By Azer N. Parrocha
MANILA, Oct. 13 (PNA) — Telecom giant Smart Communications (Smart) announced on Tuesday that it has expanded the coverage of its Surf Abroad 550 data roaming package to cover more than 110 countries around the world.
From just 57 countries in 2014, Smart’s data roaming coverage has been expanded in 53 additional countries, including top tourism destinations such as Myanmar, India, Finland, and Luxembourg.
Smart said that it expects a longer list to include a total of 180 countries around the world by yearend.
Surf Abroad 550 will give users high-speed mobile Internet connections in covered countries, valid for one day available for only PhP550 per day.
Smart’s new offer is powered by a network-lock technology that makes sure the service only works on partner networks, and eliminates the hassle of having to manually select a roaming partner whenever a subscriber wants to access data services.
By automatically registering to the service with preferred roaming partners abroad, subscribers will no longer have to suffer from “bill shock” when they return to the country.
Once the service is active, subscribers will receive an SMS notification informing them that they have already been subscribed to the enhanced Surf Abroad 550 package.
Smart Executive Vice President and Enterprise Business Head Eric Alberto said in a statement that the roaming package is now bigger with the widest data roaming coverage and enhanced user experience.
“This is aligned with our strategy to take advantage of the booming tourism industry, serve the communication needs of the growing number of Filipino travelers, and remove their fear of bill shock when it comes to data roaming,” Alberto said.
Smart Global Access and International Services head Tina Mariano, for her part, said that surfing abroad will no longer be a hassle for its subscribers.
“Now, all users have to do is turn on ‘data roaming’ on their data-enabled phones and they will instantly be connected to our preferred roaming partners in that country,” Mariano said.
“No more need to register via text or call our roaming hotline. This is part of our commitment to allow our subscribers to live the ‘Smart Life’ even while traveling overseas,” she added. (PNA)