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Home » Smart dabbles into tiered-pricing with Always On plans

Smart dabbles into tiered-pricing with Always On plans

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.

Always On basically gives you a cheaper time-based rate (daily to monthly) but capped strictly for mobile use (that means it’s not suitable for WiFi tethering to your laptop or other devices because of the conservative bandwidth allocation).

The Always On plans are available to all postpaid, prepaid and broadband accounts with varying denominations from Php50USD 0.85INR 72EUR 0.81CNY 6 to Php995USD 17INR 1,437EUR 16CNY 123. See pricing schedule and bandwidth caps below:


* Available to SMART Postpaid, Prepaid and Broadband
** Not available with Mobile Prepaid

To activate the plan, just text “amount” to 2200 (e.g. text “ON 300” to 2200 for 30 days of unlimited internet with 250MB cap).

What happens when you used up all the bandwidth before the end of the validity period? Well, you just go top up and activate another Always On plan.

I think these plans are most suitable for users that are heavy users but not heavy on bandwidth. That means you can have it on your smartphone for Php300USD 5INR 433EUR 5CNY 37/month if you only want to access FB, Twitter and FourSquare and you can also do the same with your tablet or another 3G device. That way, each device has its own unlimited account.

I will try the Always On 300 on one of my Android phones for a month (will be mostly using FB, Twitter, Google+ and FourSquare) and see how much data I’ll consume on the phone. Let’s see if this is a more rational and economical way to be always online. Will report back after a month.

Abe Olandres
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.
  1. This is what I’ve been suggesting to Globe Telecom last month.. Carriers abroad usually offer these kinds of data plans and not the time-based plans..

  2. pwede kaya yan sa smart bro micro sim?

  3. I want to use my rarely used nokia smartphone as a dedicated gps navigation device because nokia has free voice navigation service. hope the 300php/30 plan is enough

  4. how exactly will you measure bandwidth usage on a mobile phone? I mean to be able to check how much you’ve used and have left

  5. so when is this available?

  6. do you people know why this has been implemented late? its because it is an advantage to these predator.telcos if they use time base on slow old phones. Now the phones can download more data at a shorter time so they switch.to this model. Oh now Smart is selling LTE than can download web pages at a fast rate. Boo! Im not buying this crap.

  7. This is exactly what I’ve been waiting for. Hope Globe will implement the same, if not a more attractive, plan soon. Otherwise, I may have to get that Gevey Sim to use Smart in my iPhone 4.

  8. it’s not correct to say “ALWAYS ON” if it’s not “ALWAYS” connected. How can you say you’re HEAVY USER if you do not use up HEAVY BANDWITH? sorry i’m having a hard time understanding simple terms. can someone please enlighten me?

    in any case, thank you SMART for the innovative idea, definitely a TREND STARTER! next thing we know, lahat ng TELCO wala nang UNLIMITED MOBILE INTERNET.

    do you still believe PLDT won’t stop the SUN UNLIMITED when it takes over the brand?

  9. Yun!!! I’ve been waiting for this kind of offer from the PH. Ganito kasi ang gamit ko sa Australia. I buy $60 worth of load every month and may kasama na siyang free 3GB worth of data that you can consume for 30 days. Ganun din sa mga DATA only SIM cards pero you have a choice of 100MB to 15GB (for a price, and it ain’t cheap).

  10. thanks for the reply, I appreciate it. but are we forgetting something? SMART is not telling us what the speed is.

    i’d stick with GLOBE SUPERSURF 220 pesos for 5 days UNLIMITED mobile internet. a TRUE “ALWAYS ON” connection.

  11. i am always on and i never did try to go to 2G in my blackberry, it is always in 3G mode even if i am not using it and thank God that my battery is still in its perfect state! I just hope that globe has this kind of internet coz I am sure loving this!

  12. 250MB for 300php? Are you serious? Come on! These are only for losers.

  13. How often and how much kb does Android pull/send when it syncs with Google servers?

    Oh, and Google Maps/latitude?

    Depending on base usage, the 300/mo might be suitable for gtalk/mail/etc. usage…maybe a bit of GPS mapping too.

  14. Ok bagay na bagay to sa nokia c3. i dont think i can use this on android phone .emails pa lang ubos na 300 mb how about upload 50 mb?

  15. What I really think of this: it’s a capped unlisurf plan but Smart did not market this as such kasi maraming natu-turn off sa word na capped/capping (including me!)

