Celcom PortaWiFi is nothing new; in fact the brand and concept has been around for around two years. However, the previous iteration runs only on 3G, and the blue carrier is currently on a campaign to launch its new 4G LTE PortaWiFi dongle, which will go on sale in December 2014.

The “Wingle”

The dongle form factor is already revealing to you that this thing is not battery powered, and it has to be plugged into a USB port at all times for it to function. But Celcom argues that this very reason is also its strength, for it is just a stick, and you can just carry it anywhere without having to worry to charge the battery.

I believe the previous PortaWiFi dongle is a Huawei E355, but this time around, we’re looking at a Huawei E8278 LTE “Wingle” (WiFi dongle). It is a USB stick, taking a ‘full-sized’ mini-SIM, has dual-band 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, and does Category 4 LTE.

Up to 10 devices could connect to it, and there are also 3G and 2G fallbacks should it drop out of 4G coverage area. You can plug it in a laptop, the car stereo, or the supplied three-prong USB power adapter. It even has a microSD slot to file sharing across the WLAN.

Sites like Lelong and Mudah are currently selling it for RM400. Here are some of the specifications:

Huawei E8278s-602

• Dimensions: 90 x 30 x 13.2 mm, 40 grams
• Physical connection: Has a flip-out USB hinge, for better signal and tight spots
• 4G LTE: FDD 800/900/1800/2600 MHz, TDD 2600Mhz
• 3G: 850/900/1800/1900MHz
• 2G: 850/900/1800/1900MHz
• WiFi: 802.11 b/g/n, 2×2 MIMO, WPS, connect up to 10 devices
• Network: WiFi offload, DHCP server, DNS relay, NAT
• Antenna: Two external TS-9 antenna connectors
• SIM: Standard Mini-SIM, SMS text messaging support
• Storage: A microSD card slot
• Setup: Automatic driver installation, able to boot up and establish connection in 15 seconds
• Compatibility: OS X and Windows
• Accessories: Comes with a three-prong USB power adapter

The plans

There are three PortaWiFi plans for business, and there are also three 3G plans for the old PortaWiFi, but here we’re focusing on the three brand-new 4G PortaWiFi packages — Celcom First Data Basic, Advance, and Pro:

• Celcom First Data Basic: 4GB monthly, RM68 per month
• Celcom First Data Advance: 6GB monthly, RM98 per month
• Celcom First Data Pro: 10GB monthly, RM138 per month

There is a registration fee of RM100, advance payment of RM240 (which will be rebated back over 12 months), and RM50 for the PortaWiFi Wingle for the Basic plan (it is free for Advance and Pro subscribers).

If you’re getting the 4GB plan, you’ll be paying a total of RM390. Sure, you’ll get RM240 back, but you’ll also be tied to a one-year contract. An early termination fee of RM200 will be imposed if you terminate the service before that, and I take it that the rebate will also be forfeited. Also, there is no seven days money back guarantee for these PortaWiFi packages.

One nice little perk about some data plans like this one, is that both pay-per-use voice and SMS services are included, should you need to pop off the SIM card to be used in a smartphone.

The limo

Why the limousine for the promotion, you ask? Frankly I’m not sure either, for Celcom is known for its crazy, over-the-top events (remember KAX and “Football Mad Territory” campaigns). Heck, according to the promoters, we can’t even sign up for the 4G PortaWiFi plans yet, and it will only be available in December 2014.

In any case, it’s not everyday that we get to ride in a limo, so Vinot and I headed to Bangsar and Hartamas  on November 15th to check out what’s the deal.

The limo is a first generation Chrysler 300C, 3.5 liter V6 engine and all. Remember that the Huawei Wingle stick allows up to 10 devices to be connected to it? Celcom is trying to make a statement because this limo could take up to 10 passengers at a time, and all 10 would be able to connect to the same WiFi, while the car is moving.

It doesn’t get any loftier than this. The center of the ceiling is a mirror, adorned with fiber optic and neon disco lights. Leather seats, there is a mini bar, a few LCD displays, and a CD/DVD entertainment system. And of course, the Celcom PortaWiFi “Wingle” plugged into the stereo.

The bottom-line

But I digress. The thing is, if you’re a tech enthusiast, chances are you already own a smartphone. A smartphone with a data plan. A smartphone that doesn’t have a USB Type-A port. Unlike a ‘MiFi’ or a battery-powered portable WiFi modem, this dongle is useless if unplugged from a USB port.

On the flip side, it took me around 15 seconds to pick up the smartphone, unlock it with a PIN, find Settings, and turn on ‘Tethering & portable hotspot’. The same time it took for the PortaWiFi to boot up, without any intervention from me.

The Celcom 4G LTE speeds are not too impressive on the locations the limo was at. Vinot and I made five speed tests in total, and the fastest we’ve got is only 14Mbps. Good, but not the impressive speeds we were able to get (before its public launch). But the connection was stable enough that at one point, there were four devices connected to the PortaWiFi in the limo and we were able to surf the web as per normal.

Xiaomi Mi 3

• 11.99Mbps down, 2.48Mbps up (Menara UOA Bangsar)
• 0.64Mbps down, 0.44Mbps up (Desa Sri Hartamas)
• 2.48Mbps down, 1.79Mbps up (Desa Sri Hartamas)

Huawei Honor 6

• 13.36Mbps down, 1.84Mbps up (Desa Sri Hartamas)
• 14.32Mbps down, 2.17Mbps up (Desa Sri Hartamas)

Fortunately, there are 3G and 2G fallbacks, so even if you’re not in the 4G coverage area, you can still connect to the network.

At the end of the day, I see that the 4G PortaWiFi could appeal to two types of folks. The first are mobile workers like journalists that has to work on her laptop at random places all the time, and don’t want to worry about charging her MiFi all the time. Just plug it in and go. The second type of people are business executives who happen to have a driver. The driver could just permanently have the PortaWiFi plugged in. The executive at the back seat, he could just flip open his MacBook Air and work away without having to fiddle with his smartphone WiFi hotspot.

The launch

So there. If you’re interested to check out Celcom’s PortaWiFi limousine ride, it will be parading again on November 21st and 22nd, 2014. The official launch of Celcom’s 4G LTE PortaWiFi will only happen next month, in December 2014. But you could get to test it out this weekend, and perhaps check off the “ride in a limousine” entry in that bucket list of yours.

The exact venue may be subject to change, but I’ll try my best to update this post if I get any new information.

