What are the features and precautions of "povo" that is cheap at 2480 yen a month and allows you to use unlimited data?

With the announcement of au's new price brand "povo," KDDI has taken the lead in price cut competition. With the new charge of "20GB + 2980 yen", povo is unique in that it offers a further 500 yen cheaper option to those who do not need a flat-rate call, and the topping of unlimited data per day for 200 yen at a time. Here, I would like to consider the precautions when choosing povo from the new charges of the three companies that will start all at once from March.

Au's new charge brand "povo" that can be used from 2480 yen a month by setting a separate flat-rate call

Remove unnecessary items to support low-priced data mass usage

Regarding povo's rate plan, it is sometimes said that there are inconveniences such as "500 yen cheaper monthly", but once it was in DoCoMo "ahamo" and Softbank "SoftBank on LINE" 5 Since there is no flat-rate call for minutes, you can use it from 2480 yen a month (all tax excluded), which is 500 yen cheaper than the 2 services. A flat-rate call for up to 5 minutes can be added for 500 yen per month, in which case it will be the same as the 2 services (all-you-can-call is 1500 yen per month, and the total is also the same).

It seems that some people misunderstand that "call charges are different" and misunderstand that they can not make calls at all, but of course there is a call function, and the only difference is that the flat-rate call is not included in the basic plan. It can be said that. There is no rate plan that can not be separated from the flat-rate calls among the three major carriers, even if new subscribers are already available. Call charges are pay-as-you-go even for ordinary landlines. From the long history of telephones, the flat-rate call set is a special category.

In the first place, for those who usually use call functions such as LINE and rarely make calls by phone number, it would be better if there is no flat-rate call and the payment amount goes down.

For those who rarely make calls with phone numbers, the flat-rate call option would of course be better.Of course, those who need it can be added.

In today's world, where there are other means of communication besides calling, it is natural that the number of calls made by phone number is reduced, so it can be said that povo's pricing design is more user-oriented. I wonder if the rate plan that forcibly incorporates the flat-rate call is aimed at adding the average payment amount.

Still, you might think that povo's monthly 20GB traffic is too much. In that respect as well, KDDI has a plan for UQ mobile with 3GB and 1480 yen per month. With UQ mobile, you can make contracts at the store, and it can be said that it offers a more balanced option than other companies.

UQ mobile also has a price cut of 3GB from 1480 yen a month, which is lower than the cheap SIM of MVNO

Another thing I like about povo is the "24-hour all-you-can-use" topping that can be used for an additional 200 yen. Even if you apply it every day, it will be 6000 yen, and if you add the basic plan of 2480 yen, it will be 8480 yen. Even if you use it only every weekend, it costs 4280 yen 9 times a month.

au has "Unlimited use MAX" (starting in March) that allows you to use all-you-can-use data on your smartphone for 6580 yen a month, but there is a limit of 30GB per month for tethering. povo has no such restrictions. I also appreciate the fact that povo can be an attractive option for users who are considering mass use of data.

It seems that the terminal can use the existing iPhone etc. as it is

If you are satisfied with the price and decide to choose povo, the next point to note is smartphone compatibility. Initially, it is said that there is no set sale of terminals, so you need to prepare something yourself. And even if you switch from other than au or UQ mobile, there is a problem that you can use your smartphone as it is just by exchanging the SIM.

Details of the terminal that has been confirmed to work with povo will be announced before the service starts, but at the moment, the information on the UQ mobile site seems to be a guide.

This is the same as when using a cheap SIM of au network, there is a problem of compatibility with "au VoLTE" and frequency band, and in general there is a "habit" to choose a terminal over the network of DoCoMo or Softbank. It is said. In addition, although detailed information on compatible terminals on povo has not been announced yet, it seems to be basically equivalent to the cheap SIM of MVNO that uses UQ mobile and au network.

In the case of iPhone, it is simple, and if it is an iPhone that is officially available in Japan, there is no problem with frequency support, and as long as the SIM lock is released, there should be no problem with au VoLTE support for iPhone 6s generation and later. And since the au version of iPhone 8 or later, there is no need to unlock the SIM, which should be the same for povo. Even if you actually look at the operation check terminal of UQ mobile, all the correspondence including the latest iPhone 12 series is described.

Android is au VoLTE compatible and pay attention to compatible bands

Since there are many Android devices, individual confirmation is required. The point is that voice calls using phone numbers cannot be used at all on models that do not support "au VoLTE". And in the case of Android smartphones of DoCoMo and Softbank, most of them do not support the platinum band of the au network, which means that the area will be limited.

As for compatible bands, all models support band 1, so it is not unusable, but models that do not support band 18/26, which is au's platinum band, may have a narrower area. However, within the scope of my experience, it seems that even if a model that does not support band 18/26 is used in the au network, it will not be significantly narrowed.

On the other hand, regarding the problem of au VoLTE, most of the SIM-free terminals that are officially sold in Japan are compatible, and surprisingly many Android smartphones sold by Docomo / Softbank are compatible with au VoLTE if SIM unlock is released. .. However, there are definitely some models that do not support it.

As a confirmation method, at the moment, the operation confirmation terminal on UQ mobile is also a guide. There is no problem if "○" is in the correspondence table of UQ mobile, but most of "△" are models that support bands and the area is likely to be limited, and "×" and "-" are models that cannot be used.

Most of the models that do not support it are not listed, so it is difficult to understand, but as far as I know, the relatively recent models of SIM-free machines do not support Motorola "moto g7 power", Huawei "HUAWEI nova lite 2", etc. The "TCL 10 Lite" that appeared in 2020 was not initially supported, and was supported by an update. Since the problem of au VoLTE is important, it is the first item to check when diverting a terminal.

At the beginning of publication, the article title was incorrect. We apologize for the inconvenience. (1/24 19:00)