Yesterday (July 30, 2010), Smart will open their 3G network to everyone
and offer free mobile internet for free within a 24-hour period.
No registration needed, no special requirements — there’s no catch (except
for a minimum 1 peso load balance). Just fire up your mobile browser
and start surfing with
Smart 3G.
My guess is that Smart wants to stress-test their 3G network and see
if their bandwidth can take the capacity and the load. Maybe we can all
lend a hand and tether our 3G phones to our laptop or PC and download
stuff all day?
There can only be two outcomes — (1) the network handles the load
just fine so we know they’re really allocating enough bandwidth for
their existing customers or (2) the network collapses with the extra
load and Smart will have to upgrade their bandwidth allocation to adjust
for that. Still a win-win for customers, right?
If you’re set to do this, please share your experience and post download/upload speeds in the comments. Let’s see how this goes.