Earlier today, Maxis apparently has a sent a SMS to its SurfMore 50 customers to inform that the telco is about to add extra 1GB worth of data to their account. Scheduled to take place by end of April, this means that the data quota for SurfMore 50 customers will be increased to 3GB very soon.

For those who are doubting the legitimacy of the SMS, it has been verified by MaxisListens team which provides customer service for the telco on Twitter in its replies to multiple customers (here’s an example) that have reached out to the team regarding the SMS. Furthermore, the team has also stated that the new 3GB quota will be valid until customers decide to change to other plans in the future.

Meanwhile, we have no idea if the new 3GB quota is applicable for new customers since the SurfMore 50 section on Maxis website and online store still reflect the old 2GB quota. At the same time, there was no mention if SurfMore 75 (which has been discontinued last year) customers will receive the same benefits or otherwise.

Nevertheless, it is indeed a timely move by Maxis given that some subscribers have been wondering if the telco is planning to improve its non-MaxisONE offerings after its announcement last week.

It appears the refreshed MaxisONE plans revealed earlier this month is about to get refreshed before it is even officially launched.

The telco is set to formally introduce the new MaxisONE postpaid plans at a media event tomorrow, but a brochure showing off the new plans have begun to appear online.

Previously, CEO Morten Lundal and Dushyan Vaithiyanathan, head of consumer business at Maxis revealed that the refreshed MaxisONE plan 98, 128, 158 and 188 would feature 5GB, 8GB, 12GB and 16GB respectively.

If this brochure, posted by a Facebook user who claims to be a sales executive at a Maxis store, is indeed true, these plans would now feature 5GB (MaxisONE 98), 10GB (MaxisONE 128), 15GB (MaxisONE 158), and 20GB (MaxisONE 188).

In addition, the brochure offers more insights into the “new ways to use your data” as promised by Lundal and Dushyan earlier this month. There would be an additional 5GB of data specifically for video streaming on iflix and Viu (which Maxis recently collaborated to offer a free two month subscription), as well as two other video streaming sites, Eros Now and Hopster. However, this additional allocation is only limited to the first four months of the plan.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the new maxisONE plan is the refreshed MaxisONE Share supplementary plans. Previously, each supplementary line costs RM48 for unlimited texts and calls, and shares the same data allocation as the principal line.

The new MaxisONE Share retains the same price of RM48, as well as the unlimited calls and texts that Maxis is known for – but adds an additional 5GB that can be shared between the main line and other supplementary lines.

Known as Data Pool, this new feature allows MaxisONE users to enjoy up to 40GB of 4G LTE data to be shared with up to five users. Of course, each MaxisONE plan has a limited number of maximum MaxisONE Share lines:

MaxisONE 98: 1 MaxisONE Share line
MaxisONE 128: 2 MaxisONE Share lines
MaxisONE 158: 3 MaxisONE Share lines
MaxisONE 188: 4 MaxisONE Share lines

If the information listed in the leaked brochure is indeed true, this makes the refreshed, refreshed MaxisONE plans a little more competitive compared to the other players in the industry.

Maxis declined to comment on the leaked brochure.

Finally, Maxis has formally revealed its refreshed MaxisONE postpaid plans. Starting from today, all current MaxisONE subscribers will enjoy the enhanced MaxiONE plan, offering up to a whopping 20GB of data.

Following yesterday’s leaked information from a brochure posted online, the new MaxisONE plans are mostly the same as what we reported yesterday. The MaxisONE plan now offer a minimum 5GB of data, in increments of 5GB up to a maximum of 20GB for the MaxisONE 188.

There’s also the official announcement of the refreshed MaxiONE Share, a competitive supplementary plan that offers 5GB of 4G data, as well as unlimited calls and texts for just RM48 a month.

This works in tandem with a new feature called Data Pool, where the main and supplementary lines can share their entire data allocation. The main line can dynamically allocate how much data each line gets via the MyMaxis app.

Of course, the number of maximum supplementary lines a MaxisONE subscriber can have varies depending on which MaxisONE plan they have:

MaxisONE 98: 1 MaxisONE Share line
MaxisONE 128: 2 MaxisONE Share lines
MaxisONE 158: 3 MaxisONE Share lines
MaxisONE 188: 4 MaxisONE Share lines

One difference from yesterday’s brochure is with the offering of additional data specifically for video streaming. The brochure stated that this was a limited-time promotion that expires after three months, but Maxis has today confirmed that this will be a permanent feature: free 5GB data specifically for video streaming on iflix, Viu, Eros Now and Hopster.

Should you run out of the 5GB allocated data, you can purchase an additional 5GB for just RM5 for video streaming. But, the additional data is only valid for 24 hours.

On top of that, the local telco has also enhanced its MaxisONE World roaming plans. It now allows you to utilise your MaxisONE plan (for both calls, text, and data) when you roam overseas. This feature has been rolled out to ASEAN countries, before Maxis ramps it up to Asia Pacific and eventually around the world.

