Nothing New in the Telecom Industry

No new exciting news on the Telecom Front, even Globe’s WiMax announcement has become passé. Even Smart has not announced anything new on their side. Sun Cellular is still crappy (although I have an account with them). Bayantel, well, they have a new poster, but nothing really new.

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).

DTH TV in RP

I have cable TV at home, the problem I have with it is that, I don't
get clear channels on them, specifically Cartoon Network. And
watching Standard Def on an HDTV is something like the old times.

I thought of changing to DTH (direct-to-home) Satellite TV. They say
it's a lot clearer because of the digital nature of the channels.
Hmmm sounds promising. Dream Satellite TV was the mainstream pioneer
of consumer DTH Sat TV in the country. And by the looks of their
recent actions, they're getting ready for HD.

The problem I have with DTH or Dream was the expandability. Each TV
will need their separate set-top box to access content. Unlike
regular cable, one would only need a cable splitter and each TV will
be able to choose their own channel liking.

Now comes Cignal TV, it's from MediaQuest, a subsidiary of PLDT, and
has big potential of growing and offering affordable rates, just look
at SMART. Right now, rates are, well, competitive, but the problem,
aside from not being able to share the signal to other TV sets in the
house, is the lack of channels. Understandably, they're just
starting. But it's really tempting. Maybe I will just wait for a
while for their channel line up start to increase.

SUN Wireless Broadband Prepaid

Today I got myself a SUN Wireless Broadband Prepaid (I would like to give SUN a chance on the data side, because their voice service is not so advisable). 

Got it at the SM Mall of Asia SUN shop. I was supposed to get one yesterday, at the SM Bacoor SUN Shop (it's close to our place), but they didn't have the stock. Then I was supposed to get the SMART Bro prepaid stick (also at SM Bacoor), but it too was out of stock.

I already have two (2) USB wireless broadband sticks, both from Globe (a Huawei E160 and a ZTE), but Globe has no 3G signal here at Ospital ng Maynila, and I saw a Junior Intern with a SUN wireless modem and the speed was impressive. And the signal was strong. That made me decide to get a SUN (and to shell out P1850). I can't stand not being connected to the internet in a day (talk about an addict!!!!). 

Anyways, the new USB stick is a HUAWEI e155 or e1550 (as written on the box). And the box is smaller than their previous modem. The box too was funny, there's a typographical error on the description at the back. It goes "Sun Broadband Wirelss has the Most Advanced Mobile Broadband internet technology. Utilizing 3.5G High-Speed Packet Access technology on an All-IP network. Sun Broadband Wireless gives you superior mobile broadband experience. And because it's backed by EDGE/GPRS technology, you can access the internet even in areas where 3.5G is now yet available." 

It comes with a SIM card and that's it. No USB extension cables, no frills. I had a problem confirming how the loading system works, even the girl on the counter was not sure on the validity of the loads goes.

The USB stick comes with 5 hours of free load, that means, I don't have to load to get me thru the night and the whole day tomorrow.

When I got back, I immediately plugged the USB modem into my mac and here I am now, a couple of hours later, enjoying the speed and connectivity this little wonder has given me.

So why did I choose SUN? Well, my primary choice was Globe (since I have the modems already), but was disappointed to find out that only 2G signal was available here at the hospital. I was also supposed to get SMART Bro when the SUN shop at our place didn't have the stocks of their modems. I thought that it would be nice to have a SMART Bro Modem too so I can use it when we go to the province. Admittedly, SMART has a wider coverage than Globe or SUN. But that will be for another year or so, because I still don't have plans to go to the province anytime soon. 

Within the Metropolis, I guess having both SUN and Globe's mobile internet modems at hand will give me seamless connectivity. 

So far, so good with SUN here at the Ospital ng Maynila, I don't know in other places. Some of my friends recommend SUN, and others say, it's not doing good. But I say, it's always about the location. If I get a poor signal with SUN then there's always Globe, who has a very good coverage here in the city.