Fair Use Policy (Fup) Article

[JonPalawan]

The first link

http://pldthome.com/...ir-usage-policy

 

says nothing detailed, and the second link

http://www1.smart.co...fair-use-policy

is for mobile internet.

 

Thanks for the post, I'll now ask PLDT/Smart to live up to the requirements.

[Dave Hounddriver]

May be unlimited means limited here?

 

Just one of the fascinating interpretations of English here.  Another example is 'deposit' which means a non-refundable fee.

[JonPalawan]

The entire DoJ statement is here:

http://www.doj.gov.ph/news.html?title=DOJ:%20Telcos%20must%20be%20honest%20with%20advertisements&newsid=311

 

I just tweeted pldthome,

https://twitter.com/PLDTHome

in several segments, the following:

    Now that DoJ says " Also, service providers must fully discuss to their customers their Fair Use Policy (FUP) conditions before contract signing. The FUP, however, should not be in conflict with the promised service reliability." when will you provide the full details of your FUP for broadband?
    And when will you cease to be deceptive in your use of "unlimited", and use that word in the spirit of its generally accepted definition, for example:
not limited or restricted in terms of number, quantity, or extent.
    synonyms:    inexhaustible, limitless, illimitable, boundless, immeasurable, incalculable, untold, infinite, endless, bottomless, never-ending
Since no mortal entity can achieve "unlimited", you must cease using that particular word and let only the deities use that word.

Edited September 26, 2014 by JonPalawan

[MikeB]

It's not just about speed but reliability. So they make them change their advertising from "up to" to "minimum" or some typical range of speeds or whatever. So what? It's just marketing, it doesn't address the root problem of abysmal internet service in the Philippines.  One of these articles stated that the avg internet speed in the country was 3.5 Mb/s which still put it in last place in ASEAN. I would love to know where they got that statistic, probably the same place that has unemployment at 7%. This is a lot of talk, changes nothing.  

[Malcolm Graham]

When you read the catch part their FUP for this offering is use the free bit up start paying.

 

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/380967/economy/companies/smart-tnt-sun-offer-free-mobile-internet-for-all-prepaid-subscribers

 

Smart, TNT, Sun offer free mobile Internet for all prepaid subscribers  

By RIE TAKUMI, GMA News OnlineSeptember 26, 2014 11:34am

 

  5752  342  2  7035 

 

MVP announces free Internet for all prepaid subscribers. PLDT-Smart Chairman Manuel Pangilinan announced on Friday, September 26, Internet access for all mobile prepaid subscribers of Smart Communications, Talk N' Text, and Sun Cellular. With him is Napoleon Nazareno, PLDT-Smart president. Danny Pata

Smart Communications Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan on Friday announced that some 66 million mobile prepaid subscribers stand to benefit from FREE MOBILE INTERNET ACCESS as part of an "initial offering" to the public.
 

Under the plan, all of the company's prepaid subscribers—including those of its subsidiaries, Talk N' Text and Sun Cellular—will be alotted 30MB of free data access per day. 

PLDT said the volume-based service is available across all platforms, meaning phones with 2G, 3G, and LTE capabilities can avail of the FREE INTERNET SERVICE.

 

The "initial offering" begins today, Friday, Sept. 26, and will continue until Nov. 30. After this perod, the company will assess whether or not to continue the service for free.

According to Smart's press release:

 

Through this special offer, all of the 66 million Smart Prepaid, Talk ‘N Text, and Sun Cellular Prepaid subscribers can use their data-enabled cellphones to browse through and post on their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts, (and) visit their favorites websites... all without incurring data charges.

 

Jumpstarting PHL mobile Internet use

The promo is aimed squarely at prepaid subscribers who are part of its 20 million SMARTPHONEuser base, a third of whom "are already engaging in mobile Internet (use)."

 

"The assumption is that (net usage) will widen, broaden the adoption of the internet by giving them the right access and the right pricing," said Pangilinan.

 

Orlando B. Vea, Smart’s chief wireless adviser, added, "The objective is to stimulate the habit of using (the mobile Internet)."

 

Furthermore, Smart spokesperson Mon Isberto said that they will launch an education campaign through different channels to teach them how to use the service.

 

"We're talking about a market that don't know how to use their phones or who don't know how to navigate the internet. The whole point of this offer is to give them a chance to try it out," Isberto said.

When asked if their infrastructure is capable of handling the rush of traffic that the offering is expected to bring, Vea assured that Smart is "prepared to handle the traffic" that will result from the promotion.

What's the catch?

Charles Lim, PLDT executive, said subscribers will encounter a pay wall or "safe zone" upon reaching their limit of 30mb for the day.

 

In this safe zone, subscribers will be given an option of continuing their experience by purchasing any of Smart's load options.

 

However, he said that once users download videos, message other users, and "peer-to-peer sharing like BitTorrent", subscribers will have to pay regular charges for data usage.

 

The limit was put into place to give all their subscribers a chance to use the service, and "not limit it to a few who will be able to use up much of the capacity of the network."

 

The 30mb limit was the estimated average data needed by typical mobile internet users per day, and should be "more than enough" for an average subscriber.