Friday, November 14th

• Solaris KL (12-3pm)
• Asia Cafe Subang (4-6pm)
• GIza Shopping Center (6-9pm)

Saturday, November 15th

• Menara UOA Bangsar (12-3pm)
• Desa Sri Hartamas (4-6pm)
• TTDI Rasta Food Court (6-9pm)

Friday, November 21st

• Sunway Pyramid (12-3pm)
• Setia Mall (4-6pm)
• Bangsar Telawi Street (6-9pm)

Saturday, November 22nd

• Publika Shopping Center (12-3pm)
• Giza Shopping Center (4-6pm)
• Changkat Bukit Bintang (6-9pm)

To learn more about Celcom 4G LTE PortaWiFi, visit: https://www.celcom.com.my/personal/plans/data/portawifi.

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Internet roaming has always been available from our carriers for its postpaid plans. But U Mobile is now launching (November 18th) its Free Internet Roaming feature for its prepaid customers in eight regions, and boasts to be the first in the market to have this offering. That’s right, not only is it for prepaid users, it is also free, albeit having a small data cap of just 50MB a day.

A similar perk was rolled out to U Mobile postpaid subscribers back in May, and for now, prepaid customers will only get the ‘free’ roaming internet in eight regions: Australia, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand.

To get this service running, simply have a credit top-up of RM50 and above, connect to U Mobile’s partner roaming carrier in the eight regions mentioned, and enjoy the free 50MB data allocated daily, for up to 30 days. Though it should happen automatically, it is important that you connect your U Mobile service to the correct carrier in these regions to get this offer:

• Australia: Telstra
• Cambodia: CamGSM
• Hong Kong: PCCW
• Indonesia: Telkomsel
• Philippines: Globe
• Singapore: Starhub
• Taiwan: Taiwan Mobile
• Thailand: True

U Mobile claims that the “everyday 50MB” will come in handy to look for directions, checking in, and instant messaging; especially instant messaging. 50MB a day is definitely not enough for any serious social networking and photo sharing. But even when the quota is exhausted, you could continue the internet roaming for RM30 a day, which is one of the cheapest, if not the cheapest internet roaming rate in the Malaysian market.

U Mobile said it was the first carrier in the market to offer Free Internet Roaming for its postpaid customers six months ago, as mentioned earlier. It was initially rolled out to work with only seven markets, but there are now a total of nine regions covered (one region more than the prepaid offering, which is India through Aircel).

Jasmine Lee, Chief Marketing Officer of U Mobile Sdn. Bhd. said in the launch event two days ago, “U Mobile recognizes the year-end as a conducive time for consumers to travel. 38% of leisure travelers and 57% of business travelers use their mobile devices to look up travel information or to stay connected with their loved ones or work. Looking at the rising consumer trend and demand for data usage, we believe our free internet roaming offerings, first available for postpaid users and now prepaid users, will be a great value-added service to our customers and a strong proposition for U Mobile.”

To learn more about U Mobile’s Free Internet Roaming, visit: https://www.u.com.my/international-roaming/unlimited-internet-roaming.

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Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) announced on December 30th, 2014, that it was recently awarded a RM720-million contract to lay down a submarine communications cable system, connecting Peninsular Malaysia to East Malaysia. The contract is said to be won by TM through an open tender process, and though the exact number of eligible licensees wasn’t being disclosed, The Star has reported that TM will be funding some RM200-million to RM300-million into the project.

Named ‘Sistem Kabel Rakyat 1Malaysia’ (SKR1M, or The People’s Cable System of 1Malaysia), it was first mentioned by Prime Minister Najib Razak during his 2014 Malaysian Budget (Bajet 2014) speech that took place on October 25th, 2013. The initial investment that was said to be required is RM850-million (on the PDF, go to page 8, article 55), which is more than the current forecasted investment of RM720-million. The project will be initiated by a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement between TM and Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), contributed by the Universal Service Provision (USP) Fund, which is also under the scope of MCMC itself.

TM will be responsible to operate and maintain the SKR1M cable system for 20 years, and since TM is investing up to RM300-million for both CAPEX and OPEX, it has been understood that MCMC (the government) will fund the rest of the CAPEX, which should be around RM420-million. TM will be responsible to design the system, perform site surveys, obtain permits, supply equipments, plan the best route, and of course, install and test the system. The whole project is to complete and ready for commercial internet traffic by mid-2017.

The goal of SKR1M is, of course, to improve internet connection within Malaysia, on both the Peninsular and East Malaysia (Sabah and Sarawak). Besides trying to increase efficiency that translates to a more affordable internet connection for the people, SKR1M will also make our connection more resilient to service disruptions, by adding more redundancy to the network.

SKR1M submarine cable system consists of five clusters and six submarine cable landing centers (SCLC), connecting Mersing to Kuching, Kuching to Bintulu, Bintulu to Miri, Miri to Kota Kinabalu, and Kota Kinabalu to Cherating, with a total length spanning about 3,500km.

The proposed capacity of this system is 4Tbps (four Terabits per second, or 1,000Gbps), using the latest Dense Wavelength-Division Multiplexing (DWDM) 100Gbps technology, which could be upgraded in the future to support a minimum of 12.8Tbps in capacity.

You could learn more about this project through MCMC’s documentations here and here.

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There are currently three Maxis SurfMore plans: SurfMore30 (1GB; supplementary), SurfMore50 (2GB), and SurfMore75 (5GB). Whenever you ran out of the allocated monthly data quota, you can always top up 1GB for RM48, a one-time charge. But if you find yourself constantly hitting the quota monthly, you’ll probably go for the ‘SurfMore Quota Upgrade’, that’s an additional 500MB for RM10, or an additional 1GB for RM15; both much cheaper than the one-time upgrade.

However, from March 2015’s bill onwards, Maxis will increase the price of ‘SurfMore Quota Upgrade’ 1GB from RM15 to RM35 (133.33% increase), and ‘SurfMore Quota Upgrade’ 500MB from RM10 to RM25 (150% increase).

Paul has the SurfMore75 5GB plan with the 1GB monthly Quota Upgrade on his iPhone, and received the following SMS:

SurfMore: Quota upgrade of 1GB will be adjusted to RM35/mth; the new price will be reflected in yr March statement & onwards. You will enjoy additional 2GB FREE for 3 mths fr Feb. To unsubscribe, call 123.

Unfortunately for those who rely on 6GB a month, you’ll soon be paying RM110 instead of RM90 like you did before. That’s one way to make you move to MaxisONE Plan, which by the way, has ‘Monthly Data Add-ons’ for 1GB at RM30, 3GB at RM58, and 6GB at RM116, on top of the RM128 for the plan itself.

Maxis has yet to update its SurfMore page to reflect this change.

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Celcom has revamped its postpaid offerings and has whittled them down to only two different mobile plans; First (Basic) and First Elite. Celcom is now banking on its new feature called OPTIMISER to provide the extras that users may require.

The OPTIMISER is Celcom’s way of providing more of what users need based on their usage. When customers use up their bundled calls/SMS or data quota, OPTIMISER will kick-in and provide them with additional; boosting either the available data/WiFi, or calls/SMS combos. For both plans, when all OPTIMISER allocated extras have been used up, additional pay-as-you-use charges will apply.

