I may not be a full pledge advocate of better internet but I know I advocate on the idea of internet to all without dictating your status as a person in regards to income. Yes, it is true that the cost of internet both broadband and mobile are equivalent to 1.5L of Coca-Cola or 1 burger meal with regular drink and fries in a fast food chain. It may be expensive for half of the population of the country to access internet especially with their smartphones despite of the entry-level mobile phones made accessible to all by brands such as Starmobile, Torque, MyPhone and others.
I believe in the ideology of Internet.org that they pioneered on giving free access on internet mobile on selected applications such as Wikipedia, Facebook, AccuWeather, Twitter and Health Care apps to empower those who needed mobile internet beyond leisure than of those who can afford it. And I value the campaign of SMART, another step bolder in their service to the 66 Million subscribers including with Sun Cellular and Talk ‘N Text. From 2011 up to present they made it possible that mobile Facebook, Wikipedia and Twitter can be accessible for free or in a very low cost that even the students can afford to access it with their devices. And now last September 26, the Chairman of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company Manny V. Pangilinan saw the importance of access to mobile internet to all that’s why he announced that 30MB will be free in all Prepaid Subscribers of SMART, Sun and TNT which will be until November 30. From September 26 to November 30 that’s roughly 2GB that will be given for free per prepaid subscribers and it you calculated it, SMART, Sun and TNT will be waiving almost Php 2,000 per prepaid subscribers as a sign of gratitude to them being part of the success of the company.
With the 30MB Free Mobile Internet of SMART, Sun and TNT here the 4 things we can do at the same 4 things I find essential for a simple smartphone user:
- SEND and RECEIVE – emails nowadays are very essential for person and instead of running to the nearest computer shop to check or send emails either from Gmail, Yahoo, Lotus, Outlook or others we can easy check via our mobile phone especially email applications are now made friendly to mobile devices and consume less of data.
- READ and be INFORMED – One of the things I advocate is information closer to the people. News such as ABS-CBN News, Rappler, CNN and others created an application and made their websites to adapt to the specific screen. For mobile users information such as news became more conscience and easy to digest. The mobile versions that consumes less data became instant vehicle of information and delivered as simple as possible.
- SEARCH and LEARN – With the concept of websites adapting to any screen it is easy to search through Google, Yahoo, Bing and Wikipedia the information we need. The 30MB per day can be helpful for students who needs instant information on their research or assignments without the need to rush on the nearest computer shop.
- SHARE and INTERACT – A simple status on Twitter or Facebook really matters to most of us especially those who wanted to share their opinions. Social Media became an instant outlet of ourselves. At the same time it became valuable in times of calamity. We share our current situation in times of typhoon or earthquake and at the same time we interact in order to reach our hands for help.
The free internet that SMART, Sun and TNT offer may be small for others which they find 30MB little but for others who finds so much value with their money a 30MB free mobile internet can be a help. Let’s look in a micro perspective that people in middle to low income will surely benefit from it and giving them the access to mobile internet anywhere they are because of the fast connection that the three networks offer.
