Yesterday, I received an email introducing Smile SuperData Plan, a new data plan from the 4G LTE network. Smile SuperData Plan costs N10,000 and gives the subscriber 15GB of data for 30 days. The data can be rolled over as well. I read the mail and moved on. Looking back, I wondered why I as unexcited about this huge leap from what obtained on Smile network before now.
Smile SuperData Plan versus The 4G LTE Competition
In order to make a clear case as to why I think that Smile SuperData Plan is not enticing, let us look at what the competition has to offer:
- Ntel: N10,000 gets me unlimited internet (throttled after 200GB usage)
- InterC: N10,000 gets me 25GB
- MTN 4G: N10,000 gets me 15GB
- Spectranet: N10,000 gets me 25GB
Why Smile SuperData Plan?
The question one needs to ask now is, If I have N10,000 to splurge on internet, why settle for 15GB on Smile SuperData Plan? What is stopping me from just getting the unlimited plan form Ntel? Coverage? Then perhaps my next best bet is Spectranet. The very last 4G networks on my list would be Smile and MTN, which both give me the least value for money.
No Significant Difference in Performance
What is even more pertinent is that there is no more a significant difference in performance on Smile compared to the competition. For several months, I had received reports from a handful of users that Smile 4G was no longer fast. Eventually, it became my personal experience too. If an ISP is going to offer less volume than the competition, let it be because their network delivers better performance. That isn’t the case here, sadly.
15GB from Smile SuperData Plan isn’t competitive or real value for money, in my opinion. It fails to hit the mark in either volume or performance. Smile needs to return to the drawing board on this one.