Globe mulls ending ‘unli’ data offerings

MANILA, Philippines – Globe Telecommunications Inc is considering a cap on its unlimited data offerings in the same way that other companies abroad have done, the company’s president Ernest Cu said. 

“Unli plans for data will have to be tempered because it is very difficult to keep investing in the network without getting paid for it.  In All-You-Can-Eat plans there tends to be a high propensity for abuse,” Cu told reporters on Wednesday, February 15.

He said abusive users comprise nearly 5% of subscribers who consume about 80% of the network’s available broadband Internet bandwidth.

The company found that only 20% of the network’s bandwidth was left for almost 95% of users.

Cu said that in place of unlimited data plans, Globe could move towards bucket service pricing, which bundle voice, text message service and Internet in one price scheme.

In a phone interview, Globe external affairs head Charo Logarta-Lagamon explained that capping data plans has become an emerging global trend that follows in the footsteps of US firm AT&T. “It does not necessarily mean that we will follow what they did,” Lagamon said.

Fair use policy

Already in April of 2011, Globe adopted a fair-use policy with measures for capping customer usage.

Some data hungry users are not pleased. A few customers have responded by calling it an “unfair-use policy.”

Under the policy, customers who exceed peak usage of the WiMax prepaid service find their service temporarily unavailable for the rest of the day to have it resume the next day or experience slow browsing during the month. But Cu noted that the fair-use policy was not enough to curb abusive users.

In a statement the company said, “Globe implemented a policy that promotes a more responsible way of using the Internet that will ensure fair and optimum usage of its broadband services across all subscribers.”

“We are controlling abusers,” Cu said. “I have always been open about that.” – Rappler.com