Cryptic announcement

The announcement followed days of speculation after Pangilinan himself posted a cryptic announcement on Twitter:

To avail of the free mobile Internet offer, Smart, Talk N Text, and Sun Cellular subscribers must:

• Have a balance of at least P1 or subscription to any load promo
• Send "FREE" to 9999
•  

Registration is free and must be renewed everyday. Subscribers will receive a free text confirmation upon successful registration. 

[MikeB]

The 30mb limit was the estimated average data needed by typical mobile internet users per day, and should be "more than enough" for an average subscriber.

I checked my mobile data usage for Sept 22-25 and it was 17.09 Mb total, and more then 7Mb of that was when I was using it to tether my laptop because there were problems with the Globe DSL. For checking forums, news, email etc 30 mb per day is quite a lot. If I had Smart prepaid I would definitely take advantage of this. Should be interesting to see if they continue past the trial date.

[i am bob]

Oh but I will be in trouble once I move!

 

My usage so far for September?  22.4 Gb

My usage for August?  (Trip to Nova Scotia) 28.9 Gb

My usage for July?   21.3 Gb

 

:rolleyes:  :mocking:

[Thomas]

It's not just about speed but reliability. So they make them change their advertising from "up to" to "minimum" or some typical range of speeds or whatever. So what? It's just marketing, it doesn't address the root problem of abysmal internet service in the Philippines.  One of these articles stated that the avg internet speed in the country was 3.5 Mb/s which still put it in last place in ASEAN. I would love to know where they got that statistic, probably the same place that has unemployment at 7%. This is a lot of talk, changes nothing.  

That much??!!  :)     Rather recently in the Bohol mountains the normal time to load ONE website was 8 MINUTES... 

(I suppouse the high speed in big cities, make the average 3.5, while the speed is much lower in most of Phils.)

[MikeB]

Expanded and extended through end of year. Not clear how this applies to broadband users though.

Smart expands, extends free Internet offer

Sunday, October 5, 2014

"SMART Communications, Inc. (Smart) and Sun Cellular have announced that effective Oct. , they are expanding their free Internet offer to all of their prepaid subscribers to also cover all postpaid and broadband subscribers. They are also extending the duration of the free mobile Internet promo from Nov. 30 through the Christmas season until Jan. 5, 2015.The announcement was made through chairman Manny V. Pangilinan’s official Twitter account: “TY for the overwhelming response to #SmartFREEInternet. Our early Christmas gift to our loyal and new subs – offer now extended to Jan. 5.” In another tweet, Pangilinan said, “Even better – free Internet now open to ALL prepaid, postpaid & broadband subscribers of Smart, TNT 7 Sun #smartFREEinternet for All.” On top of the free Internet offer, all subscribers can also get “unli” “all-you-can” Facebook access - including sending messages via Facebook messenger and viewing of videos embedded in the social networking site.

Services

Through the offer, all 72 million subscribers of Smart, Sun and Talk ‘N Text can browse all their favorite websites as well their social media accounts using their data-enabled handsets. They can also send and receive emails, use their favorite mobile apps, shop online, and more – without incurring additional data charges. This move comes a week after Smart and Sun Cellular announced free mobile Internet for its Smart prepaid, Talk ‘N Text and Sun Cellular prepaid mobile subscribers. “This is our way of thanking our subscribers as well as a response to the requests of our postpaid and broadband subscribers to be included in the special offer. It is part of our overall strategy in accelerating mobile Internet adoption and usage in the country,” said Charles A. Lim, executive vice president and head for wireless consumer business at Smart. To avail of the free mobile Internet offer, subscribers just have to maintain an airtime balance of at least one peso, or be subscribed to any load bucket/promo. They can register each day, by simply sending “FREE” to the number “9999.” Registration is free. They will receive an SMS confirmation upon successful registration.

Smart’s successive free mobile Internet offers follow a recent announcement that it has stepped up the deployment of its broadband network to meet the growing demand for data services. “With millions of subscribers going online, our network has been performing very well, enabling them to sign up for the service to take advantage of the free Internet offer,” said Roland G. Pena, Smart Technology Group Head.
Fiber optic

The PLDT Group has rolled out about 90,000 kilometers of fiber optic cables all over the country which provides the transmission facilities needed to support Internet services. Last Wednesday, PLDT also announced that it is boosting the capacity of its 90,000-kilometer domestic fiber optic network by 520 gigabits per second under a P544-million expansion project that will be completed by the first quarter of 2015. This will raise the total capacity of PLDT’s DFON by 13 percent to 4.6 terabits per second." (PR)

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/business/2014/10/05/smart-expands-extends-free-internet-offer-369374

[JonPalawan]

PLDT employee Paul Siasico just called me with the terms of their new offers, and used the words "up to" in describing the various speeds available. I questioned him on the use of those words after the DoJ ordered that telecoms were prohibited from using them, and he replied that this is their SOP, and I inferred that the callers are being directed from above to use those words, in defiance of the DoJ. Paul stated that he was aware of the DoJ demands. So, I asked to speak to his supervisor, and after several minutes he came back to tell me that I would receive a call. I'm not holding my breath. He also agreed to email me the terms of the new offers, as well as a detailed description of FUP. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.