experience (speed) of the other 98%. The analogy is similar to limiting the number of buses in EDSA (numbering around 2,000) and the time of the day they that can use the road so that the other 500,000 regular vehicles can travel more efficiently (i.e. faster).
Bus operators would complain that it’s unfair to them and that they should have 100% unlimited access to EDSA all the time, despite the fact that they hog the roads and take up 2 of the 3 lanes most of the time. Operators would say they pay the same road tax and income tax so they should be treated equally. The same is true with drivers affected by the number coding system.
And they have a point.
That is why we’re here discussing what to do with the daily congestion, not just of EDSA but also of our mobile internet traffic.
Is it fair (or does it make good business sense) to sacrifice the 2% to benefit the other 98%. Are telcos willing to let go of those 2% so that the 98% are better taken care of? By the way things are going, it would seem so.
Im a heavy user even if i dont use torrents for downloading videos, my internet is turned on 24 hours a day 7 days a week, all off a sudden they send sms thru 8888 that i have exceeded 1gb, so hows its gonna be? shift to another network? I have no other choice. Im a postpaid user for more than 3 yrs.
PLDT mydsl same price s globe no data capping unlimited the true unlimited,lipat n s PLDT, paputol ko n globe dsl ko
GOD! They keep saying that they’re “upgrading their systems” and they still can’t service 98% of their postpaid subscribers properly??? Don’t call it UNLIdata. The fact that Globe is limiting the speed at which I can download data does not make it unlimited. That already is a limit.
So how are we going to download our torrents now? Our movies, music, and apps are more than 1GB in size combined. We are paying customers. Let us download our torrents!
Itanong mo sa pirata yan. Ang laki ng problema mo.
There’s this thing called DSL. Bawal ang cheap sa mahilig mag torrent.
E bakit yung prepaid Power Surf ko na naka-cap na ng 1GB for 30 days, mabagal pa din na parang 2G lang ang speed? That EDSA analogy is bullshit, they’re not even close to being the same.
3000 is 2% of what exactly? All Globe subscribers or just postpaid subscribers? The fact is, while prepaid customers make up the bulk of Globe’s revenue, postpaid subscribers still pay MORE than your average prepaid subscriber so it is understandable that postpaid subscribers expect better service. Bokya na nga sa billing ang Globe, pati ba naman ito, babagsak pa sila? If they can’t sustain their unlimited LTE plan, they should stop selling those plans and just offer bucket pricing. At least it won’t be as deceptive as it is right now.
So it means that the network(s) can only accommodate only 2% of their total subscriber base. Also means that they have to improve their facilities by 50x more than what they currently can provide.
“Underserved” ang mga subscribers. At mali ang mga words na ginamit nila para sa mga plans na inoofer nila. False advertisement ang ginagawa nila ibig sabihin. Kailangan aksyunan ng NTC yan. Attn sir cabbarios.
Let me give my perspective as a filipino who has been living in other countries.
Capping is really a prevalent practice no matter what telco you pick. Pricewise, our local telcos are surprisingly more competitive that our ASEAN neighbors. In fact, if purely on cost and services offered on paper, local telcos do offer more for less (yes, taking the cap into consideration as well).
However, the major problem with our local telcos is that the quality of their service is downright inconsistent. You have fast download speeds in the heart of the city, only for it to drop off just 10km away from the city center.
I only get 3G speeds where I am at. But I generally get 3-6Mbps no matter where I go. Even in the rural areas.
These local telcos should stop playing the speed game and concentrate on giving good and consistent service throughout the country.
2% of postpaid subscribers but the question is ilan nga ba talaga ang postpaid subscribers who uses the unlisurf ? magkaiba yan I think you need to research on that before making the analogy and a conclusion
and so i am back to my blackberry with BIS plan to save data. my job requires receiving, answering and forwarding large files thru email, it feels like yr 2008 all over again
Here’s my take on this.
1. Globe 3GB > Smart 1.5GB
2. We pay 999 for 3GB/month? What a ripoff!
3. If they’re really concerned for the 98%, I’m part of that majority, how come we experience effin slow speed despite having that LTE or H+ signal?
4. These telcos’ marketing is good but complete BS on their products and services. They shouldn’t add more subscribers if their infrastructure cannot support it.
5. Globe only offers LTE to us postpaid subscribers. Therefore, they shouldn’t throttle our speeds because we are paying for premium, and we are using a different infrastructure compared to prepaid.
6. These telcos should provide the public with data and the subscribers usage. This is to prove that, those 3% are really hogging and pulling down their service.
7. Enterprise users shouldn’t have caps, these are users who consume data for work and business. If they should implement caps, it should be at least 20GB
8. As for the EDSA and Network analogy… Since the author agrees with that analogy, therefore he agress that these telcos’ infrastructure is poorly equipped to handle the number of subscribers that they have.
bkit saken even 6GB n ako sa isang araw. wala pring throttling n ngyyari. Globe Postpaid User
People pay for the service at the same rate as a regular DSL line costs and they’re not allowed to maximize their worth?
If it’s unlimited data, then it should be unlimited. I myself am guilty of downloading torrents, I love being at work and able to download movies and series for my personal viewing instead of leaving a laptop or a desktop at home running.
