Smart is 25 million strong..

Strong what?

I saw a full page ad in one of our daily sheets with the words (sort of):

“We are 25 million strong. 25 million can’t go wrong.” Hmm.. perhaps 25 million fooled? I have a Smart SIM and a Globe SIM. I used to maintain both numbers simultaneously but since the time Globe Telecom started it’s Unlimitxt Service, I’ve stopped maintaining them together at the same time. I’ve had feedbacks that your load just sort of vanishes without your knowledge with Smart’s SIM. Heck, I’ve experienced that many times too. They were probably hacked or something by malicious people or perhaps it’s an insider job? We don’t know. All I know is that there are times wherein I loaded 100 pesos and in a few minutes, 4-10 pesos suddenly vanishes. Oh don’t give me the check-your-phone-if-you-called crap coz I know my phone. Well, do you? No. So, I also checked if I had “accidental” subscriptions not caused by me but by the network and there was none. Where did the load go? Only heaven knows. So goes the switch to…

Globe Telecom. 1998 was when I started with my first cellphone, a Nokia 646 analog phone. It was on a Smart subscription plan. It was a larger-than-remote-control phone which if a robber tries to steal it, you have the option to throw it at him and it’ll knock him out cold. 1999 was when I had my first SMS-capable phone, a Panasonic G520 on a Globe SIM card. That’s when the romance first started. Er, no. haha Anyway, up until 2002, I used a Globe Sim and made the switch again to Smart because the latter started expanding rapidly in my home province of Bohol, which I had to go back to because I graduated from Pisay Iloilo that year. I could go anywhere in Bohol without raising my phone to heaven for a “signal” using a Smart SIM. Let’s just say, Bohol is Smart Country. You “do that” (the raising thingy) in our province and you’ll look like some crazy fool. Why the name Globe when you can’t even reach Chocolate Hills? hehe Back to story-telling.. I recently moved to Globe (yes, I am one of them) primarily because of the cheaper Unlimited Text rates compared to Smart way back 2005. Nowadays, in my opinion, the rates suck big time. At 20-pesos per day for a P80 4-days unlimited? That’s 2x the previous amount.

But who cares right? As long as we can text our loved ones, it’s fine by us if you increase three-fold. We’ll just rant for 3-4 months about it.

p.s. NTC “promised” to bring back the rates? So, what happened? The government was way too afraid and the reason is…… *drumroll* Of course, it’s ELECTION TIME.

Again, congrats to Smart-PLDT for a 25 million strong subscriber base! I was part of that honor before when it was still 6,7,8,9,10 million. hehe