If you’re thinking of signing up with a Celcom First plan or wish to port over, now seems like a perfect time to do so because Celcom is giving away 1GB of data free for 3 consecutive months. Available for all new and MNP Celcom First postpaid and prepaid customers, all you need to do is sign up for one of the Celcom First plans – Celcom First Prime, First Premier or First Elite, and you can enjoy RM38/month worth of data, free for 3 months. The promotion is effective immediately and will run until 21 April 2014.

The Celcom First Prime, Premier and Elite are charged at RM40, RM80 and RM150 per month, each comes with different call and SMS rates as shown below:

An upfront payment of 1 month’s fee is required when signing up for the promotion. Visit Celcom to find out more about the promotion.

When Whatsapp first announced on Monday that they would be introducing voice calls to their immensely popular app, we predicted that mobile telecommunication providers across the globe would become very worried with how this development would effect them. It didn’t take long for Singtel to fire off the first shots to protect their interests.

Over The Top (OTT) apps like Whatsapp, and to a lesser extent Viber, WeChat and Skype have been slowly eating into the telcos revenue streams. Only a few years ago, it would have cost at least RM1 for an end user to send out a simple text message to someone outside the country. Today it costs virtually nothing. With Whatsapp’s phenomenal growth over the last two years, the number of people who rely on Short Messages (SMS)  have dropped significantly. But SMS was never really a critical revenue stream for telcos for a while now. Voice calls, now that is a whole different ball game.

Even with the introduction of data plans, mobile telecommunication providers still gain a huge bulk of their revenue from voice plans. International voice calls as well as mobile roaming is a very lucrative bit of the telecommunication business that ensures the telcos make a healthy profit which in turn allows them to expand and upgrade their networks and infrastructure. Essentially, the relationship between telcos and OTT’s like WhatsApp is a symbiotic one. If telcos don’t make a profit, and don’t upgrade their infrastructure, then OTT’s like WhatsApp wont even be of any use to anybody.

Not if Mark Zuckerberg has anything to say about it thou. On Tuesday, the Facebook founder who last week oversaw the purchase of WhatsApp, revealed plans to provide free internet access across the globe to everyone. Yes free. And who is to say he won’t achieve this is the very near future. The only question that remains is where do current telecommunication providers fit into this grand scheme of things to come.

Singtel, who owns Optus in Australia wants regulators to allow them to charge the likes of WhatsApp and Skype for use of their networks. Apart from charging the end user for data plans, telcos like Singtel and Optus have until now not been able to tap into the immense revenue stream that these OTT Apps are manipulating.

Are telcos fast becoming irrelevant as the internet takes over? Let us know in the comments box below.

Sources : smh.com.au, washington post, information week.

Calling all existing U Mobile Broadband and U Mobile Postpaid Voice customers, the telco is now offering “free” modem when you renew your contract with them as part of its Broadband Loyalty Program. Exclusively available for existing U Mobile customers, you can get either a 42Mbps USB Model or a 21Mbps MiFi Model for free when you stay with the selected plans for 12 months. The offer is valid immediately until 31 May 2014 and U Mobile stores nationwide.

For existing MB68 and MB128 subscribers, renew your contract and you will get a free 42Mbps USB Modem worth RM350. As for the rest – MB40 subscribers and postpaid voice subscribers – you will get a free 21Mbps MiFi Modem worth RM200 when you sign up for a new MB68 broadband plan. All offers ties you up to a 12 months contract and an upfront payment of RM100 is required when you sign up for the program, and will be returned to you in the form of monthly rebates (RM10 x 10 months).

The Broadband Loyalty Program is exclusively to:

• Existing Broadband customers subscribing to MB40, MB68 and MB 128 with tenure above 6 months
• Existing Postpaid Voice customers with tenure above 6 months

To check whether you are eligible for the program, visit the Broadband Loyalty Page and key in your IC number to check and for more information about the promotion. Check out U Mobile’s Broadband page to find out more about the telco’s broadband plans.

Look at what we just saw on DiGi’s website, the telco has just unveiled its new DG Smart Plan postpaid plans and it looks like they will be offering 4G LTE for smartphone users as well…finally! Previously available for DiGi Broadband and Tablet Internet Plans only, DiGi has finally decided to roll out LTE for its voice plans and in conjunction with that, the telco also has got some new plans that looks pretty competitive with 2GB of data at only RM50 a month. Hit the break for the full details about the new DG SmartPlan postpaid plans.

