Wi-Tribe 4G Broadband Launched

I actually deferred writing about it last December as requested by telco insiders but looks like the cat is finally out the hat. Wi-Tribe Philippines did a soft launch recently offering WiMax broadband internet in Metro Manila.

We already knew that this new telco challenger, Liberty Telecoms, is a partnership between San Miguel Corporation and Q-Tel (Qatar Telecoms). The service is called Wi-Tribe and ads have been published on newspapers and flyers recently (I got a flyer yesterday).

wi-tribe

Wi-Tribe is offering WiMax broadband internet for an introductory price of Php998 per month with up to 1Mbps bandwidth. There’s a 24-month lock-in period.

As a comparison, Globe Telecom introduced WiMax last year with a starting plan of 512Kbps for Php795. It now offers 1Mbps WiMax for Php995.

A number of beta-testers have been using the Wi-Tribe service for several months now. If you’re one of them, let us know you impression of the service. You can download their application form here.

The San Miguel and QTel partnership is a solid one that could prove to be a formidable challenger to the current broadband internet market. We always welcome competition.

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Avatar for Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

297 Responses

  1. Avatar for humblecreature humblecreature says:

    @Adam
    For a speedy communication, you can send messages to my email add: humblecreatu****@****.*** and to my mobile 092061*****
    Let’s not wane, let’s fight for our right
    :/>

  2. Avatar for humblecreature humblecreature says:

    @Adam

    hindi ako natuloy eh kasi ang lakas ng ulan dito sa las pinas kahapon. titingnan ko ngayon kung tutuloy ako kasi iniisip ko eh malamang sa hindi magsasayang lang ako ng laway sa sales dept. ng wi-tribe mas mainam siguro diretso nalang ako sa DTI

    ikaw ba may pasok ka ngayon? gusto mo sabay tayo pumunta doon para may puwersa

    thanks

  3. Avatar for Adam Adam says:

    @humblecreature
    pare ano nangyari nakapunta ka ba kahapon sa main office ng wi-tribe?

  4. Avatar for humblecreature humblecreature says:

    Being able to see the positive side of the issues we’re discussing here is an admirable feat. Unfortunately, the positive side is just a David to the negative Goliath that we sharers here are surmounting right now.
    I personally wouldn’t mind the cap as long as they will be able to provide me at least a decent speed of say 256 to 512kbps. Am I/we are entitled to that? I think so if not then spare us from the 998 monthly.
    A good question to ask is: Are we getting our money’s worth? Yes, if being NOT able to open gmail and many other sites several times using different kind of browsers is the standard.

    Hayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy what a psychological turmoil!!!!

  5. Avatar for Adam Adam says:

    guys i’ve been speaking to a supervisor ng customer service(which by the way is the best customer service for ISP here in the country… nde ako bumaliktad 22o sinasabi ko..haha)

    well eto na ang magiging setup… ang sales dept daw ay ineevaluate yung complaint ko and tinitignan nila kung papayagan nila ako mgcancel without paying the lockup fee… another alternative na napagusapan namin eh titiisin ko na lang serbisyo nilang bulok for 24 months PERO itataas nila ng minimum na 20gb ang cap ko…

    I’m really hoping for the first one kasi with 20gb it is still somewhat small for me ngdodownload kasi ako ng mga US tv series and online gamer ako….

    will give you guys an update kung anong mangyayari… kapag ginawa nila na 20gb ang cap ko I’ll see to it na kayo din mabigyan ng ganung serbisyo…(nasabi ko kasi na mayroon ding ibang kagaya ko na dinaya nila)…hehe

  6. Avatar for skap skap says:

    ganun talaga ang QTel sa Qatar (San Miguel tie up with QTel Qatar and wi-tribe). they will make you sign a contract that you will have no time to read. un pala nkatali ka na whatever the service they dish you. tanikalang pera nila for you.

    maganda you complain if the service is not good. bakit lulunukin na lang lahat ng ibigay ??? ikaw na nga nagbayad, ikaw pa mahiyang magreklamo? dapat alisin na nila ang ganung klaseng contract. dapat ibawal yan sa lahat ng telco companies from now on.

