I used SMART sim when I stayed in the Philippines for about 1 week.
There are Philippine sims available like SMART and GLOBE at the airports. The staff there help you set up from activation to registration of a plan in your mobile phone, so you don’t need to do anything.
However it’s a little expensive for me. That’s why I set it up by myself. If you want to set a sim up by yourself in the Philippines, follow the steps below.
Buying a smart sim and a data card(data, call ＆ text card)
You can buy a smart sim and a data card at many places, like smart shops,
convenience stores, phone shops and local stores.
The price for the sim is P40. There are 3 types of data cards (data, call ＆ text card). You can choose from P100, P300 and P500.
This time, I will introduce the plan “GIGA 99” which I registered for myself. It has 1,5GB data for 1 week.
In addition, SMART has 1GB of free data that is in promotion at that moment.
You need to buy a smart sim (P40) and a P100 data card, P140 of the total price is about ＄3 at that exchange rate.
Smart Communications, Inc.[PH]
Activation
First, set the sim in your mobile phone.
If needed, set APN, and enter these words below.
- NAME – SMART LTE
- APN – SMARTLTE
Then, they will send you 2 messages. The first message that I got had
Enjoy 300MB FREE DATA valid for 3 days ! Load at least P30 in the next 3 days and get additional 700MB FREE DATA ! No registration needed.
Smart Communications, Inc.[PH]
Since the additional 700MB free data is valid for 3 days from the activation, you need to load P100 as soon as possible if you want to get it.
Load (top up)
Scratch the back of the data card as shown below. 14-digit numbers will show up.
Then follow the instructions at the back of the card.
You will hear the voice guidance and receive some messages. Now, you can use 1GB free data valid for 3 days .
Register the plan
You need to register “GIGA 99” plan before using it up or it expires.
Send GIGA99 to 9999, like this.
They will send you some messages again and you can use 1,5GB data valid for 7 days. The total is 2,5GB valid for 10 days.
That’s it for the set up.
For your information, your phone number will be written on the back of the sim card.
I hope you’ll enjoy your stay in the Philippines.