DiGi has removed two of its old SmartPlan postpaid plans (SmartPlan 58/88) and replaced them with the new DG SmartPlan 50, SmartPlan 78, and SmartPlan 108 for RM50, RM78 and RM108 respectively. As with existing SmartPlan postpaid plans, all these new options comes bundled with data, voice calls and SMS.

Click on image for larger version

With LTE on board, it’s no wonder why DiGi has decided to offer more data, even with its most basic postpaid plan – SmartPlan 50 at RM50/month. The rest of the plans seems to be getting more data as well however as with the older plans, the data quota are split into two different usage – Mobile Internet Quota and Smart Apps quota. In addition to that, the new SmartPlans also comes with additional “freebies” such as unlimited weekend calls within the DiGi network (valid for SmartPlan 78/108/148 only), unlimited messaging on WhatsApp, unlimited surfing using Opera Mini, free DiGi Visual Voicemail, free Norton Mobile Security, and free unlimited music streaming on Deezer. Do note that according to DiGi, the free weekend calls are subjected to fair usage policy of 1,000 minutes a month.

Smart Apps Quota refers to the data used for Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Twitter, WeChat and WhatsApp but we’re not quite sure on how it works because the new SmartPlans should come with free unlimited messaging on WhatsApp anyway. Mobile Internet Quota refers to all other usage and will be available for you to use as you please. As for the rest of the freebies like Deezer Premium, Norton Mobile Security and DiGi Visual Voicemail, everything will be free throughout your DG SmartPlan subscription.

The plans should be available immediately, since it’s already live on their website, but to enjoy 4G LTE on your LTE-enabled smartphone, you might need to change to a new SIM card. Check out our DiGi 4G LTE announcement post to find out more about how you can get LTE now.

As what we have just reported just moments ago, DiGi has officially revealed the availability of LTE for smartphone through its newly refreshed line-up of DG SmartPlan. That being said, the LTE connectivity is not activated automatically.

By that, we mean there might be couple of things that DiGi customers need to do in order to use it. One such requirement could be a new USIM card.

According to the LTE section of DiGi’s official website, there are three general requirements before DiGi customers are able to utilize LTE on their smartphone. They are:

1. Use a device with LTE support
2. Have your USIM in the device
3. Be within DiGi’s LTE coverage area

Requirements no 1 and 3 are rather obvious but that is not exactly the case for requirement no 2 especially if you are a long-time DG SmartPlan subscriber. The LTE connectivity is only available for users with a USIM card that is marked with the letter U (as shown below). If you don’t feel like popping out your current SIM card from your phone, you are also able to verify your SIM card via SMS.

As pointed in our previous article, DiGi LTE is available for customers under the new DG SmartPlan 50, 78, and 108 as well as the existing DG SmartPlan 148. As for iPhone owners, the LTE connectivity is available for all existing iDiGi customers.

That being said, it is stated in the DG SmartPlan FAQ that DiGi is still working to deliver LTE connectivity to DG SmartPlan customers that subscribed to the service before 25 February 2014. Hence, there is a possiblity that some long-time DiGi customers that is still on the older DG SmartPlan might not able to utilize LTE right away despite owning both LTE-enabled smartphone and USIM card.

Last but not least, DiGi has also listed down a number of devices that the telco touted as “DiGi 4G LTE Ready Device” which include iPhone 5S, HTC One, Samsung Galaxy S4, BlackBerry Z10, Huawei Ascend P1 LTE, Sony Xperia Z and many more. It is not known at this moment if DiGi LTE connectivity is only exclusive to these devices although I highly doubt so.

Meanwhile, DiGi has scheduled a media session tomorrow which should be a perfect opportunity for the company to clarify all the issues regarding its LTE network for smartphones. Do let us if you have any questions to relay to the telco since we’ll be attending the session ourselves.

Now that DiGi has introduced brand new DG SmartPlan postpaid plans that are all equipped with 4G LTE connectivity (finally), it looks like you will be able to sign up for a device bundle for those plans as well. The telco has recently updated its device bundle page, offering devices from Samsung, Sony, Motorola and more that are tied to the new DG SmartPlan 50/78/108/148 postpaid plans.