A daily roaming charge of RM38 a day applies, and Maxis adds an additional 500MB of data per day in addition to the user’s MaxisONE data quota.

This new plan will not just apply to new subscribers. Starting today, all 1 million current MaxisONE subscribers will automatically be allocated additional data based on which plan they are currently on. Since there is no change in prices, this move should not be too complicated for Maxis to implement – according to Maxis, all current subscribers should already receive an SMS to confirm the additional data allocation, and also automatically in the MyMaxis app.

Even better, all subscribers have now had their data allocations reset, regardless of when their billing cycle is. This also applies to current SurfMore 50 subscribers, who will now enjoy 3GB of data every month.

For more information on the new MaxisONE plans, head on to the official website here.

In just a few months, a lot has happened in Malaysia’s telco space. Celcom and U Mobile were one of the first few to introduce its new postpaid plans, followed by Digi. Maxis took a while, but the company has finally refreshed its MaxisONE plans to offer even more data.

Now that the dust has settled, let’s take a closer look at the offerings from the big four telcos in Malaysia: Maxis, Celcom, Digi and U Mobile. With a total of 25 postpaid plans from these telcos (12 from Digi alone!), it can be tough to compare them all in one location. Let’s take a look at all postpaid plans in Malaysia.

Maxis

Maxis has finally refreshed its MaxisONE plans, giving customers even more data than before. Maxis now has a total of six postpaid plans to choose from – four MaxisONE plans, SurfMore 50, and Maxis GO.  Existing MaxisONE plan customers are upgraded automatically to the new MaxisONE plans, with unlimited calls and SMS bundled as a standard feature. Refer to the table below for the details on each MaxisONE plan:

Maxis also refreshed the MaxisONE Share supplementary line. For the same RM48 monthly commitment, each supplementary line gets an additional 5GB of data per month alongside unlimited calls and texts to all networks.

There’s also a new feature called Data Pool for MaxisONE and MaxisONE Share subscribers. Data Pool allows the main and supplementary lines to share their entire data allocation. For example, a MaxisONE Plan 158 subscriber with three MaxisONE Share supplementary lines can share 30GB of data between the four lines. The principal user also has the ability to control how much data can be shared to the supplementary lines using the MyMaxis app.

Other than that, MaxisOne Plan 128 users and above also enjoy free Spotify Premium subscriptions worth RM15/month. All MaxisONE plan users will also get 5GB of data which is specifically allocated for video streaming on iflix, Viu, Eros Now and Hopster. If you’ve used up the allocated 5GB data, you can buy an additional 5GB for just RM5. Take note that this quota is only valid for 24 hours, and for video streaming only.

In addition, MaxisONE plans also come with unlimited social chat on chat apps like WhatsApp, WeChat, Line and Facebook, as well as zero PPU data charges when your high-speed data is used up; the connection is simply throttled to 64kbps. That means you will still be able to use the chat apps, use Waze, and even surf the net, if you’re patient enough.

Additional Features:

• MaxisONE World
• Spotify Premium

Celcom

Celcom now has a total of three postpaid plans to choose from, each catering to the different needs of different customers. Its most affordable plan would be the First Blue plan that has a monthly commitment fee of RM45. It comes with 2GB of standard data and an additional 2GB for weekends (500MB each week), as well as 50 minutes free calls and 50 free SMS to all networks.

For the First Gold plan, Celcom has revamped it to provide more data – 5GB standard and 5GB for weekends (1.25GB each week). The plan comes with unlimited calls and SMS to all networks, for a monthly commitment fee of RM80. However, this is merely a promotional price offer, which will end on 31 May 2016. Celcom did not reveal what will happen to the plan after this period.

Celcom’s most premium postpaid plan would be the First Platinum. For RM150 a month, subscribers will be getting unlimited calls and SMS, and a total of 18GB of data. Like Celcom’s other plans, First Platinum will only offer 9GB of standard data with 9GB distributed evenly throughout the weekends.

Additional Features:

• Yonder Music
• iFlix Access
• Zipit Chat
• Value-Added Services – (Emomi365, Big Win, Game Store)

Digi

Digi used to provide the most straightforward plans, but ever since it refreshed the Digi Postpaid plans, the telco now offers arguably the most complicated postpaid lineup. That said, if you take a closer look at them, you could be getting plenty of value for your money.

Digi has split its postpaid plans into two categories – More Internet and More Calls & SMS, each catering to different customer needs. Interestingly, Digi is offering plenty of bonuses for those who sign up before 30 June 2016 for the Digi Postpaid 68 and higher plans. These bonuses are also permanent, and will remain for the duration you are on that plan. The table below shows all twelve postpaid plans from Digi.

