As we near the official launch of the highly anticipated Samsung S3, the two telco giants vies for the hearts of prospective upgraders and switchers through their plans. Now before you get too excited and sign up for any of these telcos, let’s take a closer look at their offerings and see which one fits your lifestyle and usage pattern.
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We’ve finally got our hands on the mid-range offspring of the Nokia-Microsoft partnership, the Lumia 710. The Windows Phone powered smartphone just sits perfectly in between its entry-level sibling Lumia 610 and its high-end counterpart Lumia 800. Check out our full review after the break.
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RIM has released a set of handset last year for their 9800 series line-up. Apart from the all-screen Torch 9860 that we’ve seen last month, another handset from that roster is the BlackBerry Torch 9810. Read our full review after the break.
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Though not yet official launched or released in the Philippines, the HTC Titan has already attracted a lot of attention from local consumers, especially WP7 fans, despite the fact that this is already the nth Windows Phone HTC introduced to the market. Read our full review of the HTC Titan after the jump.
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Smart today announced a new data plan for postpaid subscribers, the Smart Limited-Edition Data Plan 1000. Although it’s just a limited-edition plan and is only offered until May 15, 2012, the new data plan compliments the existing Plan 2000 which comes with free choice of a flagship handset.
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Sun Cellular started the Anti-Bill Shock for data plans last October 2011 and this was followed by Smart and Globe later in January 2012. Sun has finally rounded up more plans to include SMS and voice plans.
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Smart Comm. has just accepted pre-orders for the Nokia N9 and as expected, it comes free on various Smart postpaid plans and data plans. Sorry folks, no prepaid kit plans here or SRP.
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Smart has just announced a revamped offering for all postpaid plans with a more flexible Smart All-In Plans.
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We had a late lunch at the Circles in Shangri-la with representatives of Research in Motion (RIM) from Singapore yesterday and they briefly discussed with us their current standing in the Philippine smartphone market.
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In a blogger gathering with Smart this afternoon, they showed us the entire HTC line-up including the HTC Chacha which is initially exclusive to them for the first month. They also discussed their new tiered pricing for mobile internet called Always On.
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So Smart’s putting unlimited calling and texting on their postpaid plan for just Php599 per month with the Unli Call & Text Plan 599.
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Got word from one of the reps from Globe last night that the white variant of the iPhone 4 will be available in the Philippines this week-end. Now that’s fast.
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This is the first time I was able to read Smart’s Fair Use Policy on Mobile Internet Use and was surprised to see that their cap on unlimited mobile internet is just 1.5GB per month.
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I’ve been using smartphones for more than half a decade now having tried almost all types of smartphones except for one, the BlackBerry. Five years ago, BlackBerry would be synonymous to enterprise phones. An ordinary consumer wouldn’t even dare to get one. But now, it’s totally different. You’d see normal people carrying a BlackBerry even if they don’t have an Outlook email. “CrackBerries” are so addicted with their phones. Check out our full review of the BlackBerry Curve 3G after the jump, my first for a BlackBerry smartphone.
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That didn’t take too long. Learned about this a couple of days ago but held off until it was official and the prepaid prices have been finalized. This is Globe Telecom‘s response to Smart’s Unlimited Prepaid Blackberry Plans.
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This was just texted to me by a contact from Globe — that their Visibility plans are now available in prepaid — a move that directly competes with SmartBro Prepaid. This is on top of their postpaid GV 799 and GV 999 plans I reported earlier.
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While searching for the same umobile connection problems online, I bumped into this interesting discovery — the uMobile Wireless Broadband Package. Wow, I didn’t know umobile was already offering something similar to SmartBro Plugit!
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Not sure about the timing but it seems that PLDT slashed a few hundred pesos off their WeRoam prepaid and post-paid subscription fees around the time Globe Innove commercially launched its competing product, Globe Visibility.
Just take a look at PLDT WeRoam’s current pricing scheme:
WeRoam Internet
Unlimited WiFi Internet(via AirborneAccess up to 2Mbps)
Unlimited GPRS/EDGE Internet (up to 140kbps)
Application Fee: Php 2,500
Monthly Recurring Fee: Php 1,200
Free Use of Mobile Data Card
WeRoam PLUS Internet
Unlimited WiFi Internet(via AirborneAccess up to 2Mbps)
Unlimited 3G/HSDPA Internet (up to 1.8Mbps)
Unlimited GPRS/EDGE Internet (up to 140Kbps)
Application Fee: Php 2,500
Monthly Recurring Fee: Php 1,700
Free Use of Mobile Data Card
Prepaid Subscriptions
Php 10,860 : Mobile Data Card + 3 months subscription
Php 14,220 : Mobile Data Card + 6 months subscription
Php 20,940 : Mobile Data Card + 12 months subscription
Once your subscription expires, you can buy prepaid e-loads via your Smart Mobile Phones:
Using a SMART phone with an active SMART Money account, text : , and send to 270.
* Example:<1day><0918918xxxx>
Reload rates ran from Php75 per day, Php405 per week or Php1,120 for 30 days.
Let’s see how Globe will respond to these price cuts. First, I gotta talk to them and get me a trial account. 
While we were on the topic of broadband, I asked more about Globe’s Speak and Surf and found out some really juicy details about their new product. I believe this was also mentioned during our last meet-up when the Globe Team did their presentation.
- Out of the box solution for broadband internet and landline telephone.
- Use the wireless internet and the phone at the same time.
- Connects to Globe cellsites using a wireless modem/router via CDMA technology.
- Up to 256Kbps connection speed.
- Costs Php995 per month including the phone line.
- Free text messenging within the network (
500 SMS per month unlimited for the first 3 months)
I was told that this hasn’t been rolled out commercially but they’ve been doing rounds door-to-door. We should be seeing print ads and TV commercials by October. Hopefully, this would answer the growing complaints for a Smart Bro alternative.
Monthly rate is exclusive of handset rental fee which you can choose from any of these handset rental payment options:
1. Upfront payment of P7,200
2. P300/month for 24 months
For inquiries and applications, please call (02) 919-8888 for Luzon, (032) 410-8888 for Visayas and Mindanao or 171 Toll-free from any Globelines landline or payphone. or visit your nearest Globelines payments & services center now.
