The end of the month is fast approaching, and you check your smartphone to see if you’ve exhausted your mobile data quota—to your genuine surprise, you find that you’ve got about 60% left of your monthly quota, and just a few days to use it up.
Sound familiar? For many users (including this writer), we often overestimate the amount of data we actually consume through our mobile devices. But with Wi-Fi accessibility growing and spreading, most of us end up with a surplus in our data plans at the end of each month.
Enter Simplify, a Malaysian app that allows users to sell excess mobile data for a fee. Currently only available for Android, Simplify was rated as one of the 50 Most Innovative Companies for 2017 by Fast Company.
The mobile technology startup (that was started in 2016) recently expanded its services, with a move made into the fixed broadband space. Smarter Wi-Fi was launched in conjunction with the 50th World Telecommunication and Information Society Day, and works pretty much the same way as the mobile data version.
How it works
The app makes things pretty simple. Sign up, set up your SSID and password (we’d recommend something unique), and you’re good to go.
Payments are made through PayPal and for Malaysia, the rate is RM10/GB. According to Simplify, if you’re buying internet, you won’t be required to enter in a password—all in the name of speed.
Simplify apparently assures users that the app double-encrypts hotspot passwords, while they also do not store Wi-Fi passwords on the cloud.
As mentioned earlier, the service is now also available for fixed broadband connections as well. After signing up on their page, users are given unique Wi-Fi credentials to use on their routers.
Again, users that are buying Wi-Fi access here aren’t required to enter in passwords. Do note that we haven’t had the chance to try the Smarter Wi-Fi, so do let us know in the comments if you’d like us to give it a go.
Come in handy
In short, Simplify is targeting 3 main market segments for the service;
- Users with unlimited data plans.
- Those with mid-tier data plans with huge data quotas.
- Those using prepaid plans with very limited quotas.
They have also pushed its benefits for drivers who work in the e-hailing industry, while travel and tourism are also industries that Simplify feels could be relevant.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to clarify Simplify’s internet selling rate of RM10/GB.
