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Why Smart had to kill Unlisurf Packages in favor of Surf Max

Starting this month, Smart is shifting it’s mobile data services from UnliSurf to SurfMax for postpaid, prepaid and SmartBro subscribers. The new offer starts October 31, 2015 to April 30, 2016 for prepaid and SmartBro subscribers and November, 2015 to April 30, 2016 for postpaid users.

Smart has followed in the same footsteps at Globe’s GoSurf which was introduced back in May 2014.

Back in November 2014, we also reported that Smart has also removed their UnliData Plans in favor of capped Data Plans (see here).

So the question is, why is Smart shifting from an already successful and well-subscribed mobile data services (UnliSurf) to the new strategy which is SurfMax? The answer is hinted in this FAQ on the SurfMax page:

What are the features of this product?
Smart SurfMax allows subscribers to enjoy all day surfing up to 800MB/day at optimal speeds. Once this is consumed, all day surfing services will still be active but connection quality may vary until 12 midnight.

To help subscribers better manage their daily usage, this service will send them free text alerts once daily usage reaches 640MB (80%) and 800MB (100%).

Upon reaching their Smart SurfMax daily limit, subscribers may also switch to any Smart Big Bytes offering to continue enjoying optimal speeds. They may do so by texting BIG to 9999 (Example: BIG50 to 9999). For a complete list of Smart Big Bytes packages, they may also visit www.smart.com.ph/pages/bigbytes.

Technically SurfMax is not exactly capped. It’s throttled. This means that once you hit the 800MB allocation, we are still able to connect to the internet for the entire 24 hours of the subscription. Theoretically, your maximum potential data allocation is 800MB + (135kbps Edge speed x 24 hours) = 800MB + 1,458MB = 2.258GB per day.

For the monthly (30 days) subscribers, that’s 24GB of optimal speeds plus 43.74GB of sub-optimal speeds.

Smart’s decision to set the daily limit at 800MB is to ensure that mobile data users would not switch to Globe which already has an 800MB limit for prepaid users for many years.

If a subscribers want to download more than 800MB of data in a single day at optimal speeds, they are allowed to subscribe to Smart’s Big Bytes plan which offers an additional 18GB of consumable data for Php2,500USD 43INR 3,612EUR 41CNY 310.

To go around this, we suggest subscribing to Big Byte Plan 299 SurfMax 995 + Anti-Bill Shock 999 for a monthly service fee of Php1,994USD 34INR 2,881EUR 32CNY 247 to bypass the capping.

It becomes pretty obvious that the switch from UnliSurf to SurfMax is a business move to upsell services to heavy data users. Smart’s parent company, PLDT, has had a slow year last year and almost negligible net profit this year (1% from recent investor reports). Hence, one of the potentially huge channel for revenue growth is in mobile data. Looks like PLDT/Smart is learning from Globe’s strategy that it has already put in place for a couple of years which is why they’re posting double-digit growth (14%) since last year.

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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. Hayyy nakuuuu ok na sana 1.5gb per day,,, tsk2x sumabay na rin sa globe uselesssssssss.,,,,,,, wala na talagang matinung telco dito,,,,,

  2. F**k Smart and Globe!! mabagal at unreliable na my data cap pa once na my makapasok na ibang telco dito stin na my mas maayos na offer at service with no second thought lilipat ako. walang pinagkaiba sa gobyerno ntin ang mga major telcos dito sa Pinas.

