racoma.com.phJ. Angelo Racoma on technology, economics, writing, problogging, and getting things done

I’ve been using Globe Telecom’s new time-based charging system for data. I only get to pay PhP 5 per 15-minutes, which is comparable to Smart’s PhP 10 per 30 minutes charging system. Globe seems cheap enough, but there’s a catch.

To recap, Globe has two data charging schemes:

KB Browsing Rate

This kind of charging is best for info-based browsing like browsing for the latest news or movie schedules, searching online dictionaries and checking sports stats. Since you are charged only P0.15/kb, a search for the definition to a puzzling word would only cost P2.30 while checking that movie schedule would only cost about P1.62.

Time Browsing Rate

This charging scheme is best used for multimedia-based activities like sending and receiving files through email or even viewing pictures and videos. All these are done more affordably when you use Time Charging at P5 for 15minutes.

My big gripe with Globe’s rate is that the charge is per 15-minute session. This means if your connection is broken for any reason, and you connect again, you would have to pay another PhP 5 for another 15 minutes. This is unlike Smart’s flat rate charging, where you get charged a single PhP 10 for the whole 30-minute duration, no matter how many times you connect or disconnect.

Globe’s system has many disadvantages. For one, if you’re connecting via 3G or even HSDPA (a.k.a. 3.5G), your phone would usually automatically adjust speed according to the available network signal. Depending on signal strength and availability of the data carrier, you can change connections across GPRS, EDGE, 3G, and HSDPA.. So if you move in and out of a 3G-enabled cell site, in all likelihood, your connection would be considered broken and re-connected.

A tip: watch your signal meter while connected. For Nokia phones, indicators would include 3.5G, 3G, G, or E (for EDGE).

Secondly, you might have several applications on your mobile phone that need to connect and reconnect, in case you switch apps. For example, Nokia’s XHTML browsers might automatically disconnect upon exit. Or if you launch an IM client (which, by the way, doesn’t work on Globe), you might find yourself having to pay another PhP 5 for a new session.

Or, perhaps you receive a call or SMS in the middle of your data connection. In these cases, the packet data connection is usually paused or broken. And since a reconnection would be considered a new session, there goes your PhP 5 again.

In my opinion, Smart’s charging system is simply smarter. It’s truly a flat-rate charging scheme, whereas Globe’s is more complicated. While PhP 5 seems cheaper than PhP 10 (especially when you just need to check a few tidbits of information at a time), it might turn out more expensive in the long run. With Smart, one gets no worries about being double-charged. It’s really as simple as PhP 10 per 30 minutes.

And I’m not even talking about Internet protocols yet (in which Globe only supports port 80 or Web). But that’s another story.

At least I get to use my phone’s data capabilities practically free when at home or when at any public hotspot. I use WiFi! The phone even lets me make and receive VoIP calls via SIP, Google Talk or Skype. (Review coming soon.)