26 Mar 2019
unifi showcases Malaysia’s first TDD pre-5G wireless technology
The Time Division Duplex (TDD) Pre-5G Wireless technology will be deployed as an alternative at areas with infrastructure challenges to digitally connect the nation
Living up to its promise to deliver more #khabarbaik, unifi today revealed that a pre-5G wireless technology has been in the works. This is the nation’s first pre-5G via Time Division Duplex (TDD) technology and it is part of unifi’s journey towards powering the nation with 5G. The project, which started in Q4 last year, has already entered its commercial phase at SetiaWalk Puchong which consists of residential blocks, mall and offices.
At the showcase event, Moharmustaqeem Mohammed, Acting Executive Vice President, unifi, said, “The technology is set to improve unifi’s wireless connectivity services, especially for high-rise buildings and dense residential areas with low fixed broadband penetration, allowing for wireless internet access sharing at home and on-the-go within LTE coverage areas. This project will also address many ongoing infrastructure challenges in areas without fibre coverage, offering speed upgrades of up to 30Mbps via wireless broadband, and peak throughput may go up to 80Mbps.”
“In the last few months, we have shared with you about our commitment to deliver the best internet offerings and services along with finding the best solutions using fit-for-purpose technologies to overcome our infrastructure challenges. Today, we are very excited to share another exciting #khabarbaik: unifi has been developing the country’s first TDD pre-5G technology. We are happy to say that the TDD pre-5G network can deliver larger capacity at about 500Mbps, which is 2 times more than the existing 4G technology. This has put us, unifi, a step forward in providing a better service and experience to our customers in the wireless segment. Not only that our new TDD pre-5G capability will enable us to bypass wiring limitations in areas we previously could not penetrate, this technology also brings us one step closer to the country’s 5G milestone,” he added.
At the event, unifi demonstrated the capabilities of its TDD pre-5G technology via capturing the exciting moments of the local alternative rock band, Estranged – on their daily digital activities using unifi’s wireless home broadband service.
“With just some enhancements to the technology, we are now ready to commercially power the nation with 5G via unifi. We see this as a huge step for Malaysia’s telecommunications industry and we look forward to working together with our peers to develop the best technology that can be deployed in every part of the country, be it urban cities, high density residential areas, and rural villages,” Moharmustaqeem elaborated further.
Aside from home customers, unifi TDD pre-5G technology will also improve the unifi Mobile experience. Users can seamlessly enjoy their favourite content on unifi Play TV and beyond, endless choice of entertainment, whether they are at home or on-the-move.
Moharmustaqeem further commented, “We are committed to continue transforming the digital way of life and make internet connectivity a ubiquitous part of the Malaysian lifestyle. On one hand, we wish to increase our reach across the nation so that every Malaysian can adopt a digital lifestyle and stay connected seamlessly. On the other, we are able to provide the best available fit-for-purpose technology that not only improves the experience for our existing customers, but also expands the digital adoption towards making Malaysia a digital nation.”
As an enabler of Malaysia’s Digital Nation aspiration, unifi hopes to push forward with its TDD pre-5G technology and bring faster and more affordable internet access to the nation. Stay tuned for more updates on what’s next on 5G from unifi.
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unifi choices for different home needs and affordability
New unifi 100Mbps plan at RM 129 per month, complements unifi Basic plan for all Following hot on the heels of unifi Basic for all Malaysians, Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) recently introduced the new unifi 100Mbps plan at RM129 per month - delivering broadband experience of 100Mbps with unlimited usage, access to unifi PlayTV packages for everywhere, anytime entertainment as well as free 600 minutes of voice calls. This new unifi 100Mbps plan represents a refreshed, simplified and great value all-in-one home offering. Imri Mokhtar, Executive Vice President of unifi, said: “We are constantly innovating by listening closely to our customers - understanding the household needs for fast unlimited broadband, endless entertainment and connecting with one’s family and friends. Recently on 12th July 2018, we had announced our plans to upgrade our existing unifi home customers to higher broadband speeds (currently in pilot phase), so that they could enjoy the better experience a higher speed broadband can offer. Now, we are opening up this experience to new unifi home customers by offering them this 100Mbps unifi plan - as a start.” “Our customer insights show that more and more Malaysia homes are opting for high speed broadband to fuel their daily digital lifestyle - especially driven by the rising usage of streaming services and digital games (e-sports) as part of today’s household lifestyle,” he added. Imri explained: “As the nation’s partner in unleashing