    • BADTRIP!!
      wala na palang Unlisurf..e bat nakapag Register pa ako ng November 1?
      nag Away pa kame ng Tindira sa Loading Station kanina.!
      Sabi ko Unlisurf yung Load,nilista ko pa sa Papel,nagulat ako ang ni Load is SURFMAX and 800mb/day??
      whattt?? ilang surf lang sa YouTube yun ubos na yun!!! sorry ate hah? kung nakipag talo pa ako sayo ikaw naman kasi,dapat tinanong mu muna ako bago mo ni register yung Promo na yan!,so dapat hindi ko nalang tinuloy yung Fucking SURFMAX na to!!! 7days pa mandin to!
      kaiinis naman!!!! im regular user of SMART UNLI SURF PROMO,Kaya ganito nalang kame ka affected and Disappointed sa SMART na yan!
      Since 2003 na tong number ko ng SMART!
      now im super duper disappointed talaga!
      tssskkk..!!!
      daming alam!
      strategy ng SMART para Load ng Load ang mga TAO!
      Style Government talaga!
      wooohh!
      wala na matinong Systema dito sa PHILIPPINES!

    • ibalik nalang ang UNLI SURF!!!!

  3. What? I cant even load google or load rss feeds after consuming 800mb. And Globe is far better and reliable in case of speed. The reason only why consumers are sticking to Smart because of their UNLI data.

    • Exactly. After reaching 800 mb, pages don’t load any more. And by 12 midnight, the connection never returns. I guess this is it, we are at the mercy of these 2 bulok companies. Is there any hope?

    • dunno why you say Globe is better. I’m on Globe. At the same location, it’s worst now than before FUP was implemented. really is a f*cked up policy. and since it’s unreliable and capped at a miserable 4.5GB per month (never reaches 5, have a data meter on the pocket wifi), I’m having it disconnected as soon as contract ends.

    • totally agree with you, RANGE. stuck with this money mongering giants. asking for premium equivalent of other countries. yet service is premium equivalent to none.

    • *asking for premium equivalent price of other countries

  4. TAGAL NG TELSTRA MAKALIPAT

    • sorry kung mawawalan ka ng pag-asa wala unli telstra pagdating sa mga mobile data 2lad ng 3G/4G/LTE check mo website nla telstra australia may mga limit rin cla mga choices nla 1gb 4gb 8gb at 15gb… walang unli huhu. peo ok lng cguro kung may iooffer cla na maganda quality of service tas ms mataas n cap na mas mababa presyo ok ako doon

  5. ang weird naman bakit nakapagregister pa ako sa unlisurf50 lol

    • kelan ka huli nagregister ako huli ko register ng UNLI 50 sa LTE Jump In sim noong nov 1 or 2 ngaun nde na pede may nagttxtback na nde na available promo SURFMAX na kapalit

    • sorry kung mawawalan ka ng pag-asa wala unli telstra pagdating sa mga mobile data 2lad ng 3G/4G/LTE check mo website nla telstra australia may mga limit rin cla mga choices nla 1gb 4gb 8gb at 15gb… walang unli huhu. peo ok lng cguro kung may iooffer cla na maganda quality of service tas ms mataas n cap na mas mababa presyo ok ako doon

    • haaaaaaay… tae na… nag download ako ng “internet speed meter” to get my daily average nung in-offer pa ang unlisurf and that is 2GB a day… now may cap ng 800MB… lumalabas na more or less than 10 minutes ang 100MB (average of 200KBPS speed) so ibig sabihin more or less than 1 hour ubos na ito… then after that throttled na daw eh ni hindi ko ma access ang www.google.com sa browser ko nyeta.

  6. To go around this, we suggest subscribing to Big Byte Plan 299 + Anti-Bill Shock 999 for a monthly service fee of Php1,298 to bypass the capping.

    Is this postpaid? or pede din sa prepaid? thanks

    • postpaid po yan syempre..kpag prepaid ka di po yan applicable ang anti billshock….kaya nga tinatawag na antiBILL shock….bill is postpaid and not prepaid….

    • Thank you @LIERA LIME

    • Is Anti-Bill Shock automatic? or is it another form of subscription? I can’t seem to find details about it in Smart’s website.