Just a little refresher, the new postpaid plans are now more affordable, starting from only RM50 a month and if you’re a heavy user, you can opt to have up to 6GB of data every month (SmartPlan 148).

The new SmartPlan options are only applicable for devices offered by DiGi that are tied to a 12- or 24-month contract Motorola Moto G, Alcatel One Touch Scribe Easy, Huawei Ascend G510, Samsung Galaxy Note III, Samsung Galaxy Grand Quattro, Samsung Galaxy S4    (non-LTE), Sony Xperia C, Sony Xperia Z Ultra (LTE), and Sony Xperia Z1. The breakdowns of the prices are as follows:

It’s quite strange how DiGi is doing things this time round, while SmartPlan 50 looks very attractive with 2GB free for you to use (not split into mobile internet and smart apps quota), it’s very strange because the device bundles offered for this plan ties users down to a 12 months contract but is offering them at retail price, i.e. the Samsung Galaxy Note III is retailing at RM2,399 and if you sign up for a 1 year contract with DiGi under SmartPlan 50, you will need to pay RM2,399 plus an advance payment of RM50 – that’s more expensive than heading to a Samsung store to buy the Note III off the shelf.

In addition to that, not all devices offered by DiGi come with the new SmartPlan plans, some of them that are not tied to a contract are still under the old SmartPlan (SmartPlan 58/88) but hey, there’s no contract so you can sign up for those and change your plans anytime you want.

Visit DiGi’s Store Online for more information.

DiGi may be busy preparing stuffs for its postpaid customers with the introduction of 4G LTE for its postpaid voice plans and new SmartPlans, but that doesn’t mean it’s forgetting its prepaid subscribers. At the launch this morning, the telco also introduced some new weekly mobile internet for its prepaid subscribers that are as affordable as RM3/week – Weekly RM3, Weekly RM5 and Weekly RM7.

Weekly RM3 does not come with any data but it still gives unlimited messaging on WhatsApp and WeChat, as well as unlimited surfing via Opera Mini browser at regular speed. As for the other two, Weekly RM5 and Weekly RM7, you will have up to 250MB of data for you to use but if you run out on that, you will still be able to use the free “unlimited” stuffs that are bundled together – Unlimited messaging on WhatsApp and WeChat, and unlimited surfing using Opera Mini browser.

Do note that the Weekly Prepaid Mobile Internet is only available for DiGi Prepaid customers and not available for DiGi Prepaid SmartPlan, Prepaid Broadband and HAPPY customers. Here are the steps for you to subscribe:

• Step 1: Dial *116#
• Step 2: Pick the prepaid internet package of your choice
• Step 3: Press 1 to confirm

After you receive your confirmation SMS, you may browse and chat away.

As you might have read yesterday, DiGi has rolled out a set of new DG SmartPlan postpaid plans which also signifies the official availability of DiGi 4G LTE service for smartphones. While subscribers to these new plans receive access to LTE connectivity, how about customers that are still on the previous iteration of DG SmartPlan postpaid plans such as SmartPlan 48, SmartPlan 68 and SmartPlan 88?

If you are one of these customers, don’t worry if you still not able to utilize LTE connectivity on your LTE smartphone at the time being. Just like how it was stated in the FAQ section of DiGi LTE’s website, LTE connectivity will soon be made available to you according to the confirmation by Christian Thrane, the Chief Marketing Officer of DiGi at a media event earlier today.

Christian further stated that all customers of previous DiGi SmartPlan will receive LTE by this April. Of course, this is provided that these customers have switched to the new LTE-enabled USIM card and are using LTE-enabled device in the LTE coverage area.

However, if you don’t want to wait and prefer to have the LTE connectivity right away, all you need to do is just switch from your existing plan to one of the new DG SmartPlan – although this is strictly based on my own experience last night.

Prior to my switch to the new DG SmartPlan 78 yesterday, I was a long time DG SmartPlan 68 (which was replaced in March 2013) subscriber. Before I made my switch, my download speed was some limited to under 2Mbps even though I’ve changed to the new LTE-enabled USIM card and able to connect to DiGi LTE network.

