Quick guide to getting unlimited mobile internet plan in Philippines
In all my recent trips around Asia, I have managed to figure out ways to get unlimited 3G / GPRS working with prepaid sim right from the first day.
Philippines was a bit tricky, mostly because the operator’s don’t publicize their data plans that much. However, once I got it working, its been seamless and fast.
Here’s how.
- Get a SMART buddy prepaid SIM card (apparently Global works as well, but SMART has wider coverage). You can get one at the malls or the airport.
- It auto-activates, so you should be able to use it right away.
- Get a recharge card (see below).
- Dial *888 to get your account information
- Text ‘GPRS ON’ to 333 (and 211)
- To download the settings, you would have to know the exact phone model abbreviation - weird. Instead, just set your APN to ‘internet’
- Reboot your phone once if it doesn’t work right-away.
Now, here’s the catch - the surfing rates are extremely high with a normal plan. You may end up paying PHP 10,000 before you know it. I spent PHP 560 in a day with couple of hours of surfing.
The way around this is activating an unlimited data plan. Here’s how you do it -
Text ‘SURF’ to 211.
You would get a message back with details on unlimited surfing plans. Currently they are:
- Unli Surf Daily P50/day
- Unli Surf Weekly P300/week
- Unli Surf Monthly P1200/month
You would need the amount in your account before you can use one - so make sure you load up a bit of credit (you can buy at any seven-11 you see around).
How to get 3G connection in Brazil
During my recent trip to Brazil, I wanted to test the possibilities around a nomadic lifestyle, where one doesn’t necessarily have to give up the benefits of an outdoor’s life, while working tightly with team members in office spaces. Naive wishes? Yes, quite so. Nevertheless, anyone who has the travel bug will identify with what I am talking about.
The bottomline is - Brazil has incredible 3G (and if not, GPRS) reach, being a highly mobile culture. One of the first cultural nuances that one notices as a traveler, is the amount of time Brazilians spend on their phones. Many have several phones, each with a different SIM card (acquired due to an attractive pricing plan, of course). Competition between operators is high, with many of them in the market - TIM, Claro, Oi - the links to them below:
http://www.compre3g.com.br/ (Provider: Claro)
http://www.vivoempresa.com/vivo-internet-3g.asp?gclid=CP7d163uu6QCFQPt7QodxgKVzQ (Provider: VIVO)
http://www.tim.com.br/ (Provider: TIM)
http://oisp.oi.com.br/portal/oipravoce/oiVelox_Velox3G.html (Provider: Oi)
Now, if you are able to speak Portuguese (or able to find someone who can), then all you have to do is to head down to one of the malls in Sao Paulo or Rio or any other big city, and ask them for a data connection. Here’s the catch though - their policies require them to do a yearly contract if a USB modem is packaged along with the SIM. That comes out to be around R$800 (approximately GBP 275). Now, if you are in Brazil for a year, that might make sense.
However, what if I am just travelling for a couple of months or so?
The workaround is simple - either buy a modem stick separately from somewhere, OR just carry a 3G phone (which allows you to change the SIM).
The catch is to then ask simply for a pre-paid SIM card (I would recommend TIM for this), enabled with 3G, top it up, and use the phone or the stick as the modem. This worked superbly well for me with Nokia PC Suite, bluetooth modem, and Nokia Xpressmusic 5800. Or, for less than a month, get a data card from CLARO, and then cancel it before leaving. This would cost not more than R$ 5 for the SIM, and then whatever you top it up with.
I had a TIM pre-paid sim, and a CLARO data card, and both worked without problems even from remote places like Lencois (near Parque De Chapada Diamantinas), or, even while on buses (although, the network either switches to GPRS or none sometimes). With the cheap ACER AspireONE always with me (7-8 hours battery life), I even managed to get some work done during the trip.
Bon voyage!
