Thursday, January 19, 2012

Cost of mobile data

I bought a prepaid data card in Jakarta for $15. It allowed me to download 1G of data over 30 days. As I stay for 3 days, my cost is $5 a day. On my return to Jakarta 40 days later, I found that the data card could still be used, i.e. the 30 day limit did not apply. So, the data card of $15 could be used for 6 days or $2.50 a day.

The mobile operators in Singapore charge $14 or $20 for each day of "roaming" data access in Jakarta. Their charges are too high.

I have found that it is much cheaper to buy a prepaid data plan at the destination, rather than use the roaming service. I hope that the mobile operators review their charges to be competitive. 

3 comments:

TG said...

Hi Mr Tan,

Are you aware of the SOPA/PIPA in US?

What is your stand regarding a similar law like these in Spore?

Pls read this too and air your coment is possible.

Thanks.

Anonymous said...

That is the reason why I use a dual SIM phone. Unfortunately the only dual SIM smartphones are those produced by not so reliable brands. But if it is mainly for calls, sms and limited internet, then Samsung has Champ Duos with wifi.

sengbw said...

When I was in Bali last year, I wanted to get a prepaid data SIM card as well for my Internet usage, but the staff at the convenience store just cannot understand what I was referring to. In the end, I gave up and use the wifi service by my hotel.

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