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Which Telco Offers the Best Value iPhone 6 Plan

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Finally Celcom has revealed its iPhone 6 & 6 Plus plan nearly 30 hours prior to official launch of iPhone 6 & 6 Plus in Malaysia. To refresh you, Maxis was the first telco revealed its plan followed by DiGi, and both of them are taking pre-order since 30th October. And a comparison post to compare DiGi vs Maxis was published few days ago.

Best Value iPhone 6/6 Plus Plan

As we promised, comparison for all 3 telcos (Celcom, DiGi & Maxis) is brought to you here. 🙂  However, you might curious why iPhone 6 Plus is not present in the comparison chart. Regardless iPhone 6 or 6 Plus being used for comparison, actually both results did not affect the general point of view, so for shorter post, I pick only iPhone 6 as example.

Since Celcom is the last mobile operator to reveal its iPhone 6/6 Plus offer, logically they should be the best offer telco, because they have extra time for their actuaries & marketing team to design a better strategy. But will Celcom really beat DiGi & Maxis? Let’s check the comparison chart below:

Compare the Introductory Plan of Celcom, DiGi & Maxis

Telco Celcom DiGi Maxis
Plan Prime iDiGi 50 iValue Simple
Monthly Fee RM 78 RM 50 RM 50
Bundle Usage
Calls to All Networks 266 units 50 minutes 200 minutes
SMS to Own Network 200 SMS 100 SMS
SMS to Other Networks –
Mobile Internet 2.05 GB 2 GB 1 GB
Exceed Quota Charges
Call to Own Network RM 0.15/minute RM 0.15/minute RM 0.12/minute
Call to Other Networks RM 0.20/minute
SMS to Own Network RM 0.15/SMS RM 0.10/SMS RM 0.05/SMS
SMS to Other Networks RM 0.15/SMS
Exceed Quota Block Speed Throttle
12 Months Contract Total Cost*
16 GB RM 2,814 RM 2,765 RM 2,849
64 GB RM 3,154 RM 3,100 RM 3,179
128 GB RM 3,494 RM 3,435 RM 3,519

*Exclude the advance deposit and stamp duty (RM10). Advance deposit was not included because it will be refund in your first month bill as well, so it would not affect the total cost.

Celcom vs DiGi vs Maxis

– DiGi has the lowest total 12 months owning cost, however it offer the least call minute and the sms only to its own network, which is not very attractive.

– If we excluded DiGi, and in this situation – Celcom vs Maxis, If your call destination across all networks, call > sms and rarely send out sms, then Celcom would be your best choice, provided coverage are almost similar. Besides that, Maxis only give 1 GB data, which might not sufficient in this new era.

– In overall, I’ll pick Celcom > DiGi > Maxis.

– However, in the following situation, DiGi > Celcom > Maxis:

  • MNP to other telco, then MNP back to DiGi, enjoy 100 minutes and 100 SMS to all networks, sum up will get 150 minutes to all networks, which consider worth than the current iDiGi 50 for existing DiGi subscribers.

Continue reading Which Telco Offers the Best Value iPhone 6 Plan →

Compare

iPhone 6 & 6 Plus – DiGi vs Maxis – Winner?

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Maxis was the first telco to revealed their iPhone 6 & 6 Plus plan offer and followed by DiGi one and half hour later. However rumours indicated that Celcom will reveal their plan details close to the launch. Therefore, before Celcom reveal their offer, let’s compare the DiGi and Maxis offer first, to give some guidance and advice on choosing the right plan, or more accurately is the most valuable plan that fit your needs.

iPhone 6 Plus

Beside pricing consideration, network coverage, internet connectivity (3G/LTE) as well as quality of voice calling are the factors of consideration as well. Although our comparison are focus mainly in pricing, but you should also consider the factors mention above before you sign your 12-24 months contract.

Compare DiGi and Maxis from the lowest commitment plans in 12 months.

Telco DiGi Maxis
Plan iDiGi 50 iValue Simple
Monthly Fee RM 50 RM 50
Contract Length 12 months 12 months
Bundle Usage
Call to All Networks 50 minutes 200 minutes
SMS to Own Network 200 SMS 100 SMS
SMS to Other Networks –
Mobile Data 2 GB 1 GB
Exceed Usage Charges
Call to Own Network RM 0.15/minute RM 0.12/minute
Call to Other Networks RM 0.20/minute
SMS to Own Network RM 0.10/SMS RM 0.05/SMS
SMS to Other Networks RM 0.15/SMS
Extra Bonuses For MNP/New Customer
Call to All Networks 100 Minutes –
SMS to All Networks 100 SMS –
Advance Deposit RM 50 RM 150
iPhone 6 Price
16 GB RM 2,165 RM 2,249
64 GB RM 2,500 RM 2,579
128 GB RM 2,835 RM 2,919
iPhone 6 Plus Price
16 GB RM 2,500 RM 2,579
64 GB RM 2,835 RM 2,919
128 GB RM 3,170 RM 3,249
Total Owning Cost iPhone 6 (12 Months)*
16 GB RM 2,765 RM 2,849
64 GB RM 3,100 RM 3,179
128 GB RM 3,435 RM 3,519
Total Owning Cost iPhone 6 Plus (12 Months)*
16 GB RM 3,100 RM 3,179
64 GB RM 3,435 RM 3,519
128 GB RM 3,770 RM 3,849

*Exclude the advance deposit and stamp duty (RM10). Advance deposit was not included because it will be refund in your first month bill as well, so it would not affect the total cost.

From the chart above, DiGi has the cheapest offer in term of 12 months total owing cost. But let’s go deeper, is it really worth?