Besides that, Digi also recently introduced the Digi Postpaid 80 plan that offers 10GB of data and unlimited calls for RM80 a month. It’s quite similar to Celcom’s First Gold offering, and even the data quota is split between weekdays and weekends: 7GB on weekdays and 3GB distributed equally over weekends. Also, SMSes are only free to 3 Digi friends, with the rest being charged on a pay-per-use basis.

Additional Features:

• Digi Music Freedom
• Digi Video Freedom
• Digi Capture
• Internet Rollover

U Mobile

U Mobile’s postpaid plans are straightforward and easy to understand. The Hero P70 seems to be the best-selling postpaid plan for the company because of what U Mobile is offering.

For the price of RM70 a month, customers will be getting 7GB of data along with unlimited calls and SMS to all networks. There is no Internet carry forward feature, but U Mobile is giving an additional 8GB of data for the P70 plan until the end of the year – that’s a total of 15GB of data every month until the end of 2016.

U Mobile also has an attractive supplementary line for the P70 plan. The Share 50 supplementary line adds 3GB of data per supplementary number, and each P70 line can have up to three supplementary lines. The primary and supplementary lines will share their data in their own data pool of up to 16GB. Assuming a P70 subscriber adds three Share 50 supplementary lines, this averages out to just RM45 a month, with each line allocated 4GB of data, and enjoying unlimited voice calls. SMS is charged at 3 sen to U Mobile numbers, and 8 sen to other numbers.

Apart from that, U Mobile also has the Hero P50 plan. While it may not come with unlimited calls and SMS, but it does have a certain amount of free talktime with  5GB of data for RM50/month.

As for the more affordable U28 plan, customers will be paying RM28 a month for 3GB of data with 100 SMS to U Mobile numbers and 200 SMS to other networks, making it a pretty interesting option for those looking for a cheap plan, or those looking for a secondary number.

Additional Features:

• Data Backpack
• Hero Plus Share 50 (For Hero P70 Users)
• Internet Share Plan (SP68)

Full Comparison Chart

Now that we’ve seen what each telco offers, here’s a look at the full comparison chart that includes all the postpaid plans discussed above:

Final Words

For most of us, price is most probably the first thing we look at when it comes to picking a postpaid plan. That being said, it should not be the only deciding factor. There are other aspects to consider when choosing a postpaid plan. Coverage is a factor that is just as important as price: there’s no point choosing the cheapest postpaid plan when that telco does not have strong coverage in your area.

To help with your decision, here are the 2G, 3G, and 4G coverage for each of the telcos on their individual website.

• Celcom coverage area
• Maxis coverage area
• Digi coverage area
• U Mobile coverage area

Besides that, some promotions could make the plan offer more value – just make sure they are permanent ones that stick throughout the duration of the plan, and not just a limited-time offer that expires after a period of time.

Finally, if you spend most of your time consuming content on YouTube, iflix, Spotify or other media services, you might want to consider plans that offer attractive benefits such as premium subscriptions or additional data allocations.

Postpaid plans are subjective. What might be reasonable to someone, might not be the same for someone else – that’s why all telcos come out with postpaid plans at various price points. There is no “best” postpaid plan out there, but there is one that fits the bill: your bill.

As telcos continue to offer new and better postpaid plans, we’ll continue to update this page to discuss the new plans.

Around this time last year, I wrote a commentary about how Malaysian telcos were finally offering more competitive plans, and how they can continue to improve. 13 months on, and with Maxis’ latest postpaid proposition in mind, how much have our telcos changed for the better?

As it turns out, the Malaysian telco industry is almost unrecognisable from 2015. As Malaysians continue to evolve into massive data consumers, each of the Big Four – Celcom, Digi, Maxis, and U Mobile – have positioned their products to be more appealing to the data-hungry. At the same time, the price per GB of data has continued to spiral downwards.

The Role of The Underdog

U Mobile’s role cannot be overstated in this. Just as it did last year, the underdog constantly made sure its products undercut the competition, driving prices ever downwards. The Hero P70 postpaid plan, which offers 7GB of data packaged with unlimited calls and low SMS rates, is one such example. As it attempts to aggressively expand its user base, the telco is further sweetening the deal for those who sign up for the P70 plan by giving subscribers 15GB of data until the end of 2016.

Not content with that, U Mobile then introduced the RM50 Hero+ supplementary plan for the Hero P70. It introduced the idea of a shared data pool between the principal and supplementary lines, effectively averaging down the cost of each line (though with slightly lower data quota).

It also disrupted the competition with the new Data Backpack roaming. It allows subscribers on the P70, i90, i130, UD95 and UD135 postpaid plans to use data from their existing plans in 12 selected countries, and it’s completely free. No data roaming charges, no bill shocks (provided you’re roaming on U Mobile’s preferred partners, of course).

But of course, the P70 postpaid plan was the one that had the greatest impact across the nation. It prompted swift reactions from both Digi and Celcom.