    • yun nga eh wala sa site.. mukang maganda magtanong sa mismong smart sa SM xD

    • I asked yesterday sa Smart center ang sabi sa akin wala na daw ABS ang Smart. :/

    • awts so wala na nga salamat sa info

    • meron pa rin ang anti billshock sa smart at globe…if you subscribed tattoo gosurf 299,499,at gosurf999 kpag lumampas ka sa bandwidth allocation nila ..the antibillshock will automatically applies…magiging 1.5k na ang babayaran mo to bypass the data capping…no throttle po yan….sa smart nman if you subscribed sa knila na 299 na plan…kpag somobra ka nman sa bandwidth allowable mo …meron 999php service fee to apply the antibillshock ,,so magiging 1,298php na ang monthly mo…again NO CAPPING,NO THROTTLE PO YAN….

    • meron pa nga.. nakapag apply ako kanina.. wag wala dun sa smart center punta ka ibang branch lol

  7. EDGE speed is sh**. Can’t even tweet. It’s a joke. A bad joke. Mas makakapag tweet pa yata ako nung may dial-up modem sa mobile eh.

    • Ano ung BigBytes Plan 299 + Anti BillShock 999 POSTPAID OR PREPAID paki-inform ako bsta ma bypass ko ung capping na boset n yn… auko lumipat network eh .. Smart pnakamatino d2 sa area nmin eh ung sun at globe pagong hehe… tatlong taon rin ako nakinabang cmula 2012 dun sa mga promo nila na LTE 995 or UNLI 999.. walang capping.mga nkaraang araw ngttry ako ibang network 2lad ng SUN at GLOBE wala eh pagong naddisappoint lng ako bagal at unstable tska nde sanay nakasanayan ko n ung Smart d2 s area nmin naka LTE usb modem lng kme khet walang LTE coverage d2 sa area nmin umaabot ung 3G speed ko ng 7-10 mbps .. 3G signal lng d2 saamin ang dl/speed ko umaabot ng 1.0mbps to 1.4mbps max sa idm or torrent.. kso ngaun nde na mssulit dhil sa SurfMax with 800mb cap .. mbilis nga d2 saamin kso ubus kagad yn ng wala pang isang oras youtube lng at fb ahaha GG..

  8. Err, how about the surfmaxplus? That’s the LTE version, Does it have the same cap? I was using smart prepaid because it had no cap especially for downloading big Xbox One Games and Updates. Can you please confirm on this? I used to download more than 20GB in a night and not get throttled or disconnected.

    • the promo surfmaxplus is the LTE before but now it has a cap of 800mb/day once consumed you’ll get throttled..

  9. Ung mga lumang plan na unli lte 999 affected ba dito? thanks

    • affected na yan sir wala na lte promos na lte 50,lte 299 or lte 995 .. pati ung unli 50,unli 299,unli 999 .. Surfmax na kapalit with 800mb/day capping

  10. Isang pelikula sa iflix ubos agad yan. Ilang video lang sa youtube ubos na din yan. Ano magagawa mo sa 800mb per day? Magbasa nalang ng forums at mg facebook.

  11. I switched to globe because they LET you use 4G without a plan! 4G WITHOUT A LTE PLAN SMART! CAN YOU DO THAT!? no.

    Here’s my speed test for a almost a year with smart and a month with globe in Cebu.

    Smart

    Edge – 0kbps – can’t tweet, can’t facebook, NOTHING.
    HSPA – 0kbps – same thing
    HPSA+ – 40kbps – keeps switching back to HSPA!!
    4G/LTE – 200kbps – majority of cebu isn’t covered at all.

    Globe

    Edge – 10kbps – works on twitter at least.
    HSPA – 0kbps – nothing
    HSPA+ – 100kbps – Disconnects time to time but it rarely switches to HSPA
    4G/LTE – 400kbps – 2mbps – Good coverage but disconnects time to time but better than Smart! that’s for sure.

    Free Basics.org app works GREAT with Globe 8/10 while Smart 2/10

    • Naks. So ano gusto mo gawin namin. Sambahin ka? Lol.

