seeing Red (Mobile)

August this year I got a free uMobile sim card.  the concept was a network that was ad-driven but you can still load credits. The sim had a free 100php load each month for 6 months, but unfortunately I didn't really use it because : (1) it couldn't text to Globe Telecom and (2) I only have 2 celfones.

In the Philippines, the mobile phone user generally has 2 handsets/units.  The primary being a Globe/Smart sim while the secondary being a Sun Cellular sim.  Now why the need for the secondary unit with a Sun sim?  Well, it's a cost issue.  Sun Cellular offers unlimited texts and calls to other Sun Cellular sims for a set fee.  Unfortunately, the signal is spotty in certain areas and sometimes the bandwidth is full.

So here comes uMobile.  But then the concept of being Asia's first ad-funded mobile didn't work. They were unable to get 10K users by the year end. Connectivity Unlimited Resource Enterprise, Inc. (CURE) which owned uMobile was at a loss because it needed to jumpstart their 3G offering or it loses its license.  Now here comes Smart Telecoms to the rescue.  They basically bought CURE to expand their 3G license.

Red and 3G.  Red Mobile is positioned to go after the secondary phone segment, those with  Sun Cellular sim cards.  Well to rationalize it first, to carry 3 phones is crazy.  So instead, dislodge the current secondary phone network.  The offering of Red Mobile to Red Mobile  is very interesting.

But then the need for a 3G mobile unit.  Hmm... Red Mobile/Smart is poised to take on Sun Cellular by giving the consumer more quality at an incremental price of 50 cents per text/MMS/call minute/video call minute to another Red Mobile user.  Furthermore Smart has an extensive network compared to Sun.  Let's face it, Sun Cellular's service although spotty and at times very busy saves users a lot of money from using their Globe/Smart credits.  But then again, how much are we willing to pay for reliability... at a cheap rate?

I personally haven't decided yet if I am moving to Red Mobile.  My free sim hasn't arrived yet.  I would predict thought that Filipinos will stay with Sun Cellular.  Free is still free, as long as its cheap (hell yeah!).