the digital potential of a fully connected Malaysia, it is our obsession to enable every Malaysian household to enjoy the benefits of digital technology. Through unifi 100Mbps at RM129 per month, we are setting a new benchmark of speed and affordability - 60% lower than previous 100Mbps plan. We believe that 100Mbps will soon become the starting high speed for Malaysian households as more and more digital applications and content demand greater bandwidth, speed and reliability. Hence, we are anticipating our customers’ needs with this new 100Mbps plan, with higher speed plans coming to you very soon.” To date, more than 1.2 million customers nationwide are enjoying unifi broadband. After a strong market presence serving these 1.2 million early digital adopters, we are opening up to all the more affordable entry-level unifi Basic plan, priced at RM79 per month with 60GB quota, to serve a larger market segment to be onboard the high speed broadband experience. With the new unifi 100Mbps plan and unifi Basic for all, unifi is now able to serve the needs and affordability of a wider base of Malaysian homes. For example, the unifi Basic plan perfectly caters to smaller households that only require approximately 60GB a month for their specific lifestyle needs at this point of time. As the household grows, they can now comfortably move over to the new unifi 100Mbps which fits more arrays of digital lifestyle needs, including access to unifi’s PlayTV content and free voice calls. “We believe that internet connectivity is the basic enabler in growing a more digital Malaysia, leading to a seismic shift in consumer lifestyle. Today, consumers are increasingly benefitting from internet services. They value instant gratification and dislike disruptions to their connected lives. From unifi’s perspective, what consumers want is a converged digital lifestyle where everything is at their fingertips everywhere, anytime. That is exactly what we are offering them,” Imri said, in closing. To learn more about the latest unifi offerings, log on to unifi.com.my
Better internet experience for Streamyx and unifi customers nationwide
TM Submits Plan to KKMM and MCMC On the back of the successful upgrade of 973,000 unifi customers to higher speeds, Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) today submitted a plan to the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia (KKMM) and Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to address the remaining 934,000 Streamyx and unifi customers to further increase the overall coverage and internet quality of the nation. The announcement of the plan was made by Tuan Haji Rosli Man, Chairman of TM Group, at the press conference in conjunction with Kembara Digital Malaysia held in Ipoh. Also present at the event were YB Gobind Singh Deo, Minister of Communications and Multimedia; Dato’ Suriani Dato’ Ahmad, Secretary General of KKMM; Tuan Al-Ishsal Ishak, Chairman of MCMC; Dato’ Noor Kamarul Anuar Nuruddin, Group Chief Executive Officer, TM; and Imri Mokhtar, Chief Operating Officer, TM. TM intends to also seek support from Government of Malaysia for this implementation utilising existing funding to deliver better broadband services to rural and sub-urban areas, in line with the National Fiberisation and Connectivity Plan (NFCP). TM will be addressing the copper network challenges via various technologies such as fibre, wireless and GigaWire in a network rollout which will involve a phased customer migration starting today until 2021. It is expected that 70% of these customers will be able to enjoy unifi services by end 2020. TM also announced a new entry level broadband package of up to 8Mbps at RM89 a month for residential customers. Meanwhile, existing Streamyx residential customers will enjoy this offer at RM69 a month. In addition, a wireless broadband alternative will be launched to address the issues faced by Streamyx customers today; while the network is being rolled out until 2021. Details will be announced very soon under its #khabarbaik programme. Tuan Haji Rosli said, “We are committed to resolve the Streamyx issues and believe that the plan is the way forward to address not only the limitation of the copper broadband network, but also to lay the foundation for a better internet experience for all existing and future customers nationwide. We look forward to a collaborative approach, working closely with the Government, Ministry and MCMC to effectively deliver high speed broadband experience towards realising Malaysia’s Digital Nation aspirations.” TM completed its internet upgrade programme in April 2019 with 973,000 unifi customers upgraded to 10 times the existing speed; 266,000 Streamyx customers in unifi coverage areas upgraded to unifi and 226,000 Streamyx customers in non-unifi coverage areas upgraded to 2 times existing speed where technology permits. This exercise has helped to uplift Malaysia’s position in global high speed connectivity rankings. In February 2019, the Speedtest Global Index by Ookla reported that fixed broadband download speeds in Malaysia increased by almost threefold to 70.18Mbps as compared to 22.26Mbps a year ago. Malaysia is now ranked 28th in the world as compared with 56th in 2017. Further, the MCMC has also reported that the number of fixed broadband subscriptions with download speeds of more than 100Mbps have risen tremendously from 150,000 in 2017 to 1.2 million subscribers in 2018.