Swift Reactions

After its successful First Basic 38 plan last year, Celcom revamped its entire postpaid lineup, and removed the Optimiser feature; it was replaced by one of the two features I highlighted in last year’s article: the option to carry forward unused Internet data.

The new plans were renamed First Blue, First Gold, and the recently-announced First Platinum. Of the three, Celcom is placing plenty of resources on promoting the First Gold plan which was refreshed not long after U Mobile’s P70 was announced. For just RM80, subscribers would get 10GB of data (separated equally between weekdays and weekends), unlimited calls and texts, as well as the option to carry forward unused data. From a price perspective, it is even better than U Mobile’s P70, and arguably any other postpaid plan in the market.

Digi, on the other hand, took a complicated approach. Each of its six new postpaid plans, called Digi Postpaid, can be separated into two: More Internet, or More Calls and SMS, effectively turning an already large product offering into a bloated one.

But if you take a closer look, these plans are actually pretty competitive. The plans start from just RM28 a month all the way to RM238, offering features like unlimited calls and texts, generous amounts of Internet data, and the option of carrying forward unused data.

That said, Digi also has a recently-introduced postpaid plan that is comparatively better: the Digi Postpaid 80. It is somewhat similar (and can be seen as a response) to Celcom’s First Gold: RM80 monthly commitment, 10GB data split between weekdays (7GB) and weekends (3GB), unlimited calls, and the option of carrying forward Internet data (but only up to 2GB per month).

As it attempts to increase its own user base, Digi also offers attractive sign-up bonuses – but unlike U Mobile’s limited-time 15GB promo, those who sign up for Digi Postpaid plans before 30 June 2016 will get sign-up bonuses that are valid for life (or, until you change postpaid plans, whichever is sooner). These bonuses come in the form of extra data and monthly cash rebates.

The Sleeping Giant Awakens

And, just like last year, Maxis again is the slowest to respond. Worse was to come, when controversy erupted on social media following accusations of preferential treatment to postpaid customers who were attempting to port out.

Counter offers aren’t something new – virtually all industries practise it – but the furore that came following Maxis’ official statement hurt the brand considerably, and eventually Maxis CEO Morten Lundal issued a public apology, before promising significantly improved postpaid plans.

It may have been slow, but Maxis’ response would have many industry players standing up and take notice. The refreshed MaxisONE postpaid plans offer just as much data as the competition (from 5GB all the way to 20GB), with unlimited calls and texts, and the MaxisONE Share supplementary lines add 5GB of data for an additional RM48 per month which can be shared among all lines.

The company needed to address the changing consumer habits in Malaysia, while still maintaining a balance to sustain its network capital expenditures and of course, the company’s profitability. The new MaxisONE plans, according to conversations with senior Maxis staff, is a reflection of that balance point.

One-Dimensional Comparison

The new MaxisONE plans have been met with a mixed response. Most of the comments that we’ve read online slam Maxis’ new plans, labeling them to be “still expensive” due to the high point of entry – the most affordable MaxisONE plan remains priced at RM98.

As a premium provider, Maxis isn’t able to match the competition in terms of pricing. The company’s financial reports constantly show significant amounts of investments in network infrastructure (RM815 million in 2013, RM1.1 billion in 2014, and RM1.3b in 2015), with CEO Morten Lundal stating that Maxis spends “hundreds of millions” of Ringgit more on its network than the next-highest spending telco.

An interesting stat Maxis shared: the amount of data that goes through its network every month.

This statement actually isn’t as wildly exaggerated as it looks: Digi spent RM904 million in 2015, while Axiata Group spent “around RM4 billion” in network capex in its seven markets across Asia (including Celcom in Malaysia) in 2014. U Mobile isn’t a public-listed company, and as such its financial figures are not available to the public.

With its significant capex, perhaps it is not surprising that an independent report from OpenSignal states that Maxis has the best overall network in Malaysia.

As a price-sensitive market, Malaysia can be a tricky market to navigate. But as we concluded in our postpaid comparison post, there are many factors one should consider when choosing a postpaid plan.

Price is definitely a strong – and often determining – factor, but an informed decision should also consider network quality as well as coverage. After all, products of a higher quality, naturally, are priced higher than average ones. This meme posted earlier this month manages to describe our Malaysian telcos pretty succinctly:

Exercising Our Rights

The recent uproar over Maxis and its counter offers also opened up stirring discussions regarding customer loyalty. On one hand, loyal customers deserve some form of recognition from a brand. But on the other, the brand does not have an obligation to reward each and every loyal customer it has; after all, it isn’t exactly a reward if one is obliged to give it.

As a consumer, we can’t expect to be rewarded simply for being loyal to a brand. While it sucks to hear that some customers are offered better plans, we have every right to take our wallets elsewhere to another brand that hopefully appreciates our business. Perhaps, to a new player with plenty to prove?

