Mobile Internet in the Philippines

Thanks to competition, the major Telecoms players, Globe, Smart,
Digitel and Bayantel are giving consumers the best choices to connect
to the internet.

Globe, Smart and Digitel all has their own versions of mobile
broadband with Bayantel rumored to be coming out with their own in
the coming months.

The major 3 all uses 3.5G with Globe and Sun now using mainly HUAWEI
USB Modem Sticks and Smart with their ZTE models.

These modems have become cheap over the years. They all started above
P2000 per stick with now priced a little less than P2000 and the per-
minute charging is very competitive too!

Most of those who will buy these mobile modems are laptop owners, who
will opt to buy a P100 load, at 3.5G speeds (comparable to entry-
level DSL speeds), than shell out P100 for an hour in Starbucks.

Although major malls now are offering free WiFi access (Mall of Asia,
Rockwell, Greenbelt 5, Robinsons, and Eastwood Malls), having one or
three (one for every major carrier) would offer much convenience for
the consumer.

These USB modem sticks can also be used by subscribers who doesn't
have DSL lines at home (perhaps they are not covered by the telcos
service areas). It's a good way to spread the power of the net to the
provinces. SMART will definitely lead this one because they have the
most number of cell sites all spread out in the country. The only
question there is, are these cell sites all at least 3G capable, or
else, the subscriber will crawl on 2G speeds (GPRS/EDGE).

It's very easy to get and use. One only has to purchase one of these
sticks (or two or three), and just plug it in one of any available
USB ports and, as long as it has load in it, it's off to the interweb.

Reloading is very easy too! One just have to go to their suking
tindahan (if available), just give manang the phone number of the
modem (the modem is actually a phone with a SIM card inside it
without a keypad and a screed) and it's ready.

The price is very affordable at P20 per hour, it definitely beats the
P100 per hour in a coffee shop. This separates us from our US
counterparts, although they have a very good subscriber penetration,
their broadband is very expensive compared to ours. What we're
lacking is mostly penetration. As this technology is dependent on
cell site towers.

I suggest students who are living in apartment and dorms, who cannot
get a wired broadband line (maybe because their stay is just
temporary), get one of these (depending on which has a better signal
in the area).