A few days ago, Dialog announced a number of per day home broadband packages. Their stated goal here is to “deliver affordable and accessible world-class internet services to all Sri Lankans.” Ever curious to get the best bang for the buck when it comes to data packages, we decided to check out said per day home broadband packages.
According to this article in the DailyFT, the per day home broadband packages included a daily recurring package priced at LKR 25 that gave the user 1GB of Data. Those who were looking at something heavier could pay LKR 120 and get 5GB of data. For LKR 200 you could then get 10GB of data.
If you’re not familiar with these terms, anytime data refers to data that can be used from 8 am to 11.59 pm whereas nighttime data kicks in from 12 midnight till 7.59am. So as you can see, despite saying you’ll be getting 1GB of data, conditions apply.
Delving a little deeper into the exact specifics of these packages, we found out that as always, there is a catch. For example, for LKR 25, your 1GB data package is split into 500MB anytime data and 500MB night time data. The same holds true for the rest of the packages all the way up to LKR 650 which gives you a total of 20GB. This again is split into 10GB available anytime and 10GB at nighttime.
Let’s take a look at the numbers
We decided to look at the cost of running a per day home broadband package vs Dialog’s existing Home Broadband package.
With the Per Day Home Broadband Package, the cost is roughly around LKR 4,800 for a month on the basis that you activate the 1GB daily package for a total of 30 days. The 20GB data that you get is only upon activation so after the first month, if you decide to stay with the daily package, that would cost you LKR 750 per month.
While this does seem like a good deal, there’s a catch. We mentioned that users would get 20GB of free data upon activation. Well, that is split into Anytime data and Nighttime data. The same holds true for the daily recurring package of 1GB. So if you activate the pack daily, you end up with only 15GB to use from 8 am till 11.59pm. If you’re not the type who can stay up late and download stuff, then the night time data is going to be a waste.
On the other hand, going for a regular Home Broadband package such as the Lite Package gives you a total of 60GB split equally for anytime data and night-time data. With a one time fee of LKR 2,900, the monthly fee is LKR 1,400. So while that’s a first-month cost of LKR 4,300, the monthly rental would be LKR 1,400 plus taxes.
Similarly, the Lite Plus Home Broadband package gives a total of 130GB (65+65) for a monthly rental of LKR 2,900 and the same initial investment of LKR 2,900. The Ultra Home Broadband package gives you 180GB (90+90) total with a monthly rental of LKR 3,900 and the initial investment stays the same at LKR 2,900.
By the look of it, Dialog’s Broadband Starter Package and their Prepaid plan for LKR 650 almost trades blows with each other. But the Starter package gets an additional 10GB over their prepaid plan but costs LKR 900 per month.
If you’re the type of person who is on the move and can’t rely on a 4G router for connectivity, you can always activate a data package on your smartphone and create a WiFi hotspot for your devices to connect to the internet. Dialog has a number of plans for both prepaid connections and postpaid connections.
Alternatively, you can also purchase a 4G mobile hotspot. After that, you can slot in a Dialog 4G SIM into it and activate a data package. This gives you mobile internet wherever you are, minus the bulk of carrying around a 4G router or searching for a power outlet to plug it into.
So are per day home broadband packages worth it?
This is where things get interesting. Firstly, with each per day home broadband package, there’s a connection fee of LKR 3,990. By paying this fee, you get a router and a broadband connection setup for yourself. If you already have a broadband connection, then obviously, this fee will not be added. Yet the initial investment for the monthly packages is only LKR 2,990.
Furthermore, if you already have a Dialog Home Broadband connection, chances are that you’re already using an existing data package. As such, opting for a per-day data package seems useless. So then who do these per day home broadband connections work for?
Well, it could be targeted at those who are not interested in getting a monthly data package. So in that case, activating a per day home broadband package would make sense to them. But then again, as we said, you can also activate a data package on your smartphone, or invest in a portable WiFi hotspot. Dialog also notes that you would get a free 20GB data bundle (again split into 10GB) upon activation.
So if you’re not the type of person to use a lot of data, then this package itself would be useful for you. If you run out, you can always activate said per day home broadband package. On the other hand, as we said, if you already have a Dialog Home Broadband connection, then all of this is unnecessary. You can just get a data extension if you run out.
So, in short, Dialog’s Per Day Home Broadband Packages caters to a rather niche market who seem to want to invest in a home broadband connection but might not use it all the time. However, considering the initial investment needed, the better option would be to activate a regular home Broadband connection. You’re paying more in terms of the monthly rental, but you’re also getting a lot more in terms of usable data to download and stream to your heart’s content.