Smart Communications’ first ever prepaid LTE service in the country has gone live yesterday, just around a year after they officially unveiled their commercial LTE mobile data service to postpaid subscribers in our country. Check out all the details that you need to know after the jump.
Smart has been generous in providing affordable mobile internet lately as they announced the availability of Opera Unlisurf15 which lets internet junkies to surf all day for as low as Php15 provided that they will only use the Opera Mini app as the browser. Now, they have something for the big boys as well.
For starters, LTE (Long Term Evolution) is the next step ahead of 3G as it enables mobile internet download speeds of up to 100MBps. However, Smart’s LTE service is limited to 42MBps for the meantime. With that kind of speed, Smart said that you’ll be able to “download movies in minutes, full album in seconds, and real-time gaming no lag”.
4G LTE connectivity has been the latest trend in the mobile internet devices as well as the smartphone and tablet scene. With the ridiculous speed, there’s no more reason not to enjoy the world wide web as it’ll not let you wait anymore with those lazy loading times and endless buffering. You’ll enjoy watching YouTube videos or streaming your favorite show without the need to worry about a sluggish connection.
Related: How to Register to SMART Promos: All Net Text, Call & Text Combo, Tri-Net, and Unli Call & Text
Fast internet connectivity has always been a pain in some areas and I hope that this development would also include the wide expansion of high-speed internet in provinces. It’s a good thing that the important cities are getting a better connection, but they should still increase the speed of those in other regions. Smart’s expansion has been improving ever since, now covering 46 cities and 69 municipalities nationwide. You can check out the full list of the coverage here.
[two_fifth]SMART’s LTE network runs on 2100MHz, 1800MHz, and 850MHz[/two_fifth]
But before jumping to the LTE bandwagon, please note that it will only work on LTE capable devices. Meaning, giving your android phone the Smart SIM won’t give it LTE powers and outrageous internet speed. However, if you want to feel the might of LTE, SMART is also offering a Pocket Wi-Fi device and Plug-it contract free and you can avail them for Php6,995 and Php5,995, respectively. Since that includes a new LTE sim, that means you’ll also get the same 7 days free internet along with the chosen device. And oh, Smart also said that the first batch of LTE sims doesn’t have a voice call feature so you might want to keep your old sim card handy to take care of your voice calls. The sim comes with SMS features though so you can register to their LTE promos.
For as low as Php350, people will now be able to experience 4G LTE by buying an LTE-enabled Smart SIM (Nano and dual-cut sizes) which comes preloaded with 7 days unlimited mobile internet for free. Once the included plan expires, you can avail of the following promos. They are really good enough considering the lowest Smart LTE plan is at 1299 with a bandwidth cap of 5GB.
How to Register/Subscribe on SMART LTE Prepaid
SMART’s unlimited LTE will be applicable until June 30, 2013 and after that Smart will announce the new prices and/or bandwidth cap if there are any. For more information on SMART’s LTE plans, check out their official website here.
Have you tried SMART’s LTE service? What can you say about it? Share it in the comments section below!
For the past several days my Smart prepaid LTE speed has been less than 1 MB. I am in Angeles City, Pampanga, have a solid 5 bar 4G connection, but speed that is frequently below even the puny 85K or whatever minimum promised. I am almost line of sight from the NLEX exit/Marquee Mall cell tower. For the past month I have been getting decent LTE speeds, but now it has slowed to almost a crawl. I tried 3G, and that is even worse.
For the past 3 days the Smart 4G LTE signal has completely gone off the air, yet Smart “CustomerCare” insists that their service is “properly provisioned.” I guess Smart has some secret method of “properly provisioning” cell towers that aren’t even on the air at all. They advertise “up to 40 Mbps LTE” but I never got faster than about 20 Mbps (at 4 a.m., usually the speed is about 5-7 Mbps), and now it’s been unavailable for days. Yet Smart continues to claim that their service is “properly provisioned.” I hope the upcoming RTC hearings in Manila will get the authority they need to regulate this seriously misleading advertising and subsequent lack of service by Smart.
same problem here sir… much better use smart prepaid sim
and register unli 999 or 50 send 211
no cap speed but not that realy fast… but much reliable speed..
like 300 kbps doanload speed on idm.. 4mbps at the smart bro dashbord :) smart LTE sim got a cap usage.. as i guess,,, they maintain the data usage.. so the other LTE user’s that not capped.. will have a better speed..
haysst ang Dami ko ng case number sa smart, hindi naman ako tinutulungan ng Smart to rectify yung issue ko sa internet sayang yung subscription ko kasi naka reg ako up to now pero hindi ko magamit ng maayos ang service kasi wala akong kahit isang internet signal. Ticket NUmber ko sa Smart: 579390259 yan yung pinaka latest. makarating n to sa media
may FUP na ba ang smart sa LTE ngayon? Nagayos siya noong thursday pero pagkatapos ko magdownload, nawala siya. LTE 50 lang yung pinaload ko kasi d pa stable ang net. LTE signal ba yung problema or FUP dahil sa downloads ko?
yun lte ng smart wala pa 1mb ngayon.
Pwede ba siyang gamitin ng parang yung regular SIM card lang or limited to internet lang siya?
Nako maintenance daw LTE globe at smart ngayon hahha 1mb lang yung speed eh XD
Anong nangyayari sa Smart LTE service ngayon. Parang nakakawalang gana na magpaload. =| Laging walang connection. Pagtinawag mo sa Support, follow-up lang ng follow-up. Nasayang lang 1k ko.
hey guys.. need help here. may pocket wifi ako and planning to use Smart LTE sim.. question: paano ko sya ma-i-load?
papano ba masisiguro na na-lock na sa 3g ung ginagamit na sim? ano ba ang mga dahilan kung bakit nalo-lock yung sim sa 3g?
totoo po ba dapat magpalit ng sim?
kung lte 50 lang nireregister ko (yung pang 1 day lang) at madalas nasa labas ako ng lte coverage.
Totoo ba once na naglock sa 3g yung signal wala nang pag asa bumalik sa 4g?
i had the same problem too
This is true. I have used 2 sims already. The speed slowed down at first and then it won’e ever connect to 4G/LTE but 3G. You need to buy a new sim. And after reaching a certain data usage, you need to change it again.