Lurking in the Horizon

The Big Four Malaysian telcos may soon be the Big Five. webe, formerly known as P1, is set to announce itself (no, not this one) as a telco towards the middle of this year. Backed by TM’s extensive resources as well as its 4G network on the 850MHz band, webe is the dark horse all industry players are keeping a very close eye on.

After all, sources have stated that whatever we saw in the cached pages and webe’s webpage codes may have a lot of truth in them. The telco is already testing the network to selected users via a “pioneer plan” which expires at the end of July 2016, so chances are webe’s telco plans will finally be unveiled then.

In the meantime, it could be worth checking out webe’s YouTube channel, where CEO CC Puan offers some interesting insights about how telcos work.

What’s Next?

It’s a great time to be looking out for a postpaid plan. Every telco now has a data-rich plan with unlimited calls, which means you can’t really go wrong choosing any of them. Of course, we owe it to ourselves (and our hard-earned money) to go for the one that offers the best combination of value, network quality, and coverage.

That being said, there is always room for our telcos to further improve. LTE-A is around the corner, and we know all telcos have been hard at work ahead of a planned rollout this year.

With more and more postpaid plans now offering unlimited calls as a standard feature, it paves the way for a national rollout of Voice over LTE (VoLTE) for all telcos. In fact, Digi has already been testing VoLTE internally since October 2015, and confirmed its plans to launch it this year.

However, perhaps the most interesting feature I’m hoping to see become a reality this year would be a postpaid plan that offers unlimited everything. Calls, texts, and yes, even unlimited data.

This isn’t exactly an outlandish dream. In the US, T-Mobile has a postpaid plan that offers unlimited Internet, calls and texts in the US, Canada and Mexico for $95 (about RM370) a month. 3 in the UK offers all-you-can-eat data and calls for £30 (about RM170) a month.

Closer to home, we’ve already seen webe’s cached website that shows off an “unlimited everything” plan for just RM80. That figure may or may not be true, but offering this plan makes plenty of sense for webe: it builds chatter and hype, focusing all attention to this newcomer.

And of course, this will inevitably send shockwaves throughout the industry, as other players try to catch up. Another price war will erupt, driving prices down even further. Telcos will go out of their way to offer more value added services to entice you, the paying customer, to subscribe to their plans.

By next year, the Malaysian telco landscape will be completely foreign as it was compared to 2015, but one thing will remain resolutely true: the ultimate winners will be us, the consumers.

Hotlink is offering its existing and new Hotlink FAST customers free 8GB of weekend 4G Internet for life, no minimum spend or reload. Customers will be eligible for the free Internet so long as they keep their Hotlink account active.

The free 8GB data quota will be distributed equally over the weekends – 2GB every week, 1GB for Saturday and 1GB for Sunday. Other than that, Hotlink FAST prepaid plan also comes with free social chat including LINE, Google Maps, Waze, WeChat, Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp (fair usage policy applies).

Existing users will be glad to know that they will automatically be upgraded to this plan. As for new users, this 8GB weekend feature will be made permanent as long as you are on the new Hotlink FAST prepaid plan.

When the weekend is over, customers can purchase several data passes to choose from:

• 1GB (Daily) – RM3
• 600MB (Weekly) – RM10
• 200MB (Weekly) – RM7
• 2GB (Monthly) – RM30
• 3GB (Monthly) – RM38
• 5GB (Monthly) – RM48

Do note that these Internet passes will be renewed automatically at the end of the subscription period. Once the Internet quota is depleted, customers can purchase 150MB, 500MB, and 1GB Internet add-ons at RM3, RM8, and RM12 respectively.

New customers can purchase the Hotlink FAST starter pack from any Hotlink dealer or Maxis Centre. Existing Hotlink customers who are not on Hotlink FAST can upgrade using the Hotlink RED app: just open up the app, select “My Account” > “Change” > “Rate Plan”, and choose “Hotlink FAST”. Otherwise, they can just dial *100*6*1# from their smartphones. It should be noted that a RM5 fee is applicable for the upgrade to the Hotlink FAST prepaid plan.

The new Hotlink FAST prepaid starter pack is now priced at RM10, comes with 300MB (valid 2 days) pre-loaded data quota and RM5 airtime (valid 5 days). To learn more about the Hotlink FAST prepaid plan, customers can head on to the official webpage here.

As expected, the Samsung Galaxy S7 is now officially available in Malaysia for a retail price of RM2,699. For those who would like to purchase the phone with a device subsidy, you can get it with Maxis Zerolution at RM149 a month.

The device price of the Galaxy S7 from Maxis is RM96 a month. In order to be eligible to swap to a new phone after 12 months, you will need to pay an additional monthly fee of RM30. You can also opt to purchase a device protection at RM23/month, which protects your phone from screen cracks, accidental damage and theft to ensure that you can upgrade to a new phone after 12 months. This adds up to a total of RM149 a month.

