Globe Prepaid LTE SIM now available

The long wait is over: Ayala-led telecommunications giant Globe Telecom now offers prepaid LTE SIM cards for its subscribers who want to speed up their mobile internet speeds across the nation.

globeLTEprepaidsim

The Prepaid LTE SIM cards are available in Combi and Nano SIM versions to fit all SIM card slot sizes. The Combi SIM fits current handsets with regular and micro SIM card slots, while the Nano version fits handsets with smaller card slots such as the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.

Upon purchase, Prepaid LTE subscribers can activate free Spotify and GoSurf access for one day by texting in FREEGS30 (for Combi SIMs) and FREEGS50 (for Nano SIMs) to 8888.

The new Prepaid LTE SIM cards are priced at Php40 (Combi) and Php75 (Nano). Starting tomorrow, November 16, current prepaid subscribers who wish to have their current number on the new LTE SIM may proceed to the nearest Globe Store to have their SIMs replaced. Of course, the LTE coverage may be dependent and will work best on your LTE-capable handset, and a location with a strong LTE signal to experience great speeds.

Source

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What’s wrong with Globe’s 100% 4G HSPA+ coverage?

Globe Telecom proudly announced the completion of rolling out its HSPA+ technology and that its entire network has already been equipped with 4G coverage. Although that may be the case, subscribers in different parts of Philippines are still complaining of poor connectivity from the telco. Here’s why it’s hard to verify if Globe indeed has 100% HSPA+ coverage.

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Let’s first understand how a cell site (like Globe’s) works. A single tower has about 3 or 5 types of transmitters – one for EDGE, one for 3G, one for HSPA+, WiMax, and LTE. But newer equipment now combines most of these networks into just one transmitter (EDGE, 3G & HSPA+).

Each signal has a corresponding reach. For example, if EDGE has a reach of 25-kilometer radius, then 3G has about 15kms reach and LTE has about 5-10kms. This was the reason why networks needed to construct more cellsites across the country.

Here’s how the latest announcement from Globe about having all of their cell sites equipped with 4G/HSPA+ transmitters can confuse subscribers. So when their press release says “100% 4G HSPA+ coverage”, people will think that every time you get a Globe signal, that signal will no less be HSPA+, 4G or LTE — thus eliminating 3G signal or EDGE. But that is not the case based on complaints by subscribers.

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Globe’s cellsite (source: Globe)

What we think Globe has accomplished is equip all of their network towers with 4G HSPA+ transmission. That means even their tower in the Spratlys Island will have 4G HSPA+ (which used to be just EDGE and 3G).

But that’s where the disconnect lies — having all of the towers equipped with 4G HSPA+ transmission does not mean everyone who connects to those towers will get no less than an HSPA+ signal. Depending on your location and distance from the towers, you will still get either EDGE, 3G, or HSPA+.

So since delivering that kind of “ideal” service means having to build about 5X to 10X more towers across the country, what Globe is frontlining here is that their existing towers are 100% capable of providing that service ONLY to those that are within range.

With that, here’s the bottom line: Are their towers fully-equipped with 4G and HSPA+? Most likely. But does the service reach every single one of their subscribers? We don’t think so.

What are your thoughts on the subject? More importantly, how is the signal of Globe’s supposedly HSPA+ doing in your area?

Abe Olandres contributed to this post

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iOS 6.1 goes public, adds local LTE support

Apple has recently released the latest iteration of iOS and has started rolling out the update to supported devices. (iPod Touch 4th Gen and later, iPhone 3GS and later, iPad 2nd Gen and later). The headline of the story, however, is the inclusion of Philippines in the list of countries with LTE support.


iOS6.1

The two major telcos that were granted with such privilege are Smart and Globe. With this in place, here are the things that we can expect from both of these companies following the iOS 6.1 roll-out.

• Both companies can finally offer the iPhone 5 under their respective LTE Plans. Announcement of the pricing is expected in the next coming days.

• Both companies will be laying out their plans on how to transition their current non-LTE subscribers to their LTE plans. Questions such as additional charges, data cap and target completion date is expected to be answered as well during the announcement.

Besides the local LTE support, the iOS 6.1 brings the usual bug fixes and performance improvements over the previous release. It also offers new features to users such as the ability to download individual songs from iCloud and purchase movie tickets with Siri through Fandango (US only).

Advertising Identifier

The update also adds a new button to reset Advertising Identifier. It does what its name implies, it resets you profile in the Advertising Identifier which results to an increase privacy. You can access the reset button by going to Settings > General > About > Advertising.

You can easily check/apply the update by going to the Software Update under the General sub-category in your device’s Settings.

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