The cheaper First (Basic) postpaid plan is priced at RM 85, and for the price users get to enjoy the bundled 100 minutes of voice calls and 100 SMS to all networks, 2 GB of mobile data, and another 2 GB of internet through Celcom WiFi hotspots. When the OPTIMISER activates, users will get complimentary 150 mins+150 SMS, or 2 GB data+2 GB WiFi.

For First Elite plan, users have a monthly commitment of RM 235 and for that, Celcom gives you two different SIMs with each SIM getting its own allocation. Each SIM will get 200 minutes voice calls and 200 SMS to all networks, 3 GB of internet, and 3 GB WiFi quota. Users essentially get a total of 400 minutes, 400 SMS, 6 GB mobile data, 6 GB of WiFi internet, and all of these even before the OPTIMISER. When the allocations have been used up, OPTIMISER will provide an additional 300 minutes+300 SMS, or 2 GB internet+2 GB WiFi.

Apart from the mobile allocations, First Elite users also get to select their preferred phone number, have reserved parking spaces at selected Blue Cube and Celcom Centres, get personalised customer service when they call in, priority access to latest devices, and a premium lounge-like area where light refreshments are served while they’re being personally attended to.

Please see Celcom’s First (Basic) or First Elite pages for more details and for more options.

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Altel Communications Sdn. Bhd (ALTEL) has announced its latest rates for its new prepaid 4G LTE data plans. There are only 2 data plans for now and it should be able to cater to most requirements.

ALTEL’s BIG DATA PLAN come in 3 GB and 5 GB flavours and these are priced at RM 58 and RM 80, respectively. The plan is subscription based and users who wish to get them will need to either send an sms or subscribe via USSD code (see promotion microsite or their FAQ page for more details). The plans have a 30 day validity period and unused data will NOT be rolled-over to the next month. Subscribers who have used up their quota will either have to wait till the next refresh cycle or continue accessing the internet at 5 sen for 1 MB of data (which works up to RM 50 for 1 GB of data). Other pay-per-use rates include 16 sen/minute of call, 5 sen/SMS, 25 sen/MMS, and 20 sen/ minute of video call.

The plans are available for both new and existing customers but subscribers will need to ensure that the minimum amount required (i.e. RM 58 or RM 80) is always available in the account for the subscription to work. If there’s not enough credit, the system will prompt the user to make sufficient reload to proceed further. Additionally, existing users will have to consume their existing quota before they’re allowed to subscribe to the BIG DATA PLAN.

New users can get the ALTEL starter packs at major stores, and reloads can be done in-store, at other electronic payment counters, as well as online via RHB Now and Maybank2U portals. Starter packs can be bought for RM 7, which comes with an RM 5 credit preloaded, and is valid for 30 days.

For those who may not know, ALTEL started its service in 2012 and is a part of the Albukhary Group of Companies. The company has its own 4G license and even has its own infrastructure, but for the most part is using/sharing Celcom’s infrastructure. The company only offers prepaid plans for now for both its mobile and broadband services.

The cheapest monthly mobile prepaid plan in town actually comes from Xpax which gives you 4 GB data+4 GB WiFi for RM 58. The BIG DATA PLAN’s 3 GB data plan rate is also the cheapest in town and is matched only by similar to Tune Talk Data…TaTaTa Monthly plan.

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Following the recent floods especially in the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia, DiGi Telecommunications Sdn. Bhd. has been assisting the relief efforts by sending in aid and supplies to the affected areas. Following its first shipment, the carrier said it is now ready to deliver more items to the region. This time around, DiGi is sending pencils to children and students as the new school year begins.

In partnership with STAEDTLER Malaysia Bhd., DiGi will be delivering regular pencils as well as coloring pencil sets to selected child care centers, as well as primary school students on the East Coast, which have been identified as most “adversely affected”, by the Association of Registered Childcare Providers Malaysia (ARCPM).

Eugene Teh, DiGi’s Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, said, “We want to help the people of Kelantan, Terengganu, and Pahang as much as we can during this natural disaster, and we’re also trying to raise awareness of the difficulty facing Malaysians in that region. When the floods hit the area, no one was spared, and that includes children.”

Datin Wong Poai Hong, President of ARCPM, added, “We are grateful for the kind support from DiGi and STAEDTLER which puts the best interests of children first. In a disaster situation, most often the emotional needs of children to play and express their feelings through drawing and writing is extremely important as they heal from the trauma. Hence, the gift of stationery sets for children in our child care centers in the East Coast is most welcome.”

DiGi said it would like to take this opportunity to “raise support and awareness” for the children affected by the worst flood to ever hit Malaysia. It is inviting the public — us — to go to DiGi’s Facebook Page and share its pinned post up the top, with the #ProjectPensel hashtag. Both DiGi and STAEDTLER will donate one box of pencils for each Facebook share. This initiative starts on January 10th and ends on the 14th (two days left). At the time of this post, there’s already 3,506 shares.

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If you’re not already experiencing or aware of it, Maxis Fibre Internet (FTTH or Fibre-to-the-home) users have reported that service is currently facing some major disruptions. Astro IPTV subscribers are facing similar issues too as it’s delivered via Maxis Fibre as well.

The issue was first reported on Maxis’s Facebook page on the 11th of January but at least one other user, who posted after that, complained of seeing the disruption the day before. As shown in the screengrab of the Facebook conversation below, Maxis currently does not have a timeframe for the rectification process and is not able to confirm when the issue will be resolved:

According to the feedback from users, the disruption seems to have hit JB, Melaka, Sungkai (Perak), Bayan Lepas (Penang), and of course Klang Valley. This could mean that the issue may actually affect every location that FTTH is available.

Apart from venting their frustrations on the Maxis Facebook page, users have also taken to forums, including Maxis’s own, to air their grievances. On Lowyat.NET, the first reported instance came in yesterday and that particular user began experiencing it on Sunday, Jan 11th. In the usually active Twitterverse, things were unusually quiet and the first confirmed incident only came up yesterday, with the Maxis representative confirming that the technical team has detected a slow browsing issue for FTTH users at random locations, and that rectification work is currently in progress.

Till now, Maxis has yet to issue an official statement on the matter and there’s still no official explanation why; which is evidently turning users impatient. The silence this time around is a far contrast to the way Maxis handled the mobile services disruptions in multiple locations in Sarawak, just a few weeks ago. They posted an official statement to inform users of the issue and even posted a follow up when the issues were resolved.