As always, Maxis is offering the Samsung Galaxy S7 with its MaxisONE 128/158/188 postpaid plans. In case you missed it, MaxisONE plan now comes with a lot more data than before, at 10GB, 15GB and 20GB respectively.

The Samsung Galaxy S7 is available for purchase right now on Maxis online store. You can opt for a Zerolution plan, or to purchase the phone outright at RM2,546.23. All the prices displayed on Maxis’ website are shown before 6% GST.

Check out Maxis now for more information.

The iPhone SE is scheduled to arrive in Malaysia on Friday, 13 May 2016, but it looks like Maxis is already allowing subscribers to order it from their online store. The telco is offering the iPhone SE with its Zerolution bundle, from as low as RM45/month.

You can get the iPhone SE from RM45 a month with Maxis Zerolution, but if you’d like the option to upgrade your phone after 12 months, you will need to pay an additional RM20 a month. While it is not compulsory, it is encouraged to buy a device protection at RM23/month to ensure that your phone is eligible for the annual upgrade – the device must be in good working condition after 12 months with no physical damages.

As usual, this fee is on top of your monthly postpaid subscription fee starting from RM128/month. Maxis Zerolution is available with a MaxisONE Plan 128/158/188, now with up to 20GB of data a month. The monthly fee for the 16GB iPhone SE is RM45, while the monthly fee for the 64GB iPhone SE is priced at RM66. The full pricing is as follows:

16GB iPhone SE Zerolution price from Maxis

64GB iPhone SE Zerolution price from Maxis

You can order the device from Maxis right now however, Maxis did not state when they will deliver the iPhone SE to you. According to other Apple resellers, the iPhone SE is scheduled to arrive in Malaysia next Friday. Check out Maxis now for more information.

Wish to get a brand new iPhone 6s or an iPhone 6s Plus? You can now trade in your old device and purchase a new iPhone from as low as RM35 a month. Maxis is offering up to RM1,560 for some of the latest smartphones, or a minimum value of RM240 for any working phone.

You can trade in any devices including an iPhone 6 Plus, Samsung Galaxy Note 5, Sony Xperia Z3, HTC One M9 and. If your device is not listed on Maxis’ website, it will fall under Tier 5; the minimum value offered by the telco at the time of writing is RM240.

All you need to do is ensure that the device is able to power on and off, and has access to IMEI. The display must be functional and free of cracks/damages, and the casing must not be damaged/cracked or spotted with missing buttons when presented. For those trading in their iPhones, you must ensure that Find my iPhone is unlocked.

Once your device passes the validation, you can then get an iPhone 6s/iPhone 6s Plus with Maxis Zerolution. The value of your old phone will be given back to you in terms of rebates over 24 months, which means that if you trade in an iPhone 6 Plus or a Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and get a rebate of RM1,560, your rebate will be RM65/month for 24 months.

Maxis says that you are not tied to any contract and you are free to change plan however, if you leave MaxisONE plan, you will not be eligible for Zerolution and your trade in rebates remaining balance will be forfeited.

Check out Maxis now to find out more about its trade in program and to check how much the telco is offering for your old device.

For those of you who need a new 4G LTE smartphone, Maxis is giving them away when you sign up for a new line or port in with the telco. The devices offered include the new Huawei P9, Asus Zenfone Go, and more.

All you need to do is port into Maxis or sign up for a new MaxisONE plan number, and you can walk away with one of these 4G smartphones for free. For new MaxisONE plan subscribers, you can even pick a “VIP number” for free. Once done, you can then enjoy all the benefits that come with MaxisONE plan including free unlimited calls & SMS, free video streaming, and free Spotify premium subscription.

The devices offered are as follows:

In addition to that, the telco is also giving away a Share Line rebate for 3 months when you sign up for one of the selected Zerolution devices like Samsung Galaxy S7 / S7 edge, Huawei Mate 8, Huawei P9 or Oppo F1. This promotion is valid for one new or port-in Share Line only and should you wish to continue the line after 3 months, you will need to pay RM48 a month.

This promotion is available immediately and will run until 31 July 2016, and is available via Maxis Centres and Maxis Exclusive Partners. A 24 months contract applies for the Raya free phone program, and it is only available for port in or new MaxisONE plan subscribers – sorry existing MaxisONE plan users.

Check out Maxis now for more information about its promotion.

Maxis recently added the Huawei P9 to its device bundles, offering the latest smartphone from Huawei from as low as RM71 a month with Maxis Zerolution. For those who do not wish to sign up for Zerolution, you can opt to get the device from as low as RM0 with a traditional contract with the telco.

