Smart boosts speed of broadband devices

CEBU, Philippines - To further improve its subscribers’ Internet experience,  Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) has pumped up the speeds of its Smart Bro Prepaid Plug-It products and reduced the cost of its Prepaid Pocket WiFi.

Variants of Smart Bro’s Prepaid Plug-It – the USB dongles with embedded Smart Bro Prepaid SIM – now offer accelerated speeds at the same affordable price. The Starter Plug-It can now give Internet connection speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps from its previous speed of up to 3.6 Mbps.

The Power Plug-It meanwhile now offers speed of up to 12 Mbps from the previous 7.2 Mbps. These are best experienced when subscribed to Always On plans and when using default charging rates.

“We have upgraded the speeds of our Prepaid Plug-It products at no extra cost to our subscribers,” said Michele Curran, data and international services marketing head of Smart. “Whether they’re browsing videos, downloading content or simply browsing their favorite social networking sites, our users can have a better online experience and enjoy the unmatched capabilities of our network with 4x more fiber power.”

The Starter Plug-It still sells at the suggested retail price of P995 and it comes with 5 days of free Internet and 300 texts to Smart and Sun. The Power Plug-it meanwhile is available for the suggested retail price of P1,245 and it comes with 10 days of unlimited Internet and 400 texts to Smart and Sun.

For users with multiple WiFi capable devices, Smart has also slashed the price of its Smart Bro Prepaid Pocket WiFi. The device which can serve as a mobile WiFi hotspot for up to 5 devices and can provide speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps now only costs P2,895 (SRP), P1,000 off its previous price of P3,895.

“These are all part of our commitment to make Internet access easy and affordable for all while making our users’ online experience at par with world standards,” added Curran.

Together with parent company PLDT, Smart boasts of the country’s most extensive fiber optic network which makes possible high-speed and resilient data connections. With more than 54,000kms of fiber optic cables nationwide, Smart has 4 times more fiber power compared to the other network, ensuring fast and efficient transmission of data.

Gizmos up for grabsin Ministop promo

Ministop, the country’s leading 24-hour convenience store chain, lets students gear up for school with its Eskwela Cool Gadgets promo that puts the latest tech innovations up for grabs. The promo gives students a chance to win awesome prizes including five iPhone 5 Smartphones, 15 iPad Minis, and 20 5th Generation iPod Touch units.

To get a chance to win these gadgets, students have to purchase selected products at Ministop stores until July 7, 2013. Every single receipt purchase of any participating products entitles a customer to one raffle entry. (FREEMAN)