With the current situation being in the middle of a pandemic adapting to the new normal is not an easy feat.
The same holds with our current working arrangement. It looks like everyone or at least the majority of the workforce has resorted to the work-from-home model. Not to mention the implementation of distance learning as students are now back to its school year activities.
And the most essential for a work-from-home / distant-learning arrangement is that you need to have a stable Internet connection. Too bad for us here in the Philippines. We ranked 121st out of 139 countries in terms of mobile internet speed while 110th out of 174 for the fixed broadband according to the OOKLA's April 2020 Speedtest Global Index assessment report.
In my area SMART signal is useless, so I'm using Globe. While I can use Globe its signal is still too weak like when you are watching Netflix shows buffering is a norm. Yeah, sounds frustrating but there's no other way, just deal with it period or if you are into positivity (lol) - maybe you want to spit out a line or two like "this too shall pass". Lol.
Then my colleague introduces me to the GOMO sim card she said good things about it. And I was like, "oh wow". She said the item can be purchase through Lazada and Shopee but at that time it was sold-out on both platforms. She added the sim card can also be bought through its web site. We ended up ordering after some browsing and weighing the reviews pros and cons.
GOMO is 5G ready and currently on its promo price at Php 199. As per their website, the sim card SRP is Php 299. So if you buy it today (see date posted) you can save 100 pesos.
And what comes with the sim card? It is initially loaded with a 25GB of data. The good thing about this deal is that the data has no expiration it will stay there for a year if you won't use it, lol. Currently, all Telco's in the Philippines have expiration for all their offered data promos. Although the Senate is pushing a bill to remove data expiration on all data bundles and promos. A bill by the way is being proposed by Senator Lapid in line with the current situation as everyone relies on data to access important activities. But see GOMO went ahead. Lol.
Another good thing about GOMO is part of that 25GB can be converted to the following promo pack. Again, with no expiration.
- You can convert 0.2GB or 200MB for 3 Minutes Call to all network
- You can convert 0.2GB or 200MB for 30 Texts to all networks
- You can convert 0.5GB or 500MB for 50 Texts + 5 Minutes Call to all networks
And that's not the grandest part. Let's talk about speed. And I am talking based on my own opinion being someone who tested it in the face.
But first, let me remind you that its sim card can be used in any open line devices with a sim slot. It could be a mobile, tablet, or router/modem.
I bought two sim cards so I am using both on my mobile phone and my Globe-at-home prepaid broadband. The one thing I noticed though in terms of speed. It is not faring well on an Android devices, I tried both on Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro and Huawei Nova 7i (My bad, Huawei no longer an Android phone, oh yeah App Gallery then, lol) and the speed is not quite impressive unlike when you put in an iPhone device or broadband. I tried it in my iPhone 6S and the speed looks good, so I put it in my iPhone XS being my primary mobile phone.
And here's the comparison of its speed, Globe versus GOMO. Globe is the first image (left) while the second image (right) is GOMO.
See the difference, it's more than half of Globe and I'm coming from the northern part of Quezon City. The speed may vary depending on your locations. My colleague being at the center of the metropolis is getting more than 50 Mbps on download and 20+ Mbps on upload. Isn't it lovely?
GOMO calls itself the "digital telco" or mobile virtual network operator (MVNO). Because they can operate without having to put their own radio frequencies like the traditional Telcos. They can just partner with these Telcos to use their frequencies for their offered services.
Little is known about GOMO but Internet suggests the company started in Singapore and runs under SingTel. They have expanded their services in Ireland under Eir and Thailand under AIS. Here in the Philippines, its services are carried by Globe Telecom.
Oh in case you want to ask why it is called GOMO. According to its Singapore Singtel CEO of Consumer - GOMO means, "Go Out More Often". Nope, not to multiply (lol) but go out and make your self noticed. Yeah just like you were catching the Pokemons. Lol.
So have you tried the GOMO yet?