For the time being, workaround such as changing DNS does not seem to have any effect but oddly VPN to international server is fine. VPN to Malaysian servers on the other hand is still bad. The problem mostly affects browsing, but some users have claimed that YouTube works (though others beg to differ) along with torrent too. One user even went as far as trying out the service, on 3 different browsers (IE11, Firefox, and Chrome), on 3 different devices (laptop, tablet, and smartphone), and even rebooted the modem and router multiple times. The user also performed a speed test, using Maxis’s own tool, which showed impressive results but the browsing was still bad.

We’ve already reached out to our Maxis contacts who then promptly arranged for a customer service representative to call us back. At the time of publish, we’re still waiting for the call.

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Maxis will be discontinuing its SurfMore75 plan on January 29th 2015 (this Thursday), the data plan that gives a data quota of 5GB for RM75 a month. Thanks to reader ‘sakuragi’ for the heads-up in the comments section.

On the SurfMore FAQ page, Maxis said that SurfMore75 has been removed from its site because “it is no longer available for new subscribers”, effective January 29th. Not only that, the Voice Add-On for SurfMore will also be axed, as Maxis suggests you “consider switching to MaxisONE plan which offers limitless voice…”

We should’ve seen this one coming when Maxis decided to raise the rates of the monthly SurfMore Quota Upgrades. From January 29th onwards, Maxis will increase the price of ‘SurfMore Quota Upgrade’ 1GB from RM15 to RM35 (133.33% increase), and ‘SurfMore Quota Upgrade’ 500MB from RM10 to RM25 (150% increase).

Last year at the end of May, Maxis launched its MaxisONE plan that tries to unify both SurfMore and TalkMore plans into one simpler package. Because how MaxisONE is focused more towards limitless voice calls, the carrier has discontinued its TalkMore78 plan on the same period MaxisONE was introduced, though TalkMore28 and TalkMore48 are still around. During the announcement, Maxis hinted that it will soon introduce a data-centric MaxisONE plan by September 2014, and because of that, will discontinue SurfMore75 (5GB data) as well. SurfMore50 (2GB data) will also be hidden from view but customers can still request for it. That leaves us only with SurfMore30, which is only available for supplementary lines.

September came and went and unless if I miss something, there is still no data-centric MaxisONE plan available. I talked for only five minutes or so to a non-Maxis number last month, and sent maybe six SMS messages, but have used close to 5GB in data (I know because I’ve received the ‘80% quota reached’ warning). If I were to use MaxisONE, I would be paying for RM136 (RM78 + RM58) for MaxisONE lite (1GB data), plus the 3GB data add-on, but even so I’d only have 4GB data, and have wasted all the “limitless” minutes I’m not using. On SurfMore75, my bill was just around RM80.

Maxis justifies the price increase of the quota upgrade / data add-on as an “exercise to align all data pricing for existing Maxis offers”, but unfortunately, instead of raising the rate of SurfMore75, it has decided to completely discontinue it. Also unfortunate, is that a data-centric MaxisONE is still nowhere to be seen. Fortunately, SurfMore50 is still on display front and center. A SurfMore50 plan (2GB) with a 1GB Quota Upgrade (RM35) will set you back RM85 a month.

For those of you still considering to get 5GB data a month through Maxis SurfMore75, you still have three days left to sign up. Visit Maxis’ SurfMore page for more information.

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Photo: Stephanie Tan from Maxis’ Postpaid team presenting the new MyMaxis App.

Maxis Berhad officially launched its new MyMaxis mobile app for both Android and iOS today, though it was already available on the two platforms for around two weeks now. MyMaxis is a self-serve, all-in-one app that lets you access your Maxis’ postpaid account details plus performing transactions, all on-the-go.

Once downloaded, you’ll only need to login once, and it’ll stay signed-in unlike Maxis’ old app where it’s more like a web app than anything. MyMaxis app has a simpler interface and is easier to navigate, with support for multiple postpaid accounts. Even without signing in, the app has access to locations of Maxis stores, links to search for FAQs and to leave feedback, plus the customer care hotline.

Most of our smartphones these days already track our data usages, but they’re usually slightly off from what we’ve actually used. The MyMaxis app has built-in mobile internet usage tracker, that shows how much data your plan gives, and how much data you have left for the billing cycle. If you happen to run out of data, there is a handy ‘one-time pass’ button to purchase data boosters.

Besides internet usages, the same app could remind you of your SIM’s PUK code, edit your eBilling email address, view payment history, and even download your Maxis bills. On top of that, if you need to pay the bills on-the-go, you can also do so from the app itself via Maxis Pay, using your credit or debit card.

There is a dedicated section on the MyMaxis app for rewards, where there are over 100 rewards under five categories: dining, entertainment, health & beauty, shopping, and travel. These reward uses location-based tech, where you’ll receive alerts when you’re approaching an outlet where the rewards are available. That means the app will always be running in the background and is location-aware, but you can always turn background location off.

Photo: Dusyhan Vaithiyanathan, Maxis’ Head of Consumer Business (4th from right); Aletheia Yashoda Parameswaran, Maxis’ Head of Postpaid, Consumer Business (3rd from right); together with the rest of the Maxis team at the launch of the MyMaxis App earlier today.

Dushyan Vaithiyanathan, Maxis’ Head of Consumer Business, said, “The roles of physical center have evolved from being very transactional-oriented to consultation-based, so activities like checking bills, usage tracking, purchasing, and payments, can be done by the customers themselves simply through this app. We have even worked out that this app actually saves over 34 hours of your time a year! Our ambition for MyMaxis app in this respect is simple — we want to empower our customers to interact with us easily by accessing our services through their devices. We aim to make this app as single preferred choice for all key customer activities. The MyMaxis app also shows that while we have invested in digitization to ensure that our customer have full control over their accounts via their smartphones, we are still keeping a personal connection with them through rewards that follow them wherever they go.”

Ironically however, this “all-in-one” new app no longer includes Maxis’ prepaid — Hotlink — and this service is now moved into a separate app called Hotlink Red (which we’ve mentioned in Tech Pickings).

But if you’re a Maxis postpaid subscriber, this app is a no-brainer to have on your device, unless of course if you’re rocking a Windows Phone. It is now available for both Android and iOS.

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At a time when other major telecommunication companies are sacrificing their data plans to push for more calls+SMS usage, the ‘digital native’ generation can still be thankful to the smaller telcos who still give importance to data. Being the smallest of the 4 MNOs in Malaysia, U Mobile is in a better position than other MVNOs to control its plans and pricing and to deliver a better service to its customers. That being said, the company is still on a mission to increase its user base, and it’s doing so with the announcement of its new plans under the #GetClever campaign, for both post and prepaid subscribers.

For prepaid users, U Mobile has introduced 3 new UMI plans and has removed 3 out of 4 of its older ones; namely UMI 18 (free 250 MB of data, 25 mins calls, and 25 SMS), UMI 28 (free 1 GB of data, 50 mins calls, and 30 SMS), and UMI 48 (free 2 GB of data, 100 mins calls, and 30 SMS). It’s odd though that somehow, the UMI 38 plan from the previous lineup has survived; along with its free 1 GB of data, 150 mins calls, and 30 SMS.