DiGi vs Maxis

– Obviously DiGi has more data and cheaper exceed data charges, but Maxis has more bundle call and sms allocated.

– DiGi plan is not very attractive for current DiGi customer compare to new/MNP to DiGi customer due to extra 100 minute and 100 sms to all networks bonuses only allocated to new/MNP customer.

DiGi is the winner in this comparison. And here is the tricky solution to get the new/MNP bonus for existing DiGi customer.

Utilize the MNP feature, port to other telcos, such as Maxis, then MNP back to DiGi. Each MNP process takes you minimum 24 hours and RM 10 stamp duty charges. So total cost is RM 20 in this case. (You can MNP to prepaid and back to DiGi and save RM 10 in this case)

However, if you’re taking the advantage of the autobilling feature, you can save RM 5 for 6 months.

Compare DiGi and Maxis around RM 100 monthly fee plans in 24 months.

Telco DiGi Maxis
Plan iDiGi 108 iValue 1
Monthly Fee RM 108 RM 100
Contract Length 24 months 24 months
Bundle Usage
Call to Own Network 300 minutes 1,000 minutes
Call to Other Networks 333 minutes
SMS to Own Network 300 SMS 1,000 SMS
SMS to Other Networks –
Mobile Data 3 GB 2 GB
Apps Data
iTunes, FaceTime, iMessage, Facebook & Twitter		 2 GB
Exceed Usage Charges
Call to All Networks RM 0.15/minute RM 0.15/minute
SMS to All Networks RM 0.10/SMS RM 0.10/SMS
Extra Bonuses Customer
Weekend Call to Own Networks Yes No
Advance Deposit RM 720 RM 600
iPhone 6 Price
16 GB RM 1,445 RM 1,559
64 GB RM 1,780 RM 1,889
128 GB RM 2,115 RM 2,229
iPhone 6 Plus Price
16 GB RM 1,780 RM 1,889
64 GB RM 2,115 RM 2,229
128 GB RM 2,450 RM 2,559
Total Owning Cost iPhone 6 (24 Months)*
16 GB RM 4,037 RM 3,959
64 GB RM 4,372 RM 4,289
128 GB RM 4,707 RM 4,629
Total Owning Cost iPhone 6 Plus (24 Months)*
16 GB RM 4,372 RM 4,289
64 GB RM 4,707 RM 4,629
128 GB RM 5,042 RM 4,959

*Exclude the advance deposit and stamp duty (RM10). Advance deposit was not included because it will be refund in your first month bill as well, so it would not affect the total cost.

DiGi vs Maxis

– DiGi has more data (5GB), however it separate 2GB into apps data and only allocated to iTunes, FaceTime, iMessage, Facebook & Twitter, but it still more than Maxis (3GB).

– However, Maxis offer more call allocation, it’s good for those who needs to make a lots of call, such as sales agent.

– In overall, 24 months total owing cost for Maxis is slightly lower than DiGi.

– However, if you’re not using that much data (perhaps 2 to 3GB) and call/sms (200-300 minutes/sms), you might want to consider Continue reading iPhone 6 & 6 Plus – DiGi vs Maxis – Winner? →

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Best Postpaid Data for Smartphone

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According to the feedback on my previous post ‘Best Postpaid All in One Plan for Smartphone‘, many users now seems using more than 2GB data and rarely make a call,  the comparison chart seems did not suit their requirement. Therefore today I’ve prepared another comparison chart that focus in data for smartphone. 😉

Best Postpaid Data for Smartphone

Let’s start from moderate data usage. Why not light data first? Refer my previous post, which is based on light data. 🙂

Moderate Data Usage

Telcos Celcom DiGi Maxis U Mobile
Plan Celcom First One Plan 3GB DG SmartPlan 50 DG SmartPlan 78 SurfMore50 UNLIMITED 50 UNLIMITED 80
Monthly Commitment RM 68 RM 45* RM 73* RM 50 RM 50 RM 80
Bundle Usage
Calls to Same Network 60 minutes 100 minutes 200 minutes – 1800 minutes
Calls to Other Networks – 100 minutes 200 minutes
SMS to Same Networks 60 SMS 200 SMS 200 SMS – – 50 SMS
SMS to Other Networks 100 SMS 100 SMS – – 50 SMS
Data Quota 3 GB 2 GB 2 GB Mobile Internet
1 GB Apps
(Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, WeChat		 2 GB 2 GB 3 GB
Exceed Quota Charges
Calls to Same Network RM 0.20/minute RM 0.15/minute RM 0.12/minute Unknown
Calls to Other Networks RM 0.20/minute RM 0.18/minute RM 0.15/minute
SMS to Same Network RM 0.20 RM 0.10 RM 0.05 RM 0.05
SMS to Other Networks RM 0.15 RM 0.12
Additional Bonuses or Rebate
Auto Billing Rebate 5% RM 5 for 6 months none Additional 250 MB data
Additional Discount none 25% off commitment fees when usage hit RM 150
100% off commitment fees when usage hit RM 250		 none
Add-on package none RM 12 – 120 minutes (All Networks)
RM 6 – 120 sms (All Networks)		 none
1 GB Data Add-on Price RM 15 RM 25 RM 15 RM 10 for 1.5 GB with 3 days validity only

*DiGi RM 5 rebate is applicable for first 12 months only.

First I’ll compare those 2GB plans, among them, DiGi offers the best value, which cost RM 45 for first 12 months and 100 minutes call and 200+100 SMS. While Maxis and U Mobile price tag RM 50, and Maxis did not bundle any call and sms. Unless you makes a lots of calls to U Mobile’s friends, otherwise Continue reading Best Postpaid Data for Smartphone →