  12. Smart seems to be always copying Globe’s promo. While both network offers unsatisfactory service, it seems that Globe is better than Smart. On a personal note, Globe’s signal is faster in provinces and it offers better control in unpexpected charges. It also has a more reliable method in measuring data. Yung gosurf ko na 15pesos marami talaga ako nagagawa dun compared to smart na in just a very short time wala na ubos na ang load. I also noticed sa globe pag.nagpalod ka tapos nalimotan mo i.turn off yung data hindi ahad agad nababawasan ang load. Sa smart hindi pa nakaabot ang notification ba successful yung load ayon na reciv mo na ang notification that you have been charged 5pesos! But there is one advantage ang smart, yung LTE50 or any unli LTE promo. Its not useful in the province but kung nasa city ka tapos may LTE signal I always switch to smart. I can stream video without worry, i can download files and pages load faster. But now unli LTE is dead in smart so i switch back to globe and I will not switch back to smart unless unli LTE is back. Smart’s hsdpa/hspa+ is far behind Globe’s. I wonder what Telstra could offer?

  13. 800MB Data Cap + Slow Speed. Ok Goodbye SMART
    BTW based on statistics mas madami na ang GLOBE users

  14. sad to say but unless the government will do nothing we are stuck to this FOREVER! malay natin may senador na ma apektuhan siya unang mag.inquire… malay natin.

  15. Fuck smart and globe!

  16. Hay naku! Ok na yong unlisurf e pinalitan pa. Kaasar!

  17. Last month during the storms my PLDT DSL was out (apparently they don’t have much backup power in their phone cabinet), so I tried the UNLI20/5555 which is supposed to be unlimited except for streaming sites. It was really frustrating as I kept getting these PowerApp pages asking me to pay more while browsing regular pages (no streaming). And everything was incredibly slow.

    So the next day I did the old UNLI50 and got the message it would be discontinued in November, but was active for 24 hours anyway. But it didn’t work. They took my P50 and provided no internet service at all. I called the support line, but they were no help. Tough luck, I guess.

    • If you registered to UNLI20 you automatically signed up for PowerApp, as well. Even after your registration has expired, you are still signed up to PowerApp. You have to turn it off by sending POWERAPP OFF (or OFF POWERAPP, I think) and send it to 5555. If you don’t do this, even if you registered to a new promo like Unli Surf (now SURF MAX), you will still be routed to this F*ck*ng PowerApp. That’s what you call legal swindling.

    • Thanks. It makes no sense to me to leave you subscribed to something that disables your internet. And then to not bother to tell you that. I wish they would have told me when I called the support line, at least.

  18. dang it yan,, idi tau na anf lugi neto walang pinagbago at ang baba pa ng data cap dapat 1500mb and limit cap para atleast ung mga heavy downloader na kagaya ko existing parin………… nyeta kau obos pera k dto migrate na ko sa vietnam jajajajajaajjaa :D

  19. kung mag globe naman tayo, anong offer nila na magandaganda? ang sun naman, maganda ang non stop surf nila, pero ang bagal naman po. .

  20. sana ibalik ang unlisurf sa smart dis appointed ako . when i recieved the text from 2200.

  21. Ganto kasi yan eh. Imbes na mag taas sila ng price mag babawas na lng sila. Parang tinapay lang ah

  22. “SurfMax 995 + Anti-Bill Shock 999 for a monthly service fee of Php1,994 to bypass the capping.”

    Has anyone tried and validated if this is true? Small price to pay for no data caps kung tataas lang man ang monthly fees to Php 2,000.

  23. eto sana yung tirahin ng mga ANONYMOUS GROUP yung mga corrupt sa government at mga negosyanteng whore!

  24. Hayzz 10 MB = 1 hour pag naubos na yung 800 data cap. Sad to say Smart is getting crappier and crappier each desicion they make. RIP Unlisurf50

  25. Guys., if u wanna enjoy the 4g speed all day without even watching for 800MB Cap. Then start using VPN..there are soo many free VPN apps available in app store and even more in google play store.

