ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / July 31, 2013) – More and more Smart Bro subscribers are complaining about the company’s so-called Fair Use Policy which automatically puts a cap on the user’s Internet bandwidth.
One customer service representative of Smart Bro, who only identified himself as John, said the policy was implemented as early as April in an effort to accommodate new Internet subscribers.
“The Fair Use Policy was implemented in April this year and this is to accommodate the growing number of Smart Bro subscribers,” he told the Mindanao Examiner after the newspaper company filed a report with Smart Bro on dropped and slow Internet connection.
He said Smart Bro services are being refreshed every first week of the month and subscribers would have to wait before the bandwidth returns to its normal speed. He said The Fair Use Policy is implemented in the whole country where there is Smart Bro services.
Internet experts call the failure in the system as “bandwidth bottleneck.”
Smart Bro offers several Internet subscription plans and packages that customers may avail and among the most popular for users is the 1mbps at P999 a month.
The company also lure customers to renew their contract in exchange for a computer set or a tablet with minimal charges payable in two years.
With the Fair Use Policy, the Internet download and upload speed is drastically affected since Smart Bro automatically slows down the system.
Usually, a Smart Bro bandwidth allocation is only around 15 gigabytes, according to blogger Jaime Lacson, of blogmytuts.blogspot.com and said that PLDT also implemented the same Fair Usage Policy for its myBro Internet service.
“Monthly bandwidth allocation for Smart Bro/myBro/PLDT subs is only 15GB. If you have downloaded that much data before the month ends then you will experience a slowdown with your connection. Your normal speed will return the following month,” he said, adding only Bayan Tel and Sky Broadband have not put a cap on their Internet services.
Disgruntled Smart Bro users have launched an online petition against the company’s Fair Use Policy.
“We are loyal customers and we did not sign anything about the bandwidth cap. When we signed for unlimited Internet, we expect unlimited. Even normal browsing easily exceeds the cap they implement. This is not fair use policy. This is plain stealing the service that the people paid,” according to the petition which can be viewed on this link – https://www.change.org/ph/mga-petisyon/no-to-smart-pldt-fair-use-policy-trash-the-fair-use-policy.
According to Smart Communications, the Fair Use Policy is part of its continuing commitment to provide high-quality service to its subscribers.
“Smart is putting forth the Fair Use Policy for Call and Text Services. This ensures that commercially available voice and SMS products are used properly to preserve the integrity of the Smart network in order to provide ALL subscribers with the best call and text services,” it said.
It said Smart’s Fair Use Policy promotes pleasant use of call and text and aims to avoid the following: activities that may cause network congestion and those that can adversely impact the overall quality of service experienced by other subscribers; any unlawful, invasive or fraudulent purposes that violate the legal rights of other subscribers; any manner which affects the Company’s ability to provide and maintain the quality of its network and services; any means aimed towards exploitation of mobile usage that may cause any loss or damage to the Company.
It said Smart reserves the right to disallow, suspend or terminate service of customers whose improper or abusive use of call and text services may jeopardize its ability to deliver the best customer experience to the other subscribers.
“Smart also reserves the right to modify the Fair Use Policy without prior notice in order to maintain the integrity of its network services,” it said. (Mindanao Examiner)
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