Should I care if I’m using up too much bandwith and causing problems for other users who can’t connect because the network can’t accommodate them anymore? Hell no. My terms and conditions didn’t specify I would be signing up for a plan but need to be considerate of others. And that we would all be sharing a limited slot in one area. Because that’s not my problem. Network congestion is not mine nor any of the users (whether they are power users or casual fbtards) problems. The plans are marketed and advertised as unlimited. If I or anyone else want to download a 20 gig file, I/they have the right to do so cause it’s supposed to be unlimited.
I hate how Globe and a few people keep blaming the minor 3%. That we congest the network because of our torrent files or our music/video downloads. Blah blah blah. They should remember that that 3% are mostly composed of those that pay the more costly lines like 1799 or 2499, and we’re just getting our money’s worth.
In the end, Globe couldn’t keep up with their commitments so in typical business model fashion, they screw us all over by finding a technical loophole in the terms, bringing in some scapegoats by placing the blame on the 3% and then providing false reassurances to the masses.
Ingat ingat lang Globe, di mga tangang customer kaming mga 3%. Lol dame ko sinabe. Makalipat na nga lol.
+1 to this. People have the right to complain and it doesn’t matter if they are downloading Terrabytes/ Gigabytes of files. They bought the service as UNLIMITED and it should function as UNLIMITED. If the network is congested, then it’s their problem not being able to keep up with the service they promised which people payed for.
The EDSA analogy is BS! Classic Pinoy palusot just like how our Govt does it. Thats why our country has one of the most expensive but sllooooooowweeeest connection. Plain excuse just to charge but not improving their systems.
Right! Analogy sucks. The limit only applies for those who subscribe to unlimited internet. Pag per kb or time-based ang charge wala ng limit.
So if those 2% uses more than 1GB of data pero hindi naka unli walang magiging problem doon sa remaining 98% of the subscriber base?
Hmm we need more than 1GB ! :)
By the way, “taken care of” is the right phrase.
The funny thing is that I have Smart, Globe, and Sun postpaid… Bihira ko na nga magamit ang Globe ko dahil madalas wala akong signal sa mga pinupuntahan ko(Makati and Muntinlupa area), sa kanila lang ako nakakaexperience ng capping.
So far, ang Smart at Sun never ko pa to naexperience. Also, I download files all the time. Ang consumption ko sa Smart MTD is 43GB while 25GB sa Sun and yet naka 3G pa din ako.
I guess it really just boils down to the fact that smart has a bigger allocation on data versus globe… Badtrip lang kasi mas mahal ang Globe.
I was considering switching to Sun. Too bad they still don’t have LTE.
Anlaki laki pa ng billboards along EDSA for the the “UNLIMITED LTE” bullshit. That’s Fake Advertising. Sayang di uso ang class suit dito.
Bleh, for all of those who treat themselves as “cloud computing slaves”, “innovative persons”, treating 2G speeds as “too slow for PCs”
Isn’t it high time you get a DEDICATED SUBSCRIBER LINE? A DSL broadband subscription? For god’s sake, that’s the purpose of having a DSL subscription! You’re relying all of your heavy traffic needs on a pathetic mobile broadband connection?
I’m also against Globe’s new FUP implementation, pero reading rants about how others are treating mobile broadband like it’s a replacement to home broadband is pure BS! Kaya nag-implement si Globe ng bagong FUP is because of you guys, kayo ang totoong ganid!
Well, may point ka diyan.
Nakikita ko pa sa facebook comments, paano na daw yung torrents nila etc etc. sarap batukan eh. haha kaya naman may gumagawa ng batas kasi yung iba sobrang unfair. I think same with Globe and Smart, they implement FUP’s kasi some are too unfair.
I’m always away from home, so I can’t really bring my DSL. -.-
Not everyone has access to dsl/wired lines though.
This is so disappointing from Abe and from Yugatech as a whole. Thought Abe was on the side of the consumers, now he is just on of the many good people consumed by the unrelenting greed of the telcos, especially Globe.
Very disappointing.
Last, data caps and the EDSA traffic analogy is just bullshit. Yes, there are many buses and cars using the highway, are we to limit them? No. We can’t limit progress, what do we do instead? Build more roads, accessible roads. Same with this analogy, build more things to decongest Globe. We are paying a good chunk of our hard earned money, and this shitty service is what we avail?
Straight BS!
shills! so it seems..
This is BS!!! Mukhang mapapa-cut ko temporarily ung line ko tapos lilipat na lang ako sa Sun. Hahaha! Parang non-sense na ung pagkuha ng postpaid plan. Sana marealize ng Globe na this is very wrong! I bet kokonti nlng subscribers ng Globe.
Edi mag Sun ka! Duh, 2009 palang may throttling nang nagaganap sa Sun.
2% of all subscribers? 3,000 users only? sounds like b$.
The highway analogy doesn’t cut it. it’s like a 40kph limit on NLEX. when your car can do over 120kph and everyone else chooses to drive 30 on the slow lane.
Sides, how can the 98% benefit if they DON’T use the service as much as the 2%?
this just doesn’t make sense and a cop out to deliver better service.