Jollygoodfellow Posted December 23, 2009 Posted December 23, 2009 Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines (AHN) - If Blackberry users in North America could not surf the Internet or send emails on their smartphones, subscribers to the broadband service of the Philippines' largest telecommunication company went through a similar experience on Wednesday. Subscribers to Smart Telecommunications' Smart Bro service could not load their prepaid broadband service for several hours because of congestion in the company's system. Instead of receiving confirmation of their loads via short messaging service, what Smart prepaid customers got was a text message that their transaction could not be processed.Smart's customer assistance agents initially told callers there was nothing wrong with the system. However, when AHN checked at the Smart main office in Makati, a supervisor admitted the company is having problems with its broadband loading system and they could not provide a timetable for the return to normal operation of the loading service.The Smart supervisor admitted that whenever the yearend holidays approach, their system gets jammed and they experience congestion in various forms from delayed text messages to problems loading prepaid cards. The supervisor added other major Philippine telcos also experience the same problems.Some subscribers believe the company - which claims 38 million subscribers - is oversubscribed. Thus, a number of blog sites abound in the Internet dedicated to complaints about Smart's poor service - ranging from frequent disconnection to arrogant call center agents and difficulty in scheduling visits by Smart's technical personnel.While the loading service was functioning again by 11 p.m. of Wednesday, Smart subscribers who have experienced problems in loading their prepaid broadband service the past week are wary of facing the same problem in the coming days as a time when connectivity is vital to Filipinos.Smart advised its prepaid broadband subscribers not to use their mobile phones and the interface of their broadband connection to load when Smart's broadband loading system is down. As an alternative, they could use the electronic load available in thousands of corner stores spread throughout the Philippines.Smart and the other telcos were castigated by the Philippine Senate earlier this week for failing to comply with requirement by the National Telecommunications Commission to shift to per pulse billing every six seconds, instead of every minute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMason Posted December 24, 2009 Posted December 24, 2009 The telcos are just like every other business here in the Philippines. They will screw the customer comning and going without a second thought or regret. There are zero consumer protections in place here. It is very much a buyer beware market. Smart gets most of the bad press but Globe is just as bad. Sun is even worse because they're a low budget mobile service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mik Posted December 24, 2009 Posted December 24, 2009 My PLDT DSL kept disconnecting yesterday afternoon, starting at 12 noon. Not sure if it's related. Today seems okay though.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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