As soon as I switch from the defunct SmartPlan 68 to the new SmartPlan 78, my connection speed then immediately increased to almost 16Mbps as shown above. It is also the same speed test result that I’ve included in our article yesterday. So, there you go.

So, DiGi has finally enabled LTE connectivity for its smartphone customers this week – around 8 months after it was initially made available for tablets and broadband customers. That being said though, this particular service is currently available only for postpaid customers.

Hence, we asked DiGi at the company’s media event earlier today if the telco has plan to extend LTE to prepaid customers. As expected, it turns out that DiGi is indeed planning to offer LTE to its prepaid customers.

According to Christian Thrane, the Chief Marketing Officer of DiGi, LTE will be made available to DiGi’s prepaid customers maybe sometime in the future. However, the company has no confirmed timeline to share at this moment. Furthermore, Albern Murty, DiGi’s Chief Operating Officer has also pointed out that the current focus of DiGi’s prepaid package is to bring Internet to more users.

Well, we guess it is now only a matter of time before DiGi’s prepaid customers are able to utilize DiGi LTE services. Then again, how soon will DiGi be able to deliver that considering the fact that its major competitors are already offering LTE to prepaid users?

Apart from officially launching its new LTE-enabled DG SmartPlan postpaid plans and the equally new weekly mobile internet prepaid package yesterday, the telco has also provided an update on the current state of its network during a media event before.

According to the telco, DiGi’s network is much better than before. Frankly speaking, that is one bold claim.

As you can see from the image above, DiGi claimed that the voice and data quality on its network has improved significantly and this is apparently due to the network upgrade that the company kicked off two years ago. With a cost of around RM 1.5 billion, DiGi stated that it has brought in new equipment into more than 5,500 of its sites around the country during the upgrade process.

This also has resulted in expansion of its HSPA+ 3G coverage to more than 80% population coverage and the company has also expanded its fibre network access (using both its own and jointly built network) to more than 3,200km.

For 2014, DiGi is planning to invest up to RM 900 million to further strengthen its network. Part of DiGi’s plan this year includes bigger HSPA+ 3G reach with up to 86% of population coverage, more LTE coverage with up to 1,500 sites, and further expansion of its fibre network.

Last but not least, DiGi is also planning to deliver more affordable devices and services in its effort to bring Internet to more users starting with the revamped DG SmartPlan and the new weekly mobile Internet prepaid packages that it has launched yesterday.

All in all, all these plan sounds rather impressive. Then again, do customers really feel or see all these improvement that DiGi has done to its network?

The Lenovo Vibe Z, the first LTE smartphone from the Chinese company, will be arriving in Malaysia very soon and if you’re eagerly waiting for its arrival, Celcom has finally started teasing the device on its main page. Celcom will start offering the Lenovo Vibe Z on 16 March 2014 but as always, the telco will be having a special deal for the smartphone, allowing subscribers to get the Lenovo Vibe Z for only RM688 when you sign up with a mPro or mPro Plus plans; the deal even comes with a shopping voucher worth RM50.

On 15 March 2014, Celcom will be having a launch promotion at Blue Cube @ Sunway, Oasis Boulevard, Sunway Pyramid Shopping Mall and if you’re the first 30 customers, you will be able to get the device for only RM688 when you sign up for an mPro or mPro Plus plan. The promotion will also come with a RM50 shopping voucher.

Announced 5 months ago, the Vibe Z is Lenovo’s first ever LTE smartphone powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core chipset clocked at 2.2GHz. It features a 5.5” Full HD IPS display with 16GB of non-expandable internal storage and features a 13MP f1.8 rear camera coupled with a 5MP front-facing camera.

Other notable features include a “laser etched fabric feel” back cover for a more premium feel (more premium than the regular plastic at least), runs on Android 4.3 out of the box, measures at only 7.9mm thick and weighs 147g. If the international price tag of USD$549 (approximately RM1,750) is to be true in our market as well, RM688 sure sounds like a very good deal, especially when considering that the mPro Plus plan costs RM88/month for 5GB of data, perfect for the LTE-enabled network and device.

Visit Celcom now to find out more.