The new prepaid plans are UMI 20 (free 500 MB of data, and 20 mins calls to other networks), UMI 30 (free 1.5 GB of data, and 30 mins calls to other networks), and UMI 50 (free 3 GB of data, and 50 mins calls to other networks). U Mobile has removed the bundled SMS from these plans but fret not as it has been replaced with other goodies. The new plans come with double the data of the plans they replace, get daily 30 minutes of free calls between u mobile numbers, and similar to the older plans, allow users to carry forward the free monthly calls (to other networks) to the next month for up to 2X the allocated amount. The pay-as-you-use rates for these plans are 5 sen for every 30 sec block for calls, and 3 or 8 sen per SMS, between U Mobile or other networks respectively. As for the older UMI 38, U Mobile has not mentioned the pay-as-you-use SMS rates (which I believe should be the same), nor the pay-as-you-use calls (which could be the existing rate of 10 sen/30 sec), but at least subscribers can bring forward their unused SMS to the next month for the same 2X the monthly allocation.

Looking at the postpaid plans, U Mobile has decided to do away with the two older UNLIMITED 50 and UNLIMITED 80 plans but kept the U28. The UNLIMITED 50 came with 2 GB of data and 100 minutes free calls to other networks, while the UNLIMITED 80 had 3 GB data, 200 minutes of free calls, 50 SMS between other networks and another 50 within network. Both plans came with unlimited free calls between U Mobile subscribers; no questions asked and no catch.

With U Mobile paying more attention to data lovers, the new P50 and P70 plans get increased allocations of 3 GB and 4.5 GB respectively. On the downside though, unlimited on-net calls offer and bundled SMS have been removed and in their place, you now have the same daily 30 minutes worth of free calls as found on the prepaid plans. For calls to other networks, P50 gets 50 minutes and P70 gets 70 every month and these can be brought forward to the next for up to 2X the allocated amount. The same pay-as-you-use rates from the new prepaid plans apply here as well. The only postpaid plan that still comes with free SMS is the old U28 plan. This still carries the 1 GB data, 100 SMS on-net, and 200 SMS to other networks package.

If needed, subscribers can even add up to a maximum of 2 additional lines to the P50 and P70 plan and these will share the bundled data and calls that are allocated to the primary line. See the member line page for more details.

No matter which plan U Mobile customers pick, the free internet roaming of 50 MB per day and the free streaming services come bundled with their package.

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We’ve just received news that P1 Fiber will be discontinued and existing customers have already started getting their 30 day notification via email. Users will now be recommended to move to an identical TM UniFi plan, and P1’s customer service team will be contacting existing account holders within 3 weeks with regards to the transition. At this point of time, we’re not sure if this only affects P1 business users or will it involve home fiber users too, but in the email, it was indicated as ‘discontinuing P1 Fiber Services’.

One of the plans that P1 is recommending to its ForBiz customer now costs RM 10 ringgit extra for the exact same quota, which in my opinion will probably not go down well with the said customer, but we’ll just have to wait and see how this turns out.

A quick check on P1’s site and I could still see its existing OnePlan Fiber for home users as well as its ForBiz Fiber plans for business. We’ll probably see an update when it nears the transition date.

In any case, the new move probably stems from TM’s investment into P1, that started in March of last year, in which the former has now become the holding company for P1. We’re now wondering what will become of P1 since TM has rolled out its own TMgo 4G LTE service, and is now seem to be taking over P1’s Fiber services too.

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After missing out on the iPhone 6 bandwagon when it first made its rounds, U Mobile is finally taking steps to remedy that now. The company’s iPhone 6 pre-registration page came online on Sunday but only started taking in orders yesterday. The pre-registration period is from 9th to 16th March, 2015.

U Mobile has not shared the details on prices nor if the phones will have specific mobile plans but based on the information found on the site, it looks like U Mobile will be offering the devices to both prepaid and postpaid users. U Mobile is claiming that this is the first time that a telco is making the device available for prepaid users. Among the other claims that U Mobile is making is that their offer is going to cost the lowest, and that it will be free from postpaid contracts.

We will now have to wait and see how the lowest cost claim turns out since the pre-registration went up before Apple Malaysia decided to increase the prices of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus devices (as well as iPhone 5s) today. For more info on that, please see our ‘Apple Malaysia price increase’ post.

Anyhow, based on the information found on pre-registration form, it would seem like U Mobile will be offering both iPhone 6 and iPhone Plus devices in all three variants (16, 64, and 128 GB), as well as in all three colours (Gold, Silver, and Space Gray). For those who are actually planning to book one, please note that there’s no mention of the delivery time, but users can take comfort (from the notification provided at the of the registration process) that more info will be provided on the 17th of March; which happens to be the day after the pre-registration closes, as well as the same day that U Mobile has scheduled a launch event.

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Not all bad things happen on Friday the 13th, and the Digi Music Freedom pass/app launch is proof. The pass was launched in partnership with some of the top music streaming and discovery services on the planet, and it is Digi’s way of showing its love for Malaysian music fans.

The Music Freedom pass allows Digi subscribers, of both prepaid and postpaid plans (excluding mobile broadband users), with active internet plans to enjoy unlimited music streaming but with zero data charges (that means without using up data quota). The pass covers services and apps on both Android and iOS from Deezer, Spotify, Rdio, KKBox, SoundHound, hitz.fm, ERA, MY FM, as well as the iOS only services BE-AT.TV and Q.us. On top of those services, the app will also allow subscribers to claim free tickets to live performances, watch live and pre-recorded Digi Music events, and learn more about upcoming performances by artists. Do note that the pass does not include the monthly subscriptions that come with some of those music services offered by the participating partners, but Digi users can take comfort in the fact that Deezer is still free for DG SmartPlan 78 and above. Also note that the pass works for both premium and free services (where applicable) from these streaming services.

For those who have not tried a music streaming service, this is without doubt the best time to do that as users can now get a free 90-day subscription (valid till the 30th of June, 2015). Users can continue using the pass thereafter but with a nominal fee of only RM 3 a month. Users who do not subscribe to an internet plan but would want to try, the 90-day free pass is still valid but they will be subjected to regular pay-as-you-use charges. Digi has also confirmed that it will be sending SMS confirmations to keep users informed of the status of their subscription; users will receive a confirmation SMS upon activation, and another when the pass expires. When a user’s data plan is no longer active, the pass will also be automatically deactivated.