As always, the Zerolution bundle offers the Huawei P9 at RM71 a month. If you wish to change to a new phone after 12 months, you will need to pay an annual upgrade fee of RM44 a month. Maxis also recommends that you purchase a device protection at RM23 a month to ensure that you can upgrade to a new phone, making that a total of RM138 a month. Maxis Zerolution is available with MaxisONE plan 98 and above.

As for the contract plan, Maxis is offering the Huawei P9 with a traditional 24 months contract. Sign up for MaxisONE plan 98/128/158/188 and get the Huawei P9 at RM1,499, RM1,299, RM1,099 and RM0 respectively however, do note that if you terminate your contract before it’s over, you will need to pay a penalty to the telco.

The Huawei P9 is also part of the on-going Maxis Raya Free Phone promotion that offers selected 4G LTE smartphones for free. Sign up for a MaxisONE plan 188 with 24 months contract, and you can get the Huawei P9 for free, the regular contract price for the device with a Maxis ONE plan 188 is RM899.

Visit Maxis now to find out more about its Huawei P9 bundle.

It’s a dangerous world out there and Maxis wants to help parents easily contact and keep track of their children’s whereabouts. The telco recently introduced the new MaxisONE Kid plan, a kid-friendly postpaid plan designed for the QQ Watch wearable.

MaxisONE Kid comes with 500MB of data, unlimited calls to 10 numbers (all networks), and voice messaging. It is designed specially for the QQ Watch, allowing parents to monitor their children, and to allow the children to contact their parents or guardians without the need of a smartphone.

MaxisONE Kid costs RM58 a month but if you are an existing subscriber with MaxisONE Plan 98 and above with a MaxisONE Share Line, you will get an additional RM20 rebate a month; that’s only RM38 a month. It comes with a one year contract and each principal line can have a maximum of two MaxisONE Kid lines.

To subscribe, you will need to visit one of the four flagship stores in Klang Valley – KLCC, Mid Valley, TTDI or Sunway Pyramid. The 500MB of data is only useable for MaxisONE Kid, is not transferable, and is not part of the MaxisONE Plan DataPool.

The QQ Watch was introduced slightly over a month ago. It is a smartwatch for young children that come with a SIM card slot of its own so does not rely on a smartphone for connectivity. The QQ Watch can make calls, alert parents and allow children to send an SOS when needed.

Check out Maxis for more information, or find out more about the QQ Watch on our previous post.

(Source: Amanz)

Samsung will be announcing the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 on 2 August 2016 and it looks like we wouldn’t have to wait too long for it to come to Malaysia. Maxis has just opened up its registration of interest page for something “galactic”,

While the telco did not specify what they mean by “something epic is coming to Maxis”, the teaser image shows the number 7, likely referring to the Samsung Galaxy Note 7. If you’re interested, you can register it on Maxis’ website – all you need is to key in your name and email address, and the telco will keep you in the loop.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 is scheduled to be launched on 2 August 2016. The Korean company has already sent out its invitation to its Unpacked 2016 event, and will be live streaming it at 11:00am EDT in New York, and simultaneously in Rio de Janeiro at noon and London at 4:00pm; that’s 11pm on the same day for us.

Don’t be confused by the name, Samsung confirms that they are skipping Galaxy Note 6 and naming the next generation Galaxy Note smartphone Note 7 instead, to unify their product portfolio, and to minimise the confusion about the latest mobile technology from the company.

Check out Maxis now to register your interest.

Maxis has released its results for Q2 of 2016 and they’re rather unexpected to say the least. CEO Marten Lundal said, “this wasn’t our easiest quarter, but we managed to keep our revenue and profit at similar levels compared to last year.”

Maxis managed to minimise damage done by a social media fiasco from earlier in the year. With the company’s MaxisONE plan subscribers growing to over 1.3 million compared to the 962,000 subscriptions it had in Q1 2016.

Having said that, the number of Maxis’ overall subscriptions showed a decrease. In Q1 of 2016, Maxis’ revenue generating subscribers (RGS) was at 11.02 million, consisting of 8.11 million prepaid subscribers and 2.66 million postpaid subscribers. When it comes to its market definition subscriber base, Maxis had 12.25 million subs  (9.27 million prepaid subscribers and 2.98 million postpaid subscribers) in the first half of 2016.

To upgrade the company’s infrastructure, Maxis spent RM333 million in Q2 alone. In total, Maxis’ capital expenditure was at RM492 million which was RM139 million more than what it spent for the whole of 2015. And because of this, Maxis has managed to increase its 3G and 4G population coverage from 88% and 41% to 94% and 80% respectively.

With the larger population coverage and increased data quota given, Maxis has seen a drastic increase of postpaid customers’ data usage. In the first quarter, customers were using an average of 1.93GB per month and that number has now increased more than 50% to 2.95GB.

(Source: Digital News Asia | Maxis)

Grab and Hotlink have teamed up to prepare for the highly anticipated launch of Pokemon Go in Malaysia. To celebrate the upcoming occasion, the two parties have announced the existence of four PokeMobiles that will be hitting the streets of the Klang Valley at the same time as the popular mobile game.