For those of you who can’t wait to get your hands on the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S5, it looks like the device is getting closer to launch because Celcom has just started teasing the next flagship smartphone from the South Korean company, listing it as “coming soon”. Sadly, no further information like the exact launch date or retail price have been given, but since DiGi has already opened up its ROI for the device and Celcom is saying that it’s coming soon, let’s hope that it’s in the very, very near future.

Announced in MWC 2014 last month, the Samsung Galaxy S5 is the latest flagship smartphone from Samsung, that features a 5.1” Full HD display and right under the hood is a 2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor with 2GB of RAM. What sets it apart from its predecessor, the Galaxy S4, is that it features a brand new back cover design – perforated design that is said to provide for a better grip in a water and dust-resistant build rated at IP67. On top of that, Samsung also added a host of new hardware including a fingerprint and a heart-rate sensor on the device itself.

Other specs include a revamped TouchWiz UI with Private and Kids Mode, LTE Cat 4 bands, up to 32GB of expandable storage, 2,800mAh battery, Android 4.4.2, and packs a much improved 16MP rear camera on board. To be available in four colors – Electric Blue Shimmery White, Charcoal Black and Copper Gold, the Galaxy S5 is said to be launched in over 150 countries on 11 April 2014 but since the ROI and teasers have already started, let’s hope our local telcos bring it over a little faster.

Anyone buying the Samsung Galaxy S5 at launch? Visit Celcom for more information about the teaser. Meanwhile, check out our hands on and first impression of the Galaxy S5.

To all of you who are waiting for the arrival of the Samsung Galaxy S5 to Malaysia, your wait is over…according to a Maxis teaser on its main page. Maxis has just posted a teaser that reads “the wait is over, anticipate the arrival”. Unfortunately, it’s not a call for a registration of interest, it doesn’t provide any details at all about the device, date of arrival or retail price, but with 3 telcos teasing the device, the launch date might be really soon.

In case you missed it, DiGi has already started its registration of interest for the device while Celcom posted a similar teaser with absolutely no details at all. The Samsung Galaxy S5 was announced just last month at Samsung’s Unpack event in MWC 2014. The latest flagship smartphone from Samsung is powered by a 2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor with 2GB of RAM on board. It features a 5.1” Full HD Super AMOLED display, 16MP rear camera, a revamped TouchWiz UI, supports Cat4 LTE, has a fingerprint and heart-rate sensor on board, and comes in a water- and dust-resistant build rated at UP67.

Find out more about the device in our previous post or check out our hands on and first impression post while you’re patiently waiting for its arrival.

There are four major telcos here in Malaysia that offers postpaid voice and messaging services along with data – Maxis, Celcom, DiGi and U Mobile. Each of these telcos have their own rates for different video and voice calls/SMS/MMS and data that are catered for different people in the market, so which one is best suited for your usage? We’ve compiled a list of all the plans offered by each of these telcos so if you want to subscribe to a postpaid line or simply wish to port to a different telco, look no further. These rates are the latest ones offered by these four telcos, which includes the latest plans from DiGi (the new SmartPlan plans with 4G LTE), as well as U Mobile’s latest Unlimited plans.

Celcom

Celcom’s plans looks like the most expensive of them all, but that’s because they do not list out what you’re paying for in their website. Because the telco has a flat rate for all its voice calls, SMS, MMS and even video calls, the monthly commitment you pay – RM40 for Celcom First Prime, for example – will be used to cover all the calls you make and messages you send. i.e. Celcom First Prime comes with RM40 worth of calls, SMS, MMS and video call minutes which roughly translates to a combination of 266 minutes/SMS/MMS, which isn’t listed out. Additional usage after the monthly commitment will be charged at a flat rate depending on the plan you sign up for. Another benefit Celcom has over the rest of the telcos is Auto Rate that automatically transfers you to the next tier once you exceed a certain usage: if you sign up for First Prime but you have used over RM80, you will be charged at Celcom First Premier’s rate at RM0.12/min/SMS/MMS instead of 15sen/min/SMS/MMS.

Unfortunately, while Celcom First’s postpaid plans may come with free mobile Internet access, its quota is very low (only up to 200MB) so if you’re a heavy user, you will have to sign up for additional data as listed in the table below:

Others

• Auto Rate:
  • RM0-79.99: 15sen one rate
  • RM80-149.99: 12sen one rate
  • Above RM150: 10sen one rate
• Celcom First Elite comes with top priority service from Celcom such as First Advantage, First Access, Preferred Number, First Concierge and more.

