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

I’m an avid user of Globe Telecom’s Immortal TXT service, which essentially extends your PhP 10 prepaid load into 50 + 10 SMS messages (50 within Globe networks and 10 to other networks). Globe has recently come up with a new “immortal” scheme, which now includes voice calls. Dubbed Immortal Call, the service will give you 50 SMS within Globe networks (including Touch mobile and Tattoo mobile) and 5 minutes worth of Globe network calls. Cost is PhP 15, and you can activate this by sending IMMORTAL15 to 8888.

In effect, you will be extending your PhP 15 to PhP 50 + PhP 6.50×5 (since each voice minute costs PhP 6.50), for a total of PhP 82.50.

I’m not using Immortal Call, though, since I’ve activated Super DUO last month (now since lapsed, but will activate it again soon, before my local number expires). But I do think that Globe’s per-second charging (using the “232” prefix instead of “0”) may actually be cheaper at PhP 0.10 per second, given my telephone calling habits, which rarely go a few seconds each call. Therefore I prefer the Immortal TXT service. But if you’re a heavier caller, then Immortal Call + would be cheap, at PhP 1 per minute.

To continue my saga on trying out prepaid wireless landlines, I had recently activated Super Duo on my main Globe prepaid subscription. I was very pleased that I could easily call Bayantel lines (which we have at home), in stark contrast to my PLDT Wireless landline, which can rarely connect with my home residence.

But the big issue here is interconnectivity with several networks. For one, I can rarely connect to PLDT landline numbers. This can be very debilitating, since calling PLDT landlines was okay before activation of Super Duo (since this is billed as a regular call from one’s Globe number). But after activation, you effectively lose calling capability to PLDT landlines. Rare exceptions include midnight to the wee hours of the morning. Calling during daytime? Forget it.

Another small issue is calling from Bayantel phones. You get a busy tone, and you get connected after two to three tries. No big issue if you only expect personal calls, but to business users, this can be a deal breaker.

Now I’m not sure if this is only isolated to prepaid subscriptions. I hear that postpaid users are not as badly affected. Maybe that’s the premium one gets with a postpaid subscription. But with Globe heavily marketing their prepaid services such as Tattoo, SuperDuo and the like, they better be sure they have the capacity to service demand.

The bigger issue here is interconnection among the networks. I’m aware that telcos charge each other for each SMS or voice minute. But the charging framework has changed dramatically with the introduction of “unlimited” calling schemes, like the so-called “wireless landline” capability of mobile phones. If we’re going back to the dark ages of walled-garden communications, then we’re screwed. Remember the olden days when Smart subscribers could only text to Smart, and Globe within Globe?

Maybe this is just a honeymoon phase, and things will turn out better. I’m hoping that in the long run, interconnection among telcos would normalize. Things are getting cheaper and cheaper, anyway, and maybe they need to look for alternative business models (rather than charge interconnection fees), in line with the changing trends.

The term “wireless landline” is now in vogue among Philippine telcos. While it’s certainly a nifty idea to bring your landline anywhere, it’s mostly a marketing gimmick for me. Isn’t it just a glorified unlimited calling scheme? But instead of being able to call phones within your own network only, you get to call landline phones within the same locality.

I, myself, use PLDT Landline Plus, which I keep plugged into my trusty ol’ Nokia 1112, and which I use for calling fixed lines while on the move.

But I think I may be switching to Globe’s Super DUO soon. It’s probably more practical, since I use Globe prepaid as my primary mobile number. Globe also upgraded DUO to Super Duo with one great feature. Instead of giving you unlimited calling capability only to landlines within your locality, you can also call other Globe and Touch Mobile phones anywhere in the country with no extra per-minute charge.

Wha’ts even better is that Super DUO is now available to all Globe subscribers, postpaid or prepaid. Previously, when the original DUO was introduced as a prepaid service, it was a bit expensive (P700 per 28 days), and was only available to DUO-enabled SIMs, which you had to purchase. Now anyone can sign up just by texting SUPERDUO (plus some keywords) to 8888. It’s also more affordable at P599 for 30 days.

To activate the service, you would have to text the following keywords to 8888.

SUPERDUO [area] [plan]

Areas include the following:

• MM for Metro Manila


• CEB for Cebu


• TAG for Bohol


• ROX for Capiz

You have two choices for a plan:

• 35 for P35, which is good for one day


• 599 for P599, which is good for 30 days.

I’ll be trying out this service soon. My primary concern is whether it interconnects well with other networks like Bayantel, PLDT, and the like. That’s one of my biggest gripes with my PLDT Wireless landline. I can’t seem to make outgoing calls to Bayantel.

I’ll post a preview and a review soon.

I often make it a point to load up on my Globe prepaid using the scratch card rather than electronic load. This way, I get free SMS per load. P500 gets me 85 free SMS, while PhP 300 gets me 35 free messages. Of course, the longer expiry is also ideal, especially for my family who use Globe prepaid phones (we usually share the load from one card across two to three phones per month).

My rationale here is that it’s cheaper in the long run, and we’re assured that whichever phone we load the card on will not suddenly find its credits being eaten up due to expiry.

But with Globe’s new Immortal Txt, I find it reasonable to load up with any credit denomination. You are effectively expanding your prepaid credit this way.

For instance, you text IMMORTAL10 to 8888. PhP 10 load will be deducted from your prepaid credit, plus PhP 1 processing fee. This, in turn, will be converted to 50 free SMS to Globe and Touch Mobile, plus 10 free SMS to other networks.

So effectively, you pay PhP 1 to get PhP 50 more free credits. What’s great here is that the free SMS credits don’t expire. As long as you have a maintaining balance of PhP 1, you can use these credits to send SMS within Globe/TM or other networks. And from what I understand, even if you reach zero balance, you can just reload and you can pick up from where you left.

That’s a steal, isn’t it? I think this is a better deal for light to moderate users than unlimited texting schemes, in which one feels forced to use the unlimited credits within a day.

The only catch with schemes like these, of course, is that you can no longer use the equivalent amount for calls. But you can always use your regular credits for that. And when your “immortal” credits are running low, just convert PhP 10 again, and effectively stretch your ten pesos into being fifty-nine pesos.

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.)