    I’d say this would be beneficial to those who subscribe to time-based plans kasi most of them eh magchecheck lang ng social networking and e-mail accounts pero they have no choice but to pay P10 for 30 minutes. Pretty good move for Smart here. *coughs*Globe*coughs*

  16. Mr. Olandres,
    would you know if the cap (e.g. 250 MB) applies only to download or including uploads? Thanks.

    I’m curious if they will also count the amount of uploaded data as this will decrease the available “data” credit. :)

    Interested to try the Always on internet. This is when Opera Mobile/Mini comes handy. :)

  17. Too limiting. 25mb is just one Angry Birds update on your Android phone. The telcos around the world are greedy, 2Gb is not much for one month, and if you use smartphones with these over the air updates for firmware and Apps. Wala pa iyung youtube…

    So, the older unli plans are gone?

  18. These are perfect for chatters. Even if you chat (text only) for 30 days non-stop, you won’t go over the 250MB limit. Trust me, I did the math.

  19. That 2GB for 995 deal is expensive. Didn’t Globe just price their unlisurf at 999? And that’s unlimited (albeit capped). So what’s the advantage kapag Always on plan? Makakatipid ka ng 4 pesos? :)

  20. I subscribed to the Php200 (180MB cap) and I’m very happy about it. I’m using an iPhone which makes the experience all the more satisfying.

  21. at last meron na ring Data Plans sa Pinas na suited lng tlga depende sa gamit! like here in KSA, mobile telcos data plans are based on your online lifestyle, di ka mapipilitan to purchase a higher plan para lang sa fb, twitter… like me im using 100MB plan for the whole month, fb and twitter, some news app for the whole month for my ipad, di ko pa nauubos yan hehehe… at least pagbakasyon sa pinas, di na masyado mabigat magsubscribe hehehe!

  22. bakit na andaming ofw dito na angyayabang? kesyo ganun sa australia kesyo ganun sa saudi. pakialam naman namin. dito sa pinas walang metro ang internet di tulad dyan sa pinagtapunan nyo!

  23. Sharing of info lang naman regarding existing technology at kung pano tayo nakakahabol na. Malayo po sa pagyayabang yun. One thing na maipagyayabang namin is ang speed internet dito. :P

  24. Back on topic.. This seems like a reasonable alternative for those who do not consume a lot of bandwidth. Pero, kung mag-susubscribe ka for more than a week eh mas mas maganda kung mag Unlisurf na lang para walang bandwidth limit. Dapat i-adjust nila yung prices or yung bandwidth. I say 10 to 15 GB para sa highest tier.

  25. these are just “some” of your options

    obiously they’re “only” meant for social fanatics, so you can receive updates realtime.

    You can always choose other plans if these won’t be enough for you. duh

    And for some these are actually great!

  26. I can’t understand about the volume if how is it.

  27. this is a good option for those who want to sync email, check FB/twitter as well as weather/maps/traffic

    I hope smart provides a way to check how much you’ve consumed or warns you that the service has expired. I don’t want to still be “always online” after the service has expires, as the bill would stack up :S

  28. Kung gagamit kau ng 995 na always on mag unli plan na lang kayo.

  29. this is perfect for my gravity app (twitter/facebook). hope globe and sun come up with better deals

  30. Nice! This is just exactly what I need. Cool Smart! :)

  31. idk if this is the right forum to ask or inquired about this?
    anyway, i have now 2 co-employee who got billed by Smart for 3k on internet usage, and thats is just for two days or 1.5 days…the reason they shift to new smart phone…one is samsung galaxy s and the other is Xperia Arc…it seems the smartphone is “automatically” connecting to the internet…also they noticed on billing the data usage is 10pesos pero sunodsunod…and my co-employee doesnt know it…

  32. i’ve been asking globe for this kind of plan… meron pa naman sila dati sayang.. i might wait for a month or two baka gumaya si globe baka magswitch ako ng line…

  33. @Yuga

    Still a little bit confused on the volume part. So what happens when you reach 20MB on the “Always On 20”? Does it stop your connection and ask you to register Another “Always On” service? Or does it automatically go the 30 minutes per 10 pesos?

    My second question is, how fast is the connection?

  34. I think, better pa rin ang
    SMART Unlisurf 50
    Globe Supersurf 50 (800mb limit)
    SUN SBW50 Unli

    Versus AlwaysOn 30 = 50MB.
    Ilang Youtube Clips lang yun?

    Most of the time, naka-SUN i25 ako 3 hrs. – the only network with WCDMA signal in our home in SJDM Bulacan…SMART&GLOBE = DEADSPOT!

  35. Some people here are dumb to say that the unli plans are gone. It doesn’t mean that with this new

  36. Disappointed with these pricey volume packages. But since prepaid ito, it means we can register to unlisurf50 despite the restriction. Wahaha LoLz

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