Free GPRS Access From Globe

A few months ago I wrote an article about having free mobile access to Facebook through Globe. After using it for quite a while, I figured out, that it wasn’t just Facebook that can be accessed free, it’s basically everything! Yes everything, including Twitter, Yahoo!, Google, etc. To be exact, it’s not actually free, strictly speaking, there are some conditions to be fulfilled.

1. I’m on Prepaid. I’m not sure if it will work on Postpaid, I haven’t tried. But since all prepaid subscribers are automatically on Time-based internet charging, I think it makes sense.
2. I’m on Time-based charging. As explained from above, I’m on prepaid. Last time I checked, prepaid subscribers cannot switch to per-KB charging. So basically, I’ll be charged ₱5.00 per 5 minutes of surfing.
3. I use GPRS. I use it on my mobile phone which is not 3G-capable, but can browse using Edge GPRS. I’m not sure about the 3G or 4G thing though. I use myGlobe Connect settings.
4. I use my phone’s native browser. I haven’t tried it with other mobile browsers like Opera Mini or Bolt Browser, it’s not because I don’t want to, it’s because I can’t. I’ve been asking Globe customer service for 3 years now about the “Subscribe to Packet Data” thing when I launch Opera Mini and other apps that connect to the net, but they’ll just ignore you. If you ask them through chat, they say that it’s not their problem and log out of the chatroom. If you talk to them through phone, they’ll just say they’ll see what they can do and send you GPRS settings that they’ve already sent you 5 calls ago.
5. I haven’t tried any Unlisurf promos. I’m not sure if this can be considered as a condition, but it’s useless to subscribe to Unlimited surfing, when you can get it free.
6. I keep my load below ₱5.00. I can’t emphasize this enough. Here is the tricky part, if you browse using your phone with lots of load, it will, for sure, incur browsing charges. But if you keep it below ₱5.00, Time-based charging can’t charge you, but you can surf the web just fine.

Try it, have your load, say ₱3.50, then open your mobile web browser and go to Facebook Mobile. If you’ve been connected, then lucky for you, you can browse just fine. Surf a bit more and check for your load. If your balance remains the same, then what I’ve written above is true. But if your balance becomes zero, then lucky for you, since you’ve browsed the web through your phone for the price of ₱3.50 instead of the usual ₱5.00. But of course, it’ll be slow, don’t set your hopes up too high.

I’m hoping that this isn’t a bug on Globe’s part. But I’m hoping more that they wouldn’t try to fix this. I think it’ll be a big advantage for Globe over other networks to offer free slow internet browsing to all subscribers and having a faster internet access for those paying customers. So while we still have access to this free service, switch your SIMs to Globe now!!

I am not claiming that this will work for everyone, but this works for me. Please take note that these are how my mobile phone is set-up and not in any way the exact set-up needed to get this to work. Try and experiment what works for you. Post a comment if it works.