SmartBro drops Unlimited Plug-it to Php999

Smart has reduced it’s SmartBro Plug-It Postpaid plans to just Php999USD 17INR 1,443EUR 16CNY 124 a month of unlimited 3G internet; down from Php1,500USD 26INR 2,167EUR 24CNY 186 a month in October 2008. There’s a catch though.

According to Smart Customer Support (*1888), the new Unlimited Plan 999 for Plug-It is limited to speeds of up to 384Kbps. There’s a 24-month lock-in period as well.

Compare that to the earlier unlimited speed of up to 2MBps, that seems a bit slow. I was thinking if they had to cap the speed (like what Sun Cellular does with their tiered unlimited plans), it shouldn’t be anywhere below 1Mbps.

Update: Reports coming in that it’ still 2Mbps. It may not have been capped after all. Curious though why that pre-recorded voice on *1888 says it’s 384kbps.

Update 2: SmartBro website has been updated to confirm the up to 2Mbps bandwidth.

Speed : Up to 1mbps (fixed wireless connection) and up to 2mbps (Plug-it modem)
No. of Hours use : Unlimited
Requirements : Subscriber Application Form, Proof of Identification.
Total Initial Payment : Php 999.00USD 17INR 1,443EUR 16CNY 124
Lock-in Period : 24 months

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.

https://www.yugatech.com

71 Comments

Jerome says:

15 years ago

Does this mean that bandwidth for existing postpaid plan 1500 plans would be reduced to just 384kbps?
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Brent says:

15 years ago

Speed matters so who will avail this plan? Better used prepaid with HSDPA phone as modem.
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Sherwin says:

15 years ago

there are a lot of people who needs the internet unlimited even if it isn’t that fast. especially those who needs to check their email every so often. IMO the unlimited internet’s use should really be capped at this speed rather than some people using it for torrents and draining the speed. It is meant as a secondary internet for people on the go, rather than it being the primary if not the only internet connection.
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Edgar says:

15 years ago

@Brent: Precisely.
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Sanctuarian06 says:

15 years ago

Globe pa din ako. Hehe. By the way Sir Yuga, ok ba gamiting P50/day unlimited net for 1 day ung promo ng smart pag nilagay sa HSDPA STICK? Openline na kc ung Globe Tattoo Dongle ko,any sims pwede na
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oj says:

15 years ago

Garapal naman mga telcos dito sa bansa natin. Bakit hindi nila mapababa at mapabilis ang internet dito sa atin. Samantalang sa ibang bansa ang mura at ang bilis ng internet nila. Business is business talaga dito sa Pilipinas
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Erin says:

15 years ago

@oj: because the infrastructure needed to support that is not yet here and it will cost billions of pesos to build them. hopefully the infra and technology will trickle down in our lifetime.

like what you said, business is business.

ciao!
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hubes says:

15 years ago

for me its okay to limit speed at 384 since its primary use is for mobile users. but not at 999 / month. maybe 450 monthy would be a good starting price.
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buday says:

15 years ago

@oj

don’t compare our country to 1st world coutries like singapore, US, Japan.

FYI we are included in the top 80 in internet speed.

Also only less than 5 million out of 80+ million filipinos are availing(subscribed) the internet service.

so how could telcos upgrade their equipments with such low market share?
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Andew Mercado says:

15 years ago

I think the main reason for Smart for reducing from 2MBps to 384Kbps max. is the bandwidth issues that it will tend to slow down or congest their network if they continue to offer 2mbps max speed. Actually, unlimited for 384Kbps is not bad at all but it will be a better deal if smart allows tethering for our smartphone because it gonna make more sense if they do that. For some of us we use smartphone for internet and not PC or laptop all the time. So, the best deal for me is to allow that smart sim card both on smartphone and laptop and that’s a real unlimited for me.
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