To get started, head on over to Play Store or App Store to download and install the Digi Music Freedom app. Once installed, launch the app and enter the Digi mobile number to register and activate the service. Users will also be able to launch or install partner apps from within the Music Freedom app. Please visit the Digi Music Freedom site for more info and for a complete list of terms and conditions.

On a personal note, I can see and appreciate that Digi is banking on these new music partnerships to help make legal music more affordable, and I’m thankful for its efforts to make them widely available to Malaysians. It’s a shame though that services like SoundCloud, Bandcamp, Shazam/Shazam Encore, TuneIn Radio, Google Play Music, as well as the premium SoundHound (infinity) is missing from the list but users can make a request directly from Digi for these services to be added in the future. I’m also wondering if Digi will be able to add video streaming services like YouTube or even the upcoming iflix to the pass, or have provide them in a similarly priced pass (as opposed to the current daily/weekly YouTube + Viki Internet Top Up packages).

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Photo (Second from the right): Wong Heang Tuck, Chief Executive Officer of U Mobile; and Jasmine Lee, Chief Marketing Officer of U Mobile introducing U Mobile’s new iPhone 6 and iPlan offerings.

After a few months of head start by the other three Malaysian carriers, it is now U Mobile’s turn to offer the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Starting March 19th, U Mobile will start selling the phones bundled with its plans, and to make up for lost time, it has a bunch of offers to sweeten the deal too. For starters, U Mobile is keeping the old retail prices while stocks last. Though the postpaid plans are already reasonable, U Mobile said it is also the first to offer bundled prepaid plans for the iPhone 6. For a limited time, these plans will have a “truly unlimited” data connection. And finally, the telco also announced its U MicroCredit installment plan that makes it easy to own one of these smartphones.

“Truly unlimited data” and reasonable plans

The bundled plans are called ‘U Mobile iPlan’, and as hinted, the same four plans — i40, i60, i90, and i130 — are available for both U Mobile postpaid and prepaid subscribers, with monthly data quotas of 1.5GB, 3GB, 5GB, and 7GB respectively. However, if you sign up from March 19th until June 30th, you will get a “truly unlimited” data connection with no caps or throttling, until July 31st for i60 and i90, or until September 30th for i130.

From the data quota perspective, the plans are actually rather reasonable, plus they come with free voice minutes and SMS. Even after they’re all used up, the data will still be connected, albeit throttled significantly, and the pay-per-use voice minutes (10 sen per minute) and SMS (8 sen per text) are also one of the cheapest in town.

Cheaper iPhones, zero upfront payment, zero contract

Prices before March 31st, while stocks last.

We’ve recently covered that the iPhone 6 family has increased in prices, due to exchange rate fluctuations. However from March 19th until the 31st, or while stocks last, U Mobile will still be offering the iPhone 6 family ‘based on’ old retail prices. Not only that, it will also be carrying the iPhone 5s and 5c as well, bundled with the same iPlans.

Prices after old stocks are finished, but before GST implementation on April 1st. Prices may go up some more.

I say ‘based on’ because U Mobile will be selling you the phone at an even cheaper cost than the old retail price. For instance, if you were to take the i60 postpaid plan for the 16GB iPhone 6, which has the RRP of RM2,399, you’ll only be forking out RM1,805 for the device, if you pay via credit card and subscribe to the (postpaid) monthly auto debit. With other payment methods, you’ll have to add an additional RM360 for the upfront payment, which will be rebated back to you, RM15 a month, over 24 months. All prepaid iPlans are subjected to the upfront payment, as well as an initial top-up of RM150 (which’ll give a 200-day validity). Prices will go up effective April 1st, but the upfront payments will remain the same.

But here’s the best part — U Mobile is marketing these plans as having “no contract obligation” and “no penalty upon early termination”, for both its postpaid and prepaid plans for the iPhone 6. Remember the hypothetical RM360 you paid upfront earlier? If you cancel the plan after 10 months, you’ve only gotten back RM150, and the balance of RM210 will be forfeited. In other words, you’ve already paid for the termination fee, but if you stay for 24 months or more, it will be completely refunded to you.

For a credit card purchase with zero upfront payment (let’s assume for the same plan and device as the example above), U Mobile says you are “only required to refund the pro-rated subsidy”, which is a nicer way to say, “your termination fee depends on how long you’ve subscribed to the plan; in this case, give us back RM210”.

That being said, U Mobile’s iPlans are still one of the most competitive in the market right now. Taking the 10-month subscription example earlier, U Mobile claims that your total cost of ownership will still be cheaper than the competition, especially due to other telcos’ exorbitant contract termination fees.

U MicroCredit

U MicroCredit (UMC) is a new device microfinancing program U Mobile launched together with its iPhone 6 bundles. The program is made in partnership with Berjaya Credit Sdn. Bhd., with the main collecting agent being Singer (M) Sdn. Bhd., allowing subscribers to take home an iPhone 6 from as low as RM98. Just like the iPlans, UMC is available for both postpaid and prepaid customers.

Though similar to a micro loan, UMC doesn’t require a credit card, upfront payment, collateral, nor guarantor upon registration, though a couple of referees are needed. There are two ways to apply: either walk in to any U Mobile store or apply online. Only two main documents are required for application: a photocopy of NRIC and a proof of income. U Mobile promises a speedy approval of just two hours.

The interest rates are either at 0.84%, 1.2%, and 1.5%, depending on your income (minimum RM1,000) and credit history. Then, sign up for the device financing program, pick an iPlan for the iPhone, and choose the monthly repayment scheme. Tenures of 12, 24, and 30 months are available, with the 33-month repayment tenure coming soon after April 1st.

With the lowest interest rate of 0.84%, and the second longest tenure of 30 months, the 16GB iPhone 6 is yours for RM98 a month (it’s actually RM97.33). But the interest rates are calculated monthly, and is inclusive of the RM7 Surcharge on Flexipay & Personalized (SFP) Services charges. RM97.33 a month for 30 months is RM2,919.90, which is RM754.90 (~34.9%) more than the financing amount of RM2,165. RM2,919.90 for a 16GB iPhone 6 that (hopefully) you’ll be using for two and a half years. Best go for U Mobile’s Easy Payment Plan instead.

The first month’s admin fee is RM90 for financing amount above RM1,500, or RM60 for financing amount below RM1,500. SFP Services charges, ranges from RM5 to RM10 a month, depending on the amount financed.

Perks, caveats, and happenings

The best part about using U Mobile is how competitive its rates are. Its multi-SIM service is called Member Line, and for just RM 10 month, not only will you get to share voice minutes and data quota between two SIMs, they will each get a unique phone number too.

However the biggest caveat of going U Mobile is its 4G coverage area. Though having such a high-end smartphone, you will only get LTE in Subang, Puchong and Johor Bahru, and hasn’t been expanded since its launch more than a year ago.