These PokeMobiles will operate for the first two days of the official launch of Pokemon Go in the country, providing free rides for customers to the nearest PokeStop. The PokeMobiles will also be running Pokemon Go, allowing the drivers to keep tabs on nearby Pokemon and make quick detours for passengers to catch them. Grab has also installed additional USB charging ports in the PokeMobiles; taking note of the battery draining nature of Pokemon Go.

Interestingly, the promotional video that was shown appears to indicate that the iPad in the PokeMobile is capable of revealing the location of all nearby Pokemon. When asked about this, Hotlink clarified that the video is only an advertisement and that the iPad does not have a Pokemon locator. This was highly important as Niantic considers Pokemon locators to be a violation of its Terms of Services and has been clamping down on the services.

The catch is that there are only four PokeMobiles at any given time. And whether or not one manages to call one is a matter of luck, and being at the right place at the right time.

Hotlink plays into this by providing additional benefits for PokeMobile passengers. Pokemon Go players who are also Hotlink customers will receive $100 worth of Pokecoins if they manage to hitch a ride on a PokeMobile. This translates into about 14,500 Pokecoins; and is not an insignificant sum.

Those who are unable to find a PokeMobile are not left out either. Hotlink is offering a 10-percent discount on Pokecoin purchases for its subscribers until the end of the year. This is only available through Google Play, and it looks like iOS players are out of luck. This discount also extends to a host of other in-app purchases from Google Play games such as Clash Royale, Clash of Clans, Smule, Candy Crush Saga, Mobile Strike, Loong Craft, and Last Empire World War Z.

To make it easier to hunt for Pokemon, Hotlink will also be preparing to drop Pokemon Lures in secret locations after the PokeMobiles are no longer on the road. There is no word on how players will be informed of these lures, but they will likely be made known shortly before the lure is dropped.

Most importantly, neither Grab nor Hotlink knowns when Pokemon Go will be launching in Malaysia. Only two countries are on the official launch list, and there is little indication of when a wider launch will happen.

Maxis recently added the Huawei P9 Plus to its phone bundles, offering the device from as low as RM78 a month. As always, you can get the Huawei P9 Plus from Maxis with either a Zerolution plan, or a regular 24 months contract.

The price of the Huawei P9 Plus with Maxis Zerolution starts from RM78 a month however, if you would like to get a new phone every year, you need to pay an extra RM44 a month. After 12 months, just return the phone to Maxis in a good working condition, and walk away with a brand new phone. The optional phone protection that protects your phone from screen cracks, accidental damage and theft costs an additional RM23 a month. That’s a total of RM145 a month.

For those of you who prefer a regular contract, you may get the Huawei P9 Plus from as low as RM799. Sign up for a 24 months contract under MaxisONE plan 98/129/158/188, and you can purchase the device at a subsidised price.

Do note that Maxis recently made some changes to its terms and conditions for Device Subsidy Contract. If you have outstanding fee for three (3) consecutive months, the telco reserves the right to block your device based on your IMEI number. The telco will send notifications via SMS prior to blocking. If you still have not remit your payment within the 3 days grace period, they will block your device. Maxis will unblock your device within 3 days after you’ve made your payment. This is effective from 29 July 2016 onwards and is applicable for all customers who sign up for a Device Subsidy Contract.

Check out Maxis now for more information about its Huawei P9 Plus bundle.

[UPDATE: 6/8/2016] Maxis is giving a 10% discount for in-game purchases, should you use its Direct Billing feature. The promotion only applies to select few game titles like Clash of Clans, Candy Rush, and the newly released Pokemon GO. To learn more about the offer, head on to the official website here.

We’ve reported that Maxis has been experimenting direct billing on the Google Play Store for its postpaid customers. However, it seems today the telco has activated the service for Hotlink prepaid users as well. Do take note that the direct billing feature is only available for content sold on the Google Play Store.

Direct billing is definitely a welcome feature for both Maxis postpaid and Hotlink prepaid customers, but there is a catch – Hotlink customers will need to be subscribed to either a weekly or monthly mobile internet plan to use the service. If the customer is already subscribed to a mobile internet plan on Hotlink, then they will be able to purchase Play Store content without a problem. Should the purchase be successful, Maxis will send customers an SMS to notify them.

The direct billing feature can also be set up during the phone’s initial startup for new Android users. During the setup process, customers will be able to add their Maxis or Hotlink account as a payment method. Just select “Maxis Billing”, wait for Google’s confirmation message, input your basic information, and you’re done.

As of this writing, Maxis has not released any official statement regarding Maxis Direct Billing. But in our testing, the service is live right now for both postpaid and prepaid users. For those who do not own a debit or credit card, Maxis’ Direct Billing feature might just be for you.

(Source: Amanz)