  26. FAK SMART Puta talaga hindi naman UNLI yan kung may limit kang 800MB/Day.. Same lang sa mga government officials natin mga PUTAH mga magnanakaw at kapal ng mga mukha.. Mga PISTI…

  27. How to get ANTI BILL SHOCK 999

    • Tangina naman yan nagbabayad kami ng maayos tapos ganyan lang ? 800mb lang kada araw ? 4 kami gumagami ng wifi aanhin namin yang 800mb ? Mag eefb buong araw ? Tangina nyo dont us pls ang yaman2 nyo na nagpapayaman pa kayo ng husto ? Well, Lubus lubusin nyo na yan dahil malapit nang mapuno si duterte sainyo bwiset na smart to napansin lang nila na tumaas net worth ng globe gumaya agad tang ina tlaga nakakainis wlang freedom

  28. Hello! You have already consumed 80% of your daily SURFMAX allowance. Don’t worry, you can still access the internet at normal speed. To maximize your subscription, please refer to the SURFMAX Usage Guidelines. Visit www.smart.com.ph/surfmaxguidelines today to learn more. Thank you.

    Normal speed? Ang bagaaal. Wtf. Halos wala na kong halos pakinabang sa subscription. Now I’m always worried about when my SURFMAX allowance is gonna be used up. Di gaya ng UNLISURF dati. I’m gonna start looking for alternatives. F*ck this bs.

  29. This exactly the reason why Smart sucks right now. Let’s just say that pinatay nla ang UnliSurf because they don’t gain profit from this offer or rather then want even larger profit so napagtripan nlang i-replace ang UnliSurf sa SurfMax… WTF? Nloloko niyo ba kmi Smart? Meh d na nga matawagan ung costumer service nyo, shinutdown nyo pa ang pinakagustong offer ng lhat ng mga costumers nyo. Sinira nyo lng ang tiwala nmin. What is this normal speed that you speek of? Me mas-mabagal pa nga sa pagong or to be precise, 3x kabagal at kabulok both internet speed and costumer support. Holy cow, ang sarap maghanap ng iba na mas maganda pa ksa sa crapy network provider na 2… Thank you sa lahat ng pagsira nyo sa tiwala nmin Smart, ang sarap tlaga ng feeling… -_-

  30. “135kbps Edge speed x 24 hours” cant even pass 9kbs.. i smell BIGBULLSHIT2500 here

  31. Iblik ang UNLISURF… answer to duterte of that is bombahin ang mga tower ng smart, tingnan ntin kung d s malulugi s pagpapaayos…

  32. Dapat palitan at alisin na serbisyo ng smart. Magkaroon sana ng ibang service provider . Gising kau mga government officials! Tulog tulugan lang kau. Kawawa mga consumer di maganda serbisyo ng smart! Bakit di pa tanggalin mga yan at palitan ng maayos na service provider.

  33. Sayang ung telstra. Kung natuloy yun. Hayahaay ang internet.

  34. Sobrang bagal !!!! Not recommend for internet heavy user . Mag globe na lng kau babbalik nila ang unlisurf

    • Agree ako sayo tol. Gusto ko Sana magmura kso wag na. Bkit ksi inaalis pa ung unlisurf kung madami nmng may gusto. Sila lang gumagawa ng dahilan para Hindi tangkilikin promo nila.

  35. They’re just making shits out of their customers. Taragis talaga tong mga telco ng Pilipinas. Mga corrupt din eh noh. We are 6 in the family using our pocket wifi device and that 800 fucking bullshit MB will be like just a smoke that appears for a little while then vanishes away afterwards. Tapos ung bagal nya pa wala namang mpakinabangan. Tang ina nyo naman. Pare pareho kayo. Pera pera lang, mga walang pakialam sa customers. Bullshit.

