You’ve probably seen it on TV and in the newspaper, but what’s the real lowdown on the Smart Bro portable internet kit?

It’s actually a USB modem which allows Smart Bro subscribers to easily connect to the internet wherever, whenever. Great, but the downside to it is that speeds will only range from 384 to 768 Kbps which is pretty decent, but I doubt you’ll be getting the top speed most of the time as the standard fixed routers even fail at doing so even up to now. Another thing to note about this latest offering from Smart is that it is only available under Smart Bro Plan 799 which allows for 40 hours of usage per month.

A P 10 charge will be incurred for every 30 minute block in excess of the 40 hours is used. Users will also be billed a one-time charge of P 1,999 for the modem.

While all these maybe in its initial stages with further modifications (availability to other plan users, speed range limitation) being done later on, it now begs the question, with free Wifi slowly gaining popularity all over the metro, how successful can this alternative be? Well, quite honestly, its success will largely depend on the consistency of the signal strength and availability of the service in all parts of the nation as this will be the ace up its sleeve against Wifi. But then again, what’s a fixed monthly plan compared to free internet? I’ll let you be the judge of this showdown.