Today marks the first day of the availability of the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 5c through Smart and Globe!
For those who didn’t pre-order, here’s a quick rundown of each telco’s offering. Read through it and tell us in the comment section: Under which network are you getting your new iPhone?
Smart
Under Smart, interested customers can avail of the 16GB iPhone 5s for only PHP 1,799 under the iPhone Plan 999. This includes a monthly service fee of PHP 999 plus PHP 800 device amortization via credit card. Plan 999 comes with 40 free call minutes, 100 free SMS, and unlimited data.
For the iPhone 5c, subscribers can get any color variant of the 16GB model also under the iPhone Plan 999 with PHP 500 device amortization via credit card, amounting to a PHP 1,499 monthly fee.
Subscribers who choose to avail of either device under Smart’s Freedom Plan—the telco’s postpaid offering that comes with no lock-out period and no fixed monthly fees—will get free 250Mb of data worth PHP 300 every month for the first year of subscription.
For subscribers of Smart’s Infinity Power Plan, which comes with unlimited calls, SMS and data to Smart and Sun, the 32GB iPhone 5c and the 16GB/32GB iPhone 5s is offered for free under Plan 8000.
Both phones are also available for free under the Infinity Enterprise Plan 5000, which includes unlimited data, calls and SMS to all networks. The same applies to the Infinity Enterprise Plan 8000, which adds unlimited IDD and international SMS to all countries and all networks on top of the features included in Plan 5000.
Subscribers of Smart’s regular Infinity offers (Aspire 3500, Prestige 5000, and Premium 8000), meanwhile, can get bonus freebies upon subscription to any of the the iPhone 5s or 5c plans. Subscription to the iPhone 5s (16GB) plan under Plan 5000 comes with two VIP tickets to the Philippine staging of Wicked or PHP 14,000 worth of Rustan’s gift certificates.
Those who want to upgrade to the new iPhone deals but are still under an active contract can choose to wipe out their existing contract for a fee that can be discounted up to 75% of the applicable charge. Trade-in deals are also being offered at Smart stores in Rockwell, Robinsons Magnolia, SM North EDSA, Festival Mall, and the Jump Experience Center in SM Megamall.
Globe
Globe recently launched the iPhone 5s and 5c under the new Globe iPhone Forever plan, an exclusive upgrade program that lets new and existing subscribers swap their current iPhones for the latest model every year.
The iPhone Forever suite consists of five plans. Each includes one or a combination of any of the following services: a consumable monetary amount, unlimited calls and texts to Globe/TM numbers, unlimited calls and texts to all networks, and LTE browsing.
Those who apply for any of the five plans offered under the suite will be able to get an iPhone 5s or a 5c for free upon subscription. Then, when Apple releases a new iPhone model the following year, subscribers can then trade in their existing iPhone models to avail of the new one for free or with minimal cash-out as soon as it’s available in the country, without having to reset the lock-in period for their respective subscriptions.
If the subscriber is still under an active contract or subscription lock-in period during the time that a new iPhone model is released, the clock will not reset. In contrast, if subscribers sign up for a new plan, they would be required to lock in for a new 24-month period.
Though the main idea is to be able to swap one iPhone for another, other gadgets are also accepted based on a tier system.
Under iPhone Forever Plan 1599, subscribers can get the iPhone 5c 16GB for free over a 24-month contract period. This comes with a consumable amount of PHP 601 and 1GB PowerSurf LTE browsing. Plan 2999 comes with a free 16GB iPhone 5s, a consumable amount of PHP 101, unlimited LTE browsing, and unlimited calls and texts to Globe/TM numbers over a 24-month lock-in period.
Interested customers can avail of an iPhone Forever plan from 15 November until 31 December of 2013. After which, the process of signing up for a new plan for an iPhone 5s or 5c will revert to the old scheme—having to pre-terminate one’s existing contract before applying for another.
The iPhone 5s and 5c are also offered at regular postpaid plans under Globe’s My Super Plan. Under Plan 999, the iPhone 5c can be availed at a PHP 1,799 monthly fee, inclusive of the PHP 800 cash-out for the device. The plan both have unlimited LTE surfing and consumable monetary amounts for calls and texts. The iPhone 5s, meanwhile, is available under Plan 1799 with a monthly cash-out of PHP 400 for the device, amounting to a total monthly fee of PHP 2,199 at the minimum.
Subscribers who will avail of the newest iPhone devices on launch day under Globe are also eligible to avail of a free one-year subscription to GCASH Virtual Pay and get up to 50% off on iPhone accessories.