In any case, U Mobile is putting up a roadshow in Berjaya Times Square from March 19th until the 22nd, between 10am to 10pm daily. Customers who sign up for the iPhone 6 through U Mobile will stand a chance to win prizes in its lucky draw.

Wrap-up

The bottom line is, if you’re planning to get an iPhone 6 through U Mobile, the time to act is now. After March 31st, the price of the phones will increase, and on top of that, GST will also be implemented, contributing to an even higher cost. The earlier you sign up, you will also get to enjoy the “truly unlimited” 3G data for a longer period of time.

For more information and to sign up, head on over to http://www.u.com.my/iphone. Also, if you are so inclined, you can also check out U Mobile’s iPhone 6 launch presentation slides here [PPTX].

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The Malaysian government has endorsed yet another scheme, aimed at low-income group, to give everyone a cheaper alternative for mobile and internet services. The Sim Kad Rakyat 1Malaysia (SR1M) service was launched in the middle of March and it is a private initiative by Optic Tech Sdn Bhd. The SR1M service comes in a start-up pack that costs just RM 5.90 and it comes with free RM 5 credit as well as 150 MB of data. These starter packs can only be purchased from registered distributors (which are currently limited but the number is growing) with online options to come in the near future. New users can register for a new number while users with existing numbers/lines from any existing service providers can simply port them over (MNP) to SR1M.

The Pay-Per-Use (PPU) rates for the service are 8 sen/30 sec block for calls, 8 sen/SMS, and 5 sen/MB of data. There was also a mention about a 50 sen/IDD but, just like all the incomplete data found on the Facebook page, we can’t verify if that is for a 30 second block or for the whole minute. These PPU rates come into effect if users have not subscribed to any of the packages that are on offer, or if the allocated quota for the plans have been used up (if they do subscribe).

As for bundled data packages, there are currently a few on offer:

• RM 4.90 with 7 day validity
  • Comes with 100 MB data.
• RM 17 with 30 day validity
  • First subscription: 500 MB
  • Subsequent: 1 GB
• RM 27 with 30 day validity
  • First subscription: 700 MB
  • Subsequent: 1.5 GB
  • With free: 27 minutes talktime, and 27 SMS.
• RM 47 with 30 day validity
  • First subscription: 1.5 GB
  • Subsequent: 3 GB
  • With free: 47 minutes talktime, and 47 SMS

Reload options are scarce at the moment but users can top-up directly from the SR1M’s Tambah Nilai page. The reload amounts available are RM 10, RM 30, and RM 50 and the site accepts multiple online payment options as well as credit cards. (The reloads previously came with an airtime validity of 10, 60, and 100 days respectively, and there even was a RM 5 top-up with a 5-day validity.)

To find the nearest distributor or to register to become one, please visit the SR1M’s Pengedar page to find out more. Users can also head to SR1M’s Facebook page to get their queries answered, or to the Hubungi Kami page for other contact options.

The SR1M service is operational but it’s still in its early stages; there are not many dealers available and there are no online sales option. The details about coverage areas and technology used are a bit sketchy at the moment, but 4G has been mentioned on SR1M’s home page. The company has also confirmed that it is indeed an MVNO but, as was misreported previously, U Mobile is not its technology partner. It is instead powered by Clixster Mobile in collaboration with Enabling Asia (MVNA). Clixster Mobile is also an MVNO and it incidentally, is the one in partnership with U Mobile.

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If everything works out smoothly, it looks like Malaysians will be able to enjoy cheaper broadband services by next month. According to a Bernama report, the Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek has had a series of discussions with Malaysian telecommunications companies, and it seems that these telcos have agreed to reduce their broadband service charges by at least 6-percent.

The minister said that broadband access is something that should be enjoyed by all and it should not be restricted to only those with high income; low charge must be offered to attract more consumers in a free market. The minister also proffered that, apart from raising the standard of their service, the telcos should also reinvest in the development of their broadband services and build more transmission towers. This is to expand the coverage area and to enhance speeds, which in turn will encourage greater internet usage.

The series of talks must have been related to the Public Consultation Paper called ‘Affordable Broadband Packages’ that the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission published last month. The paper presented questions and suggestions to which the telcos were required to provide comments and suggestions.

During the preliminary discussion, MCMC had originally proposed a 10-percent reduction to the entry level packages. Preliminary submissions by the telcos also pointed towards a 1 Mbps package with no data caps and a price range of between RM 68 – 100 per month for fixed broadband, as well as between 1 to 1.5 GB with prices ranging from RM 25 – 30 per month for mobile broadband packages. The commission finally settled on two specifications for the proposed entry level broadband packages to which the telcos were also supposed to provide both prepaid and postpaid plans:

• For fixed line, the package is supposed to have a least 1 Mbps of speed with a download cap of 1 GB, and it should have a 30-day validity.
• For mobile broadband, the package also had similar minimum data quota of 1 GB and a 30-day validity, but it was required to offer at least 3G speeds.

For this preliminary proposal, Altel, REDtone, and Tune Talk had responded that they would not be able to reduce their prices further, while Celcom, Digi, U Mobile, and YTL have requested for additional time to come up with their new packages. The remaining telcos that participated in MCMC’s preliminary consultation were Packet One Networks, REDtone-CNX Broadband, TM, and TIME dotcom.

The telcos had until 27th March to come up with their proposals and according to the Bernama report, they have indeed reached a final decision. Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek had announced that the results of these discussions will be officially announced in a month’s time.

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Earth Hour 2015 was celebrated on March 28th 2015, where individuals, communities, and even businesses are encouraged to turn off non-essential lighting for an hour, from 8:30pm to 9:30pm, as movement that symbolizes our commitment to the environment. Digi Telecommunications Sdn. Bhd (Digi) is playing a part in this, by sponsoring 200 customers to participate in the WWF-Malaysia’s own Earth Hour 2015 Night Walks in Penang and Sunway Pyramid, which were held at the same time period. This is the seventh year Digi has participated in the Earth Hour celebration.

Digi was the corporate sponsor for the Earth Hour 2015 Night Walk, where it contributed RM35,000 to WWF-Malaysia to fund the latter’s conservation endeavors. During the event, 200 walk packs worth RM60 each were sponsored for Digi subscribers — 100 for the walk at Sunway Pyramid, and another 100 for Penang. These customers had registered their interests before this, over at www.digi.com.my/earthhour.

Philip Ling, Digi’s Corporate Responsibility Manager, said prior to the event, “For the past seven years, Digi has been actively supporting Earth Hour’s call to action for everyone to take personal accountability for their impact on the planet. They can start by making behavioral changes to facilitate a more sustainable lifestyle. As a large business entity, Digi has always strived to have an environmentally-sustainable business practice and is constantly looking for new ways to integrate relevant environmentally-friendly considerations into our business operations while encouraging our partners, suppliers, and vendors to also do the same. From these initiatives, we want to share a reduced climate impact with customers and the general public.”