  7. Avatar for Adam Adam says:

    @humblecreature
    ganito kasi ang issue ko misinformed ako about sa plan ng wi-tribe nung ngsign up ako… tinanong ko cust service ang sabi nila sales dept daw may handle ng ganung complaints so akala ko yung agent na ngbenta dapat puntahan ko… sabi ng agent na ngbenta sa akin foforward nya daw yung complaint ko sa sales dept nila(ang odd di ba sales agent sila pero nde sila part ng sales dept) so aun tinanong ko kung saan ang sales dept nila(both sa customer service and sa agent) ang sabi nila sa makati daw… and sabi ng agent(since sinabi ko na ngreklamo na ako sa DTI)try ko daw pumunta sa makati at dun daw ako magreklamo…

    maganda yang gagawin mo sana maganda kalabasan nyan at kung nde naman sana may balita din kaming makuha sayo from DTI… thanks

  8. Avatar for humblecreature humblecreature says:

    @Adam

    Ano sabi itry pumunta sa head office nila sa Makati then ano gagawin nila sa atin doon? Sige masubukan ngang puntahan anyway ala me pasok.
    Sana accommodating sila kaya lang duda ako kasi nga subscriber ka na tapos nakatali ka pa ng 24 months tapos pakakawalan pa. hmmmmmm wish ko lang!!!

    Antabay lang kayo.

    Pag hindi nagkaigi eh di didiretso me sa DTI sa Makati.

  9. Avatar for Adam Adam says:

    @dell
    pwede ka magreklamo sa DTI and NTC for your concerns… (Scroll up para sa links
    @humblecreacture
    I totally agree sayo kaya nga dapat dumami ang fans nung sa facebook wi-tribe complaints and sana yung gumawa nun gumawa ng mga discussion borad regarding sa complaints…

    right now napaka vigilant ko na ipa-cancel yung plan ko and the last thing na sinabi sa akin eh we should try going to their main office sa makati…since busy din ako and malayo ako sa makati cguro kung meron sa inyo malapit dun sana pumunta and give us an update kung anong sasabihin nila…

  10. Avatar for Dell Dell says:

    Ha ha ha ha …….. d ipinaliwanag sa akin ang 24mnts kang matatali dito ayyyyy…. PAANO kaya to GUYS NAGBABAYAD PA BA KAYO..

  11. Avatar for humblecreature humblecreature says:

    sana wag na dumami mga commenters natin dito dahil isa lang ang ibig sabihin non: parami ng parami ang mga naguguyo ng mga ulupong!!!

    sana maging critical ang iba nating mga kababayan!!!

    hhhhhayyyyyy siguro mas mainam kung nag exist nalang ang wi-tribe sa panahon ng ice age!!! kasi ang antas ng serbisyo nito ay prehistoric!!!

  12. Avatar for humblecreature humblecreature says:

    @burnbiscayda
    Naku mejo malaki laki ang pakakawalan mo nyan sa loob ng 24 months.

    Yang style ng wi-tribe na 200 per additional gig after the 6GB cap eh masasabi nating halatang gustong magsakmal ng salapi ng walang kahirap hirap. Samantalang kasisimula pa lang nila sa larangan ng telecommunications eh gusto agad yumaman.
    Yan ang pinagkaiba ng Sun. Handa silang magpalugi magkaroon lang ng subscriber base nung pasimula pa lang sila. At dahil sa sun naging competetive ang text and call rates natin. At least malaki ang contribution ng Sun. Eh etong wi-tribe ano kaya ang magiging contribusyon nito? Magpabigat sa daladalahin ng mga subscribers? Aba eh sinuswerte sila.

    Kaya pala gustong gusto nila na wag magcash out ang mga subscribers at mag sign up ng 24 months contract para matali sa leeg at wala ng magawa kahit palpak ang kanilang serbisyo.

    Hayyyyyyyyyyyyy

  13. Avatar for burnbiscayda burnbiscayda says:

    Home Base raket ko, 3 days lang mabilis service nila kaya nga i even upgraded to plan 1998…i admit it was a very stupid na desisyon, kailangan ko kasi ng 12G cap. I ended up loosing some of my clients. pag nag speedtest ka aabot ng .90 Mbps download and .20 upload…langya lagi nagpi-freeze sinubukan ko mag-ping “wi-tribe.ph pa mismo, ‘langhiya 100% loss. kung pwede ko lang i-attach screen shot dito ginawa ko na! Grade nila sa pingtest.net FAILED!