Maxis

I would say Maxis has got the most complicated postpaid plans but who could blame them? They’ve been around for so many years and some of the old postpaid plans from my mum’s era are still available. The new ones are in the table right below, and I think Maxis has done it right by offering different plans for different users – sign up for TalkMore if you make a lot of calls, or sign up for SurfMore if you use data more than anything else. While the telco is only promoting its new plans, its older plans are still available if you wish to sign up for them but be warned, they are a lot more expensive because you’ll need to pay for monthly fees that will not be used to offset your calls/SMS made that month.

Like Celcom, if you use a mix of voice and data, you can always sign up for additional data or voice. Maxis offers add-on packs for both the TalkMore and SurfMore plans, allowing you to have cheaper rates than the pay-per-use rates for a particular plan. All the plans are listed below:

The latest Maxis postpaid plans. Click on image for larger version

Add-on options that are only available for SurfMore plans

The add-on data plans you can use with Maxis TalkMore postpaid plans or the older postpaid plans listed below

The older postpaid plans. Click on image for larger version

Maxis iPhone Plans, available for iPhone bundles only. Check out the full price comparison for telco bundled iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C in this link.

Others:

• Share ‘n’ Surf – Share your internet quota with up to 5 additional devices at RM15/additional SIM card/month. Only available for data plans of 2GB and above.
• SurfMore75 comes with extra 2GB of data for free only for Astro on the Go users (but only to access Astro on the Go)
• Spotify Premium subscription for only RM10/month instead of RM15/month for Maxis subscribers
• Some subscriptions even come with free storage on Maxis Loker
• Cheaper rates if you surpass certain usage a month

DiGi

DiGi has by far the simplest and most straightforward postpaid plans in the market with four SmartPlans and one Postpaid Simple catered for the basic users. There is an iDiGi plan as well but it’s only catered for iPhone phone bundles only so let’s not go into that. Unlike the former two, DiGi’s postpaid plans comes bundled with literally everything you would need with a mobile line – talk time, SMS as well as data, starting from as low as RM50/month. As for those who require only calls and SMS, Postpaid Simple costs RM50/month with RM100 worth of usage; additional data can be purchased from as low as RM28/month for 250MB.

This is the latest SmartPlan plans offered by DiGi as of 5 March 2014 comes with more data than before, most likely to help cope with its new LTE speeds.

Click on the image for larger version

DiGi iPhone Plans, available for iPhone bundles only. Check out the full price comparison for telco bundled iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C in this link.

Others:

• The SmartPlan 78/108/148 data are split into two different usage - Mobile Internet Quota that can be used for any internet-related stuff like browsing websites and streaming music, and Smart Apps Quota for selected apps like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and WeChat.
• The new SmartPlans comes with additional freebies such as DiGi Visual Voicemail, unlimited WhatsApp messaging, unlimited internet surfing on Opera mini, unlimited weekends calls from DiGi to DiGi, and free Norton Mobile Security (different freebies applies for different plans)
• Free Deezer Premium+ (music streaming service) for selected DiGi Postpaid plans

U Mobile

Interestingly, U Mobile is both the cheapest and most expensive postpaid telco in Malaysia. It’s cheap because it offers 1GB of data for only RM28 and it even comes with free SMS. At the same time, t’s also the most expensive because its call and SMS rates are the most expensive compared to the other telcos, especially if you frequently call and text friends and families who are on a different network. Its SMS rates for U Mobile to U Mobile numbers (RM0.05) may be cheap but let’s face it, how many people do you know are on U Mobile?

But of course, that said, for heavy users, U Mobile has got Add-On services for all of its postpaid plans that gets you a fixed number of call minutes and SMS at a fixed price RM8/month for 80 minutes of offnet calls, that’s 10sen/min for the add on, half of the normal offnet call rates. When used right (if you actually use up all that is provided inside the bundle plus all the add-on you purchase), U Mobile actually has the cheapest offerings of them all.

U Mobile postpaid plans. Click on image for larger version.

