Smartbro Prepaid, a service that is already active in most handsets.

June 4, 2008 · Filed Under Pinoy Technology Scene, Technology

You may not know it, but if you happen to be a SMART subscriber with GPRS or 3G service active, and of course have a GPRS or 3G cellphone, you need not buy the prepaid kit that SMART is selling at 4500pesos in order to access “SmartBro Prepaid”.

I find the Smartbro prepaid branding to be misleading. It’s quite obvious that the marketing brains behind this campaign is just riding on the popularity of Smartbro. People would think that this is the same Smartbro service that uses a Motorola Canopy antenna that is mounted on the roof. Smartbro prepaid is different from Smartbro because it uses the same technology and is charged the same as the SMART 3G service, which is 10pesos per 30minutes of use.

So, why spend 4500pesos if you’ve got a 3G pone? You just have to install the CD drivers that came with your cellphone and connect the USB cable from your PC or laptop into your phone then fire up the dialer.

To be able to surf using your SMART cellphone, you’ll have to activate GPRS or 3G first. Clck here for instructions on how to do this.

Also, if you are a heavy Internet user, it is better to get Smartbro (yes the one with the antenna on your roof). Not only that this service is faster (area dependent) but is also cheaper in the long run, since it has a fixed billing of 999pesos per month regardless of the number of hours used.