  36. Hustisya naman para saamin na consumers. Pls lang Smart Company! wag naman kayong mging abusado…Ung niloload namin pra mkanet ay pinaghihirapan rin namin..Kung pwede nyp ibalik ung unlimited internet..hindi ganitong consumable. Nakakawalang gana mag load dahil iniisip na namin na masasayang lang kahit 2 araw na ung niloload namin sa net..sa totoo lng nga hindi umaabot ng 2 araw. Smart Company mrami na ring nag rereklamo dito sa Bicol..Mag sswitch nlng kmi sa Globe..

  37. Ibalik yung unlisurf, gusto nyo mataas na profit, basta balik nyo lng ok na, or yung surfmax gawin nyong unlimited, kase pano naman yung mga mahihina yung signal, macoconsume nlng ng di namin na enjoy, tsaka mas ok pa ang unlisurf kaysa sa surfmax, kung gusto nyo mahigitan ang globe, ibalik nyo yung unlisurf..

  38. Ano bang kalokohan to smart? inalis nyo na Unlsurf 995 at ngayon may notice na pati Unlisurf 85 ay hanggang October 4, 2017 nalang? Ano to, gagohan? gawin nyo naman ng maayos serbisyo nyo, wag nyo kami palipatin sa bulok na Surfmax na yan, sayang pera namin jan. Wag nyo paglaruan customers nyo

  39. OO ngayon di na ako makapag load ng UNLI85. Cut na nga nila gna UNLI services. Aanhin namin itong 800 MB per day? Hay naku, may deadline pa naman ako ngayon. kakainis kayo smart.

  40. tangina talaga. mkalipat na nga sa sky. ung unlisurf unli nga pero 10 hours lang mawawala na babalik after 12 hours.araw araw ako nagloload ng 85 dahil unli naman. ngaun wala na tangina goodbye smart peste kau.

  41. bweset na promo yan pinagtitiyagaan na nga unlisurf nila tinangal pa. mga swapang sa pera

  42. Walang kwentang promos nawawalan ng silbi ang mga pocket wifis… Pakibalik ang UNLISURF smart.com.ph para magkaroon ng silbi ang nabenta at binibenta niyong pocket wifis… at kung di niyo na talaga ibabalik wag na rin kayong magbenta ng pocket wifis kasi wala naman na ding silbi dahil sa walang kwenta niyong promos…

  43. Optimal speeds huh, sCrEw IT!! Speed is slower than before! 10 kbs or lower than that most of the time! and recently, it’s DISCONNECTING a WHOLE FREQUENT than EVER. Connecting it but to no avail, i have to wait half a day to be able to connect it again HECK. What about if we have deadline? Damn this.!

  44. Smart Surfmax sucks……This telco is hungry for money…

  45. Fuck you smart sna ma matay kau.. Korakot

  46. because it is Philippine, stupid country

  47. I don’t even get 800 mb before it slows to a grinding halt. average of 10kb/s download all day every day. Its not me, its them. My device is connecting just fine, my computer is connecting just fine, but no matter how many “giga surf” packages i purchase, the system still thinks i am uneligible for speeds above 10kb/s. I PAID FOR THAT. SO MUCH MONEY WASTED ON THESE LIARS. Someone needs to gut them with a rusty hook.

  48. so ano po ang ma irecommend ninyo guys?

  49. BOBONG TANGINA YAWA MO MGA BOLOK NA KOMPANYA MGA PISTE. ASAN NA YUNG INTERNET NI DUTERTE??? CHINGCHONG TELECOM SAN NA YON?

  50. They killed Unlisurf so that people will load again and again. It’s a scam. Smart can get millions this way easily from people. You can’t do anything with 800 mb nowadays. Unlisurf was the best because I can update my PC and update my Steam games especially Dota 2 with that promo. With Surfmax you feel limited you can’t even download big Torrents or watch Youtube without anxiety of consuming all the load. Fuck man I hope the new upcoming Telco Mislatel or whatever the fuck it is will have better promos than this piece of shit garbage Smart offers.

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