Others:

• Supplementary line from RM10/month
• U Buddy service with 5 hours of onnet calls for RM10
• WOWLOUD music streaming service for RM4/week
• Share your call minutes/data between 3 devices for RM10/extra SIM/month on Unlimited Postpaid Plans
• Internet Share Plans (SP68) also allows you to share you’re your free minutes and data with up to 3 SIM cards – first 2 is free, third is charged at RM10/SIM/month. Check out our price comparison for internet sharing plans between U Mobile and Maxis.

Final Words

While price is an important factor when picking the right postpaid plan for all your mobile needs, the most important thing you should consider is the coverage area, especially if you wish to sign up for a device bundle with a telco with a contract of up to 24 months – that’s two whole years of continued suffering if there is hardly any coverage in the places you frequent (or even live in).

As a case in point, DiGi once failed on me very badly at home. At the time it was during one of the company’s network upgrade process, and things was so bad I had to resort to buying a prepaid line just so that I can be contacted when I’m at home.

Hence, you should check the 2G, 3G and 4G coverage for each telco at their individual pages before jumping into any postpaid plans – Celcom coverage area, Maxis coverage area, DiGi coverage area and U Mobile coverage area. Once you’ve sorted that out and then refer to this guide, you should now be better equipped to make the most informed decision on which postpaid plan to subscribe.

The Samsung Galaxy S5 is set to be launched in Malaysia on the of 27th March, weeks ahead of the international release date. Maxis began teasing the release yesterday, and DiGi has already started its registration of interest three days ago. Although it will probably take a few weeks for the actual device to arrive in stores.

Samsung’s next generation smartphone will arrive with  a 2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor with 2GB of RAM on board. It will also feature a 5.1” Full HD Super AMOLED display, 16MP rear camera, a revamped TouchWiz UI, supports Cat4 LTE, has a fingerprint and heart-rate sensor on board, and comes in a water- and dust-resistant build rated at IP67.

For more information check out our first impressions from MWC 2014.

Celcom has finally unveiled its phone bundles for the Lenovo Vibe Z, the Chinese company’s first LTE smartphone that is powered by a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor clocked at 2.2GHz. Celcom is offering the device with its Celcom First postpaid plans with up to 5GB of data, as well as a data-centric voice plan mPro Plus, with up to a 24 months contract option. If you were not fortunate to catch the RM688 promotion that happened last weekend, hit the break to check out the regular bundle below and see how you can get the device from as low as RM988.

Retailing at RM1,799, the Vibe Z has a very decent price tag for the stuffs they offer. While it may not look as premium as the other Lenovo smartphones (K900 for example) that sports an all-metal chassis and sharp edges design, the Vibe Z features a new plastic shell with a “laser-etched” textured pattern at the back. It comes with a 5.5” Full HD IPS display with a pixel density of 401ppi, has 2GB of RAM, 16GB of non-expandable internal storage, 13MP rear camera, 5MP front shooter and 3,000 mAh battery on board. Running on Android 4.3 out of the box, it also features the company’s very own custom UI that comes with a lot of software additions such as SECUREit, SHAREit, RAM clenup, Theme Center and a lot more.

For more information about the Vibe Z, check out our full review in this post or visit Celcom to find out more about the bundle.

For those of you who wish to sign up for a Maxis SurfMore postpaid plan and do not mind signing up for a contract and getting tied for up to two years, Maxis is now giving away up to 3 months of free internet access for its SurfMore plans. All you need to do is sign up for a 12- or 24-month contract with either a SurfMore50 or SurfMore75 postpaid plan, and Maxis will be giving you up to 5GB of free internet for up to 3 months depending on the package you pick.

Get 1 month of “free internet access” when you sign up for a 12 months contract, or 3 months of free internet when you sign up for a 24 months contract. The “free internet” will be given back to you in the form of rebate, which will be reflected in the first month bill for the 12 month commitment period offer, and first 3 months for 24 months commitment period offer. Shall you terminate your contract before it’s over, you will be charged for the amount of “free internet” as shown in the tables below:

Rebates for “free internet” with Maxis SurfMore50 or SurfMore75

Penalty charges should you terminate or downgrade your plan

The offer is valid immediately until 20 June 2014, the promotion is only available for new and existing Maxis subscribers who are not under an existing contract.

