Mobile Telco In Malaysia

Celcom Axiata Berhad
Celcom Axiata Berhad is the oldest mobile telecommunications company in Malaysia. Celcom is one of a member of the Axiata group of companies. Being one of the very few companies in Malaysia to originally obtain a cellular phone license, it successfully introduced mobile telephony in Malaysia through its ART-900 (Automatic Radio Telephone) service, using first generation (analogue) ETACS (Extended Total Access Communication System) specifications of the United Kingdom, a derivative of the US-AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System) technology. The ETACS ART-900 was started using the prefix "010". Celcom now uses the dialling prefix identifier of "013" and "019" and offer digital GSM (Groupe Speciale Mobile), an originally European standard, now largely a world standard for mobile communications. The original frequency band for GSM is 900 MHz, and was soon extended to 1800 MHz to cater for a much wider bandwidth requirements.

Through the Mobile Numbering Portability by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, CELCOM also provides Virtual Mobile Operator services. Celcom also provides rural communications services using CDMA Technology and Satellite Phone.

Celcom claims to have the widest and most extensive coverage nationwide, compared to other cellular services in Malaysia. Celcom claims its dual-band GSM (900/1800 MHz) coverage has reached over 97% of Malaysia's populated area in 2006, and 100% through satellite coverage. As of 2006 Celcom is offering both 2.5G and 3G services on its postpaid and Xpax prepaid brands. Current (published) customer base passes over 10 million, with blended ARPU (Average Revenue per User) stood at RM65. Celcom claimed a 95% nationwide mobile service coverage with 3G availability in most of Klang Valley, Johor Bahru, Melaka, Kulim and Penang.

In 2009, the 3G coverage covers most major towns where there is a telephone exchange and either HSDPA or EDGE services within 15 mile radius (GSM UMTS maximum allowed range) with GPRS as basic data coverage.
http://www.celcom.com.my/

Maxis Communications Berhad
established 1993, publicly listed 2002.

Maxis Communications Berhad is a leading mobile phone service provider in Malaysia. It was started in the year 1995. It uses the dialling prefix identifier of "012" , "017" and “0142”. Their mobile services are provided over the 900 & 1800 MHz GSM band and as July 2005, the 2100 MHz UMTS band.

Maxis provides a variety of mobile communication products and services. They offer prepaid call plans, monthly subscription plans, global roaming, MMS, WAP (over both GSM and GPRS), Residential Fixed Line services, Broadband Internet plans, and as of early 2005, 3G services to both prepaid and postpaid subscription customers.

For business customers, Maxis offer VSAT services (satellite based communications) and BlackBerry based mobile services besides regular services. Maxis also provides an online Music store for its customers to download multimedia content.

Maxis most popular service is its prepaid brand Hotlink, which currently serves over 8 million customers in Malaysia. They are currently heavily promoting a new IDD 132 service, which offers discounted calls to landlines in selected countries, at a rate of 20 sen (roughly 6 US cents) per minute which is, at certain times for many subscribers, even cheaper than a local call.

Maxis is currently involved in a price war with its competitors (particularly DiGi) in the prepaid SIM market which has driven its Hotlink starter pack prices down to RM6 (about USD$1.2).
http://www.maxis.com.my/

DiGi Telecommunications Sdn. Bhd
Founder 1995, Publicly listed 1997, known as Mutiara Swisscom Bhd. The name of DiGi Swisscom Bhd., the holding company of DiGi Telecommunications Sdn. Bhd., was changed to DiGi.Com Berhad. in 2000.

DiGi Telecommunications is a mobile service provider in Malaysia. It is owned in majority by Telenor ASA of Norway with 49%. On 24 May 1995 DiGi became the first telco in Malaysia to launch and operate a fully digital cellular network.

They were also the first to offer GPRS (2.5G) and later EDGE (2.75G) in Malaysia in 14 May 2004. DiGi primarily uses the GSM1800 band with the network code of 50216.

DiGi is listed on the Bursa Malaysia under the Infrastructure category.It uses the native dialling prefix identifier of "010", "016", "0143", "0146" and "0149", although with the implementation of Mobile number portability mandated by the Malaysian government this does not apply to subscribers who switched from their old mobile service provider over to DiGi. At the moment, switching to DiGi is free.

It provides a variety of mobile communication services. These services include voice under their prepaid plans & postpaid plans, SMS, data plans and services, international roaming, international calling card and WAP services.

DiGi Telecommunications Sdn. Bhd. started a project called 'Happy'. A group of DiGi Telecommunications Sdn. Bhd. staff handle this special project and provide a new brand of Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO) called Happy Prepaid.

DiGi is also the second operator in Malaysia to offer the iPhone on April 1, 2010. Although its plans are cheaper than Maxis's iValue plans, the price of the iPhones sold are higher than Maxis

DiGi is the first Telco in Malaysia to introduce Mobile Number Selection service which was implemented in 2008. This service enable the subscriber to choose their own number instead of following the traditional way of purchasing a new SIM that has been pre-assign with fix mobile number.
http://www.digi.com.my/

U Mobile Sdn Bhd
U Mobile Sdn Bhd is Malaysia’s newest 3G service provider and was founded in 1998 as MiTV Networks Sdn Bhd. U Mobile is a wholly owned subsidiary of U Television Sdn Bhd which was formerly known as U Telecom Media Holdings Sdn Bhd and MiTV Corporation Sdn Bhd.

Utilising the 018 prefix allocated to the organisation by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) , U Mobile seeks to enrich the lives of consumers by making communication, entertainment and information easily accessible through advance technology via one convenient, ubiquitous platform.

In addition to offering mobile telephony and mobile data, U Mobile intends to be Malaysia’s first ever true mobile TV service provider with its Mobile LiveTV service that utilises internationally accepted Digital Video Broadcast – Handheld (DVB-H) technology . U Mobile targets to commence its mobile service and Mobile LiveTV user trial before the end of 2007.

Based on Bloomberg's feed, KT Freetel, one of U Mobile's foreign investor, has announced that it is selling its 16.5% stake (62.6 million shares) to U Mobile’s major shareholder.
http://www.u.com.my/