Digi’s Sustainability Manager, Philip Ling (left) at the solar-powered device charging station during the Earth Hour 2015 Night Walk at Sunway Pyramid, Bandar Sunway.

During the walk in Sunway Pyramid, Digi brought a little surprise to the participants, in the form of a prototype solar-powered charging station. The pilot unit was set up during the day, as it requires five hours of direct sunlight to fully charge it. Once fully juiced up, it could charge up to 16 smartphones and 4 tablets at any given time. Each compartment can also be secured with combination padlocks, for the participants’ convenience of leaving their devices to charge while going for the Night Walk.

Before the walk started, participants also joined in a flash mob, where core dancers and drummers led the way in an electricity-free flash mob dance demonstration.

Ling, who was also at the event, said, “Through this new initiative, we seek to inspire more Malaysians as we plan to roll out more of these solar-powered device charging stations at Digi’s outdoor events in the future. This is part of our efforts to promote the use of renewable energy among the Malaysian public, who may then play their bit in championing climate change causes and facilitate a more sustainable lifestyle.”

The Earth Hour 2015 Night Walk in Penang and Sunway Pyramid is organized by WWF-Malaysia, in partnership with various corporations and organizations including Digi, the respective state government, and mall authority. For more information on Digi’s role, visit www.digi.com.my/earthhour. For the Malaysian Earth Hour page, visit http://www.earthhour.org/malaysia.

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Telekom Malaysia (TM) and Digi Telecommunications announced their brand new collaboration on Monday for the HyppTV Everywhere service. The collaboration will allow Digi subscribers, on both prepaid and postpaid plans, to watch HyppTV’s programming on their mobile devices with zero data charges for a limited time.

For those who are not familiar, HyppTV is TM’s IPTV service that comes free with UniFi or Streamyx broadband services. With HyppTV Everywhere service, TM subscribers can now continue to watch their favourite programs on their mobile devices or computers even when they’re not at home (or when the TV is being used by someone else).

With the partnership, Digi subscribers now get to enjoy HyppTV without using up their data quota or with zero data charges until June 30th. First time users will enjoy a 1-week free trial to the service by registering for a new account and, fortunately, the free trial works even if you’re not a Digi subscriber. At the end of the said week, users will have the option to continue with a paid subscription and this is where Digi users will get to enjoy another unique feature: a hassle-free payment option where the subscription can be added to the phone bill.

Digi subscribers will get to choose from any of the 5 available special Digi Packs as below:

If the packages are not according to taste, Digi users will also be able to subscribe to any of the 49 channels separately at RM 6/month each. The other channels in HyppTV’s stable include free ones like Channel NewsAsia, Euronews, and Bloomberg TV, as well as premium ones such as Al Jazeera, MUTV, Discovery Kids, TVB8, Nick Jr, Warner TV, Comedy Central HD, and 4 HyppSports HD channels. There are also Video on Demand (VOD) channels for sports and movies but these require additional payments.

The HyppTV Everywhere service requires a broadband connection of 2 Mbps or faster using the app or a web browser (although, I was able to get it to work on lower speeds but the video quality suffered). The accompanying apps are only available for iOS (HyppTV Everywhere for iPhone and HyppTV Everywhere HD for iPad) and Android (with separate apps for phone and tablet) for now. As for computers, the service can be accessed with the HyppTV Everywhere website using a browser plugin (but this didn’t seem to work for me as the plugin caused some issues and my browser was not able to recognise that it was already installed). The access to both app and web require a HyppTV account but new users can register for one at the sign-in screen.

From now until the 13th of May of this year, Digi customers who subscribe to at least one HyppTV Everywhere package will also stand a chance to win an exclusive experience with actor Shah Iskandar. The choice of experiences include flyboarding, ATV/quad-biking, a private cooking class, or being a pilot for a day.

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It has only been two weeks since we last reported on cheaper broadband packages but Dato’ Sri Ahmad Shabery Cheek, Minister of Communications and Multimedia, has more good news for Malaysians. Yesterday, he announced an even bigger reduction of between 11% to a whopping 57% off current broadband prices. The announcement was made at a cabinet meeting yesterday and the minister confirmed that the reduction for the basic broadband packages affects both mobile and fixed plans. Previously, the new basic packages were supposed to have been announced in early May but MCMC says that (at least) the mobile plans “will be available almost immediately”.

Shabery said that MCMC and the ministry are also paying close attention to the quality aspect of these new packages. It is a crucial aspect as the country is now moving towards a transaction based economy where more people communicate and conduct businesses online, even with the government. He again stressed the importance of a consistent and sufficient investment towards improving the quality of service.

“The global average for capital intensity is almost 16%. Last year, the industry achieved just over 14% capital intensity, which is encouraging, and they have been very positive about investing more in order to achieve or even surpass the global average in a few years’ time.”, said the Minister, “With GST being implemented on communications services including prepaid reloads, the reductions for mobile and fixed at 14% and 57% respectively will more than compensate for the GST applicable to communications services”.

The CEOs of Telekom Malaysia (TM), Time, Celcom, Maxis, Digi and U Mobile have all applauded the initiative by the government and have expressed their support. Celcom has even confirmed of new packages in the coming weeks, and TM expects to deliver its own in the middle of June.

According to MCMC, the new basic mobile broadband plans will start at RM 25 with a 1 GB data quota and at least a 3G-HSPA connection (which translates to speeds of up to 14.4 Mbps down and 5.76 Mbps up) for prepaid and postpaid plans. This is in line with MCMC’s first proposal of a 10% reduction but they’re now claiming that the starting price is even lower at 14%, though the metrics have not really changed.

For fixed services, TM and Time have confirmed that the new basic broadband plans offered by them will be priced at RM 38 a month, for 1 Mbps of free data usage for up to 1 GB of data. Now this one could have been a real treat if it wasn’t for the data cap. Still, the price for this package is even lower than what MCMC had suggested (which was RM 68-100 per month for 1-1.5 GB) and is claimed to be 57% lower than TM’s current price of RM 88 (supposedly) for its basic package.

For both fixed and mobile plans, there are no indications if users will continue to enjoy free internet connection once the quotas are used up, albeit with reduced/throttled speeds. This would really make a difference as RM 38 or RM 25 for a maximum of 1 GB of data still doesn’t seem like a good deal for users.

The reductions by the service providers are always good news to consumers and the fact that MCMC is stressing that the new packages should also have quality, calms my nerves (provided that this not another rip-off). What bothers me though is the fact that these companies didn’t do so on their own accord (as they prefered to maintain a healthy and ever-increasing bottom line, which in turn boosts investor confidence). Now that they’re going to cut down so much, I can’t help but wonder, how will they make up for the differences?

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