Goodbye vanishing cellphone load
- Uncategorized -
Karen Galarpe
THANKS to a perplexed Senator Juan Ponce Enrile wondering where his cellphone load went (it was traced to unauthorized downloaded ring tones), cellphone charges have come under scrutiny. Prepaid cellphone users have in the past complained about being charged for promo texts and other unwanted stuff but no action was taken.
So now the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) is tripling the shelf life of prepaid cellphone load. Effective July 19, prepaid load will have the following shelf life:
P10 to P50 load: 15 days
more than P50 to P100: 30 days
more than P100 to P250: 60 days
more than P250 to P300: 75 days
Text spam or unsolicited promo texts will also be banned, and this will take effect on July 23. Hip hip hooray! (Read news story here.)
Now I wish the NTC will also look into prepaid broadband load charges. Smart Bro, for instance, charges P10 for every 30 minutes, but has a 30-minute block metering that seems disadvantageous to consumers. For instance, if you use your load from 2:00 to 2:20 p.m., consumption will be counted as 30 minutes. Then if you connect again from 2:31 to 2:41 p.m., that will be another 30 minutes shaved off the broadband load. Is there a way charging can be done by the minute, like they do with cellphones?
