Techolo reading through the fine print of Smart’s recently announced free internet promo:

So what is the scope of this free internet? This is applicable to all active prepaid subscribers. It will be free for up to 30MB and still subject to promo terms and fair use. Active users are those who have at least one peso load or is subscribed to any load bucket or promo.

Of course, with everything free, comes some fine print. These are the type of websites excluded from the promo:

• Download, stream and watch videos (Youtube, Vimeo)
• Use VOIP apps (FaceTime, FaceTime Audio, Skype, Viber, Tango)
• Use messaging apps (Whatsapp, WeChat, Line, Viber)
• Peer-to-peer file-sharing sites and apps like Bittorrent

These caveats are expected. However, the exclusion of messaging apps seems weird to me. They are allowing photo upload (here’s a cached, text-only version of the announcement. For some reason, the actual page is not showing up on me) so why not messaging? If they are trying to “stimulate the internet habit”, messaging apps would be one of the best way to convey the message.