This morning, I received a mail from Smile Communications Nigeria offering me the Smile Freedom Mobile plan. It was my first time of hearing of it and I was intrigued. Unlimited data, voice, SMS and a free SIM for just ₦5,000? Who wouldn’t want such a deal?
So, I clicked through to the Smile Communications website to find out more – and found nothing about it there. Sigh. Why is this information not on your website, Smile? Anyway, I really wanted to know what this offer was all about. So, I buzzed the company up to ask for the details.
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Features of Smile Freedom Mobile plan
It isn’t really a data plan in the regular sense of the word. It is a promo. It would have been more appropriate to call I the Smile Freedom Mobile Data promo. It gives you unlimited data for 30 days, and that is it. The promo is over.
You can recharge any data bundle after 30 days, though Smile prefers that you subscribe to one of the Freedom plans. Any of the available Smile data plans that you subscribe to will do, though, so no worries.
Note that this will work only for 4G smartphones that are compatible with Smile’s network, so be sure to find out from the sales person if your phone is compatible.
How much is Smile Freedom Mobile plan?
For just ₦5,000, you get a SIM card, unlimited data for 30 days, voice, and SMS.
If you ask me, it is a good deal for the 30-day validity. If you don’t have a Smile SIM yet, this is a great way to join the network. If you already have a Smile SIM and want to enjoy this promo on your SIM card, sorry; it isn’t available for your existing SIM/line. You get a new SIM when you buy the Freedom Mobile plan.
If existing Smile subscribers could take advantage of Smile Freedom Mobile plan , I’d be on my way to a Smile shop right now to get mine. But I already have one Smile SIM card and don’t need another. Over to you.
January 2024 Update
It turned out that Smile Communications eventually made the Freedom mobile offer into a data plan that you can use on and on, for just ₦5,000 monthly. Here is what you now get when you activate the Freedom Mobile SIM (your existing regular Smile SIM card is not eligible):
- unlimited data, with a data cap of 1.5GB per day with data speed up to 3Mbps. If you use more than 1.5GB in a day, your Internet connection speed is then dropped down to a maximum of 512Kbps.
- 10 local off-net minutes in calls
- 10 local off-net SMSs
- unlimited FREE on-net calls
- Send and receive SMS using Voice on the FREE MySmile App
I am a sucker for unlimited data. As far as I can tell, it is the data equivalent of financial freedom. Unlimited data allows you to use the Internet without any worries about running out of an allocated data volume. 1.5GB data daily means you get about 45GB data at regular speeds monthly.
And seeing as Smile Communications is also one or my favourite network operators, you can imagine my excitement. I already have fibre optics unlimited data at home. It would be nice to also have unlimited data when I am out an about in Lagos city. But this plan is inadequate for me, even on mobile daily. In all, I consume about 5GB of data daily. This would likely cramp my style.
Still, I think this is a good product for many mobile subscribers who are not heavy users. If you use between 1GB and 2GB data daily on your smartphone, you might want to consider this plan and get unlimited data for your smartphone for just 5,000 per month.
Note that the Smile Freedom Mobile plan restricts you to usage on your phone only. I doubt that you will be able to tether with it i.e. share your internet to other devices via mobile hotspot.
What about the esim