Circles.Life ups ante with unlimited data on demand

Virtual telco Circles.Life upped the ante in the mobile data war by offering unlimited data on demand to its users for $3 a day.

It announced this yesterday, along with unlimited WhatsApp messaging at $1 a day for users travelling to 18 countries.

Called WhatsApp Passport, it is the first time messaging service WhatsApp has teamed up with a telco anywhere in the world to offer such a service.

The services are available immediately for existing and new users.

Like other unlimited data plans, Circles.Life's offering will see speeds capped after 100GB of use each month, as per its fair use policy.

Co-founder and director Abhishek Gupta said: "How do people actually use our service? If you use Netflix and House Of Cards comes out, you want to watch it, no matter whether you're on the bus or train.

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"The best thing is a localised service - on that day you want unlimited data."

Its tie-up with WhatsApp will allow users to send text and voice messages, pictures and videos, over the chat app without activating a full roaming plan.

But they will not be able to make audio or video calls under the Passport service.

Co-founder and director Rameez Ansar said: "What bothers people most (when travelling) is that they suddenly feel disconnected from family and friends. With this service, they don't have to feel that way."

Principal consultant at QED Consulting Ryan Lim said the offerings will benefit consumers because they "encourage the mainstream telco players to react to them".

"But ultimately the users Circles.Life is targeting are still quite a small group who are extremely data-heavy, so it might not change the industry that much," he said.

The telco also launched an unlimited local outgoing call service for a $16 add-on a month.

It will officially enter the Indonesian market as the first digital telco there in the later part of this year as well.

On Wednesday, the organiser had to cancel two events promoting the unlimited data offering.

A cash machine offering $50 in exchange for $3 drew hundreds at Raffles Place, but the crowd was asked to disperse when police arrived to control the situation.

No event permit had been applied for.

Mr Delbert Ty, head of marketing for Circles.Life said: "We had to interrupt the event because the crowd became too overwhelming, so it wasn't really because the police stopped us."