  14. Avatar for francis francis says:

    dami tlgang k ululan ng wi-tribe na toh mga scamer n hinayupak kayo. dko kayo ba2yaran mga gago…

  15. Avatar for Dell Dell says:

    @humblecreature

    Salamat sa Solution, Pa sarap nga buhay nila pag tumawag ka sa wi-tribe ang sasabihin nila na reach na yung 6gb capped.. malaking problema nga to sa ating mga subscriber.. pero wala pa naman yung billing ko at wala pang email kung kailang ko babayaran…

  16. Avatar for humblecreature humblecreature says:

    @Dell

    Naku malaking kwestyon yan kung magbabayad pa ba ang mga subscribers matapos maranasan ang psychologically disturbing turn out of events sa wi-tribe. Imbes mag enjoy tayo naging burden/isipin pa tuloy natin ang wi-tribe na ito.

    Dapat magkaisa tayong mga subscribers ng wi-tribe at magreklamo. May facebook account na wi-tribe complaints ah sali ka doon. Anyway we have freedom of speech and expression dito sa Pilipinas at karapatan nating magreklamo dahil di biro ang halagang 998 sa isang buwan.

    Sarap ng buhay ng wi-tribe tatanggap lang ng 998 kada buwan ng walang kahirap hirap.

  17. Avatar for Dell Dell says:

    Isa rin akong biktima ng wi-tribe 2weeks lang akong nag enjoy sa 4g kuno hangang bumagal ng bumagal ang net ko… Paano na kaya to nakabayad ako ng 998 tapos yung billing d pa dumarating sa bahay. Tanong ko lang sa inyo mga tsong magbabayad pa ba kayo dito o hindi na….

  18. Avatar for Kron Kron says:

    I live in Marikina and currently, marami akong nakikitang booths ng Wi-Tribe so I got interested. Buti na lang, I did my research before approaching them. I saw that they have had bad reviews, but I was still willing to try (note: TRY).
    So I called up an agent to demo it in my home. At first, sa labas namin tinry ung modem (as in labas ng bahay, naka extension lang ung power cord nya). Aba, 4/5 bars inabot ng signal pero napansin ko, bumabagsak din sa 3 bars pag ginagalaw.
    So I thought, ok na rin. However, nung tinest ko sa speedtest.net, aba .5Mbps lang. Sabi ko, naka 512 Kbps plan ba yan ? But the agent insisted na 1Mbps ung modem na un.
    Then we tried inside the house, pag pasok lang mismo sa loob, bagsak na kaagad to 2 bars ung signal. Ooops, right then and there, duda nako sa magiging performance.
    Sabi ng agent, mas maganda daw pag sa mataas na lugar, so akyat kami sa 2nd floor. Hopya! bagsak sa 1 bar ! Hmn, kala ko ba mas maganda pag mas mataas ?
    To cut the long story short, I declined the subscription, kasi I needed a reliable backup to my current connection. Eh di hamak na mas reliable/stable pa ung current ko kesa sa kanila. Unless siguro na meron silang unit na may antenna, malamang hindi usable indoors sa area namin to. Even then, malamang papa test ko muna at least ung signal bago ako magsa subscribe.

  19. Avatar for Cap Cap says:

    http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wi-Tribe-Complaints/12007712*****70?ref=search&sid=1000008*****469.2262440571..1 Please Join Page Community Here on FACEBOOK

  20. Avatar for humblecreature humblecreature says:

    @ginta

    ganyan din ang sabi sa akin ng customer service
    pag nagpaterminate daw ako ng contract eh babayaran ko 998 x 24months + 5000 for the CPE

    hayyyyyy mga ulupong sa lupa!!!!

    sana matulungan ako kahit papaano ng DTI!!!

    magcomplain na po tayong lahat sa mga tamang ahensiya ng gobyerno!!!KARAPATAN NATIN ITO BILANG MGA CONSUMER!!!

    :/>

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