As for existing Maxis who are looking for a supplementary line, Maxis is also having another on-going promotion for its SurfMore30 supplementary plan that gets you 50% discount for your second supplementary line. For the registration of a 2^nd SurfMore30 line, you will get a RM15 rebate each month for 12 consecutive months, which means that you’ll only need to pay RM15 monthly to enjoy 1GB of data (12-months contract applies).

Visit Maxis now to find out more about its latest SurfMore promotions or check out our very comprehensive list of postpaid plans in Malaysia for more information about all the other postpaid plans you can subscribe to from all the other telcos in Malaysia.

Good news for U Mobile subscribers who are residing in East Malaysia, U Mobile has recently expanded its services to the region with opening of the 15^th and 16^th centres in Kuching and Kota Kinabalu respectively. The opening of both outlets is aimed at bringing U Mobile products and services closer to consumers in the region, allowing them to enjoy U Mobile’s high quality mobile and data services at the best rates, along with other value-added services and benefits of being a U Mobile subscriber.

With the opening of these two new branches in East Malaysia, it means that U Mobile subscribers in the region can now easily access all their U Mobile needs such as keeping up to date with the latest offerings, bill payments and even seek advice from U Mobile’s service consultants on any queries.

“We are very glad to expand our footprint to East Malaysia and look forward to servicing further in this region. With the opening of our new branch, we are able to bring convenience and accessibility to our customers in this region. We remain optimistic to see many great things ahead from this expansion.” – Wong Heang Tuck, Chief Operating Officer and Acting CEO of U Mobile.

U Mobile is currently providing 2G service across East Malaysia as well as 3G connectivity in limited parts of the region including Kuching, Sibu, Bintulu, Miri, Labuan, Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan and Tawau. Find out more about U Mobile’s coverage in East Malaysia via this link, or find out more about U Mobile’s postpaid plans and how they stack up against the other postpaid telcos in our comprehensive list of telcos in Malaysia and the services they offer.

It looks like the Samsung Galaxy S5 will be reaching our shores very soon, the media launch is scheduled for next Wednesday, 27 March 2014, Celcom has recently teased the device and listed it as “coming soon” and if you really wish to hear more from the telco in terms of launch, plans and packages, Celcom has just opened up its registration of interest page.

Available at this link, the ROI from Celcom not only keeps you updated with exclusive news on their launch, plans and packages, you will also stand a chance to experience the device before anyone else at Celcom’s exclusive Samsung Galaxy S5 preview event. All you need to do is fill in your details, pick a color, and wait for Celcom to send you that email you’ve been waiting for.

Do note that this is only a ROI page to keep you updated with the latest news from the telco, it does not in any form represent a pre-booking allocation for the device.

Check out our hands on post to find out more about the Samsung Galaxy S5, as well as visit our older post to check out the camera samples taken with the 16MP camera on the Galaxy S5 along with a new Selective Focus mode.

What is one of the most important things to look forward to when you sign up for a new service? A good after sales service of course, Celcom was recently rewarded a Frost & Sullivan award for the best customer experience in the telecommunications industry at the inaugural Frost & Sullivan Best Practices in Customer Experience Awards program.

The selection of the award is based on several criteria, namely customer loyalty and likelihood of buying future products, satisfaction with telecom services, satisfaction with in-store or retail services, satisfaction with contact center channels, confidence level for future services, overall customer experience, customer recommendations, listening to customers, and purchase additional services.

“This success could not have been achieved without the continuous and unwavering support of our customers. I would like to thank all of our over 13 million Celcom customers for choosing to be part of Celcom Territory to enjoy the fastest and widest network coverage, and making us their number one choice mobile telecommunications service provider in the country. We certainly would not be where we are today without our customers.” – Dato’ Sri Shazalli, Chief Executive Officer of Celcom Axiata Berhad.

On top of aiming to provide the best customer experience for subscribers, Celcom also mentioned that they are continuously working on improving their services too, like the rapid LTE deployment and maintenance of unparalleled network with relenting focus on areas beyond Klang Valley. Celcom recently invested RM923 million for CAPEX in 2013, the highest in the industry, mainly on network modernization, LTE and IT transformation, and another RM1 billion this year in CAPEX to improve network quality and capacity for better customer data experience.

Keep up the good work Celcom, and let’s hope the rest of the local telcos follow suit in aiming to provide the best customer service to subscribers.