Telcos these days tend to boast on having the best 4G LTE coverage across the nation, which unfortunately in our Telco Challenge we have proven that is not the case, however when it comes to postpaid services, be it a voice or data centric one, we are beginning to see some serious competition in the industry as in the case of the Maxis OnePlan and U Mobile’s Hero Postpaid Plan, which both offer unlimited free calls and lots of data quota, hence let’s take a closer look at them on what they offer.
Principal Plans
Both Maxis OnePlan 188 and U Mobile’s Hero Postpaid have fairly attractive deals here, while Maxis is obviously the most pricey of all and offers 9GB of data, unlimited calls and text, and Free Spotify Premium in an auspicious RM188 (GST excluded) figure. In contrast, U Mobile’s Hero Postpaid is less complicated and gimmicky as it offers 7GB of data with unlimited calls to all networks, you won’t get any free music streaming subscriptions or unlimited texts, however you are only required to pay RM70 (GST excluded), which is 62% lesser than Maxis yet being able to high data quota and unlimited calls.
On the other hand, users should also take note that Maxis’ 9GB data is only available as a first time subscription promotion for both existing and new customers, hence you are technically entitled for only 7GB of data after 6 months.
In addition, U Mobile’s unlimited YouTube and Tonton streaming will ensure that you get to stream videos without affecting your allocated quota on 2AM-10AM, I know you won’t be streaming in the middle of the night, at least you get to stream YouTube videos on your way to work.
Supplementary Plans
If you own multiple devices, for instance, a data enabled tablet, otherwise intend to share the benefits of your postpaid plan with your family, Maxis and U Mobile offers a supplementary plan for such purposes.
While Maxis has been the first telco in the country to launch such supplementary postpaid service, dubbed as Multi SIM 1 Line previously at RM15/month/SIM, the Maxis One Share plan is now a new and revamped service that complements the principal OnePlan, which now includes unlimited text and voice minutes to all networks while sharing the principal’s data quota, users can apply up to 2 SIM cards at RM48/month/SIM and unlike its predecessor, you can now have different phone numbers for each of them.
U Mobile on the other hand is playing a very different game from Maxis, while priced slightly expensive at RM50/month/SIM, you get to have additional 3GB of quota per member line on top of the allocated 7GB data on the principal account and the Share plans also enjoy unlimited free calls, while SMS charges remain the same as the principal line at 3 and 8 sen per SMS for U Mobile and other networks respectively, on top of that you also get to enjoy free video and music streaming similar to the principal account.
Assuming that we apply the maximum allowed quantity of member lines from both services, Maxis once again is the most expensive and least value of the duo, which is due to the pricey commitment of the principal OnePlan 188 while the OnePlan Share isn’t able to enjoy free Spotify subscription and any additional data allowance, hence your data quota can be easily used up if your supplementary users aren’t careful enough. U Mobile on the other hand offers up to a total of 16GB of data quota that is shared across the account, which will be sufficient in most cases but if you ever really use up all of them, U Mobile’s data booster plan is pretty affordable at RM15 for 1.5GB/3 days. Therefore, U Mobile’s monthly commitment is still lower than Maxis despite having a slightly expensive supplementary plan and it also offers better benefits as well. In our assumption case, the Maxis One Share plan costs RM94.66/line/month and U Mobile merely costs RM55/line/month, the latter definitely steals the spotlight from the telco that claims to be the first in everything, but definitely not the first in offering dirt cheap postpaid plans.
Data Roaming
Data roaming is expensive and you would definitely want to try avoid using it while you are travelling abroad, but assuming if you are on a short one day trip in countries like Singapore, you might want to take advantage of Data Roaming instead of purchasing a local travelers SIM.
Both Maxis and U Mobile will offer data roaming services at a daily flat rate in most countries but when it comes to value, U Mobile is once again the one that goes the extra mile by offering free 50MB of data roaming in 8 countries – Australia, Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand, that means if you are not able to purchase a travelers SIM upon reaching these countries, that amount of free data already enables you to check in to the airport, upload a selfie to Instagram and send a couple of WhatsApp messages to your friends and family, and that free data resets upon striking midnight on the day, even if you exceeded the allocated free quota, you will only be charged at RM30/day, U Mobile’s data roaming service currently rides on HSPA+ networks of most countries except for Singapore with StarHub’s 4G LTE network.
Maxis on the other hand charges subscribers for RM38/day for its data roaming service across the Asian region, the company however limits 500MB of high speed internet daily and caps your data speed once the quota is exceeded, while the good thing here is that the company doesn’t charge GST for its data roaming fees, it is still the most expensive and least valuable service of all.
Coverage
Pricing and benefits is just part of the story, now let’s talk about network and coverage. Maxis has had a long history in the Malaysian mobile communications service sector, the telco is now one of the most preferred telcos due to its wide LTE coverage and it is also one of the very first to implement Cat 6 LTE, otherwise known as LTE Advanced, which offers 150Mbps of theoretical network speed. U Mobile on the other hand is a fairly new telco that started way back in 2007 and started off by implementing 3G towers, the telco has got traction in implementing over 2000 3G and 4G LTE sites in recent months, U Mobile doesn’t utilize 2G (GSM) towers hence it rides on Maxis’ GSM towers in areas that the company has not built its towers.
In a fast paced world today, LTE devices have become very affordable these days and it is therefore important to consider a telco’s network quality and coverage areas to ensure that you make the best out of your smartphone investment. In this round, Maxis gets the advantage as it has LTE covered in many parts of the country, and in some areas of the city, the telco is able to reach up to amazing speeds all thanks to LTE Advanced. U Mobile on the other hand isn’t too shabby either, despite of somewhat limited LTE coverage even in city areas, the network at times demonstrates short ping responses, which results in faster load speeds despite not having the fastest overall speed, while I do have to admit that U Mobile’s service does tend to get very frustrating when you are presented with a weak HSPA+ signal or EDGE network. You may watch our Telco Challenge series videos to find out our comparison on other Malaysian telcos as well.
Verdict
U Mobile is the obvious all round winner in this comparison, the telco’s Hero Postpaid is a ground breaking postpaid plan that offers benefits that no other telcos would’ve dared to offer, this is definitely a way for the new and upcoming telco to entice users to its network. While Maxis takes the crown in its wide coverage, its OnePlan is way too pricey for the benefits you are getting out of it, while the company can continue to boast on its coverage, we believe it won’t be too long that U Mobile expands its network coverage rapidly this year with its increasing number of subscribers and a recent raise in stake by the Sultan of Johor. Maxis, your coverage boasting game isn’t going to work in the long term, just be a hero like you once were, can you?