unifi set to bring more #khabarbaik news in 2019
unifi committed to raise the bar with positive changes via #khabarbaik movement unifi, the premier Convergence brand under Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) today shared its plan for 2019 through its #khabarbaik movement, which is set to bring more good news Malaysians nationwide. The #khabarbaik movement was unveiled by Moharmustaqeem Mohammed, Acting Executive Vice President, unifi. Apa khabar? unifi says #khabarbaik The #khabarbaik movement represents unifi’s commitment to continue raising the bar on its products and services as unifi constantly innovates and understands its customers’ needs. unifi hopes that the movement will be a shift in attitude and approach that seeks to spread positivity, and this has been implemented internally since the beginning of 2019. #khabarbaik is the attitude that will be embraced by each and every employee of unifi that will translate to how the business is run and the positive changes it will bring to consumers and Malaysia at large. According to Mohar: “As we kick start the year 2019, this has been a very exciting juncture for unifi. Even as we continue to evolve as an organisation, our commitment has and will always be to enable digital adoption and a converged lifestyle for all – across all backgrounds and income groups. We have contributed a great lot to the country’s digital development and we think that is worth celebrating. In the meantime, we will continue to work hard to address customer pain points. We will keep listening and then, come back to market with more #khabarbaik. That is why the #khabarbaik movement is our way forward to serve Malaysia through our product offerings and design a better customer experience.” First #khabarbaik of 2019 Living up to its promise of delivering good news to Malaysia, unifi also unveiled the brand new unifi Mobile postpaid lineup, designed with every Malaysian in mind. “unifi aspires for every Malaysian household to be seamlessly connected to their favourite content and services. However, we understand that there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach as each member of the family will have different data consumption. From the teenager who consumes many videos on the move, parents with young ones that love to explore educational content online, to the grandparent who uses data primarily to keep in touch with their family members – unifi Mobile’s newest plans aim to enable every individual’s unique digital lifestyle, just at the right price points,” Mohar shared. With the latest unifi Mobile offering, ‘Adik’, who might not need as much data, can opt for a smaller mobile data plan of 2GB (1GB LTE + 1GB 3G) at only RM19. The unifi Mobile 19 plan also comes with five (5) minutes talk time and 25 SMS. Meanwhile, ‘Atuk’ or ‘Nenek’ could opt for unifi Mobile 29 and ‘Kakak’ can choose unifi Mobile 39 which offers 3GB (2GB LTE + 1GB 3G) and 5GB (4GB LTE + 1GB 3G) respectively – along with 50 minutes talk time and 25 SMS. As for those who are happy with 10GB data, they can subscribe to the unifi Mobile 59 plan that comes with 9GB LTE + 1GB 3G, 100 minutes talk time, and 25 SMS. These tailored plans will ensure that everyone has just the right plan they need – not too much, not too little. These new offerings will join unifi’s existing unifi Mobile 99 plan which offers never ending data, calls, and SMS. Now Malaysians will have more options to choose from when looking for a postpaid plan. The full range of unifi Mobile offerings are available for purchase on unifi’s website at unifi.com.my By introducing simpler and more affordable plans, open for subscription to all Malaysians, unifi is able to make internet connectivity more accessible to all citizens, ensuring that Malaysians from all walks of life are able to benefit from the digital lifestyle. “This is definitely aligned to what we hope to spread with #khabarbaik. It is our commitment to ensure that access to internet connectivity is affordable and seamless for all. We hope that by introducing value add plans like the unifi Mobile 19, we can enable more Malaysians to adopt digital technology into their lifestyle,” said Mohar. Updates on unifi turbo and Streamyx upgrades In another exciting update, aggressive speed upgrading exercise to unifi packages are currently ongoing for existing Streamyx customers residing in unifi coverage areas. Meanwhile, for Streamyx customers in non-unifi coverage areas, TM is committed to bring high speed broadband to them through alternative technologies by TM or other infrastructure providers. Where technology permits, TM is doubling the Streamyx speed at the same price of their current broadband plan. “In total, about 1 million are eligible for the turbo upgrading exercise. Existing unifi customers will see up to a tenfold speed boost with the turbo upgrades; from 10Mbps to 100Mbps, from 30Mbps to 300Mbps, from 50Mbps to 500Mbps, and from 100Mbps to 800Mbps – all at the same rates that they are currently paying. To date, we have successfully upgraded over 910,000 unifi customers and more than 66% of over 340,000 Streamyx customers residing in unifi coverage areas to unifi; at the same price of their current plan. The rest of the 130,000 Streamyx customers who have yet to grab this opportunity for the free upgrade are encouraged to do so. We aim to complete this speed upgrading exercise by March 2019. In the meantime, we do acknowledge that some upgraded customers are facing speed hiccups which we are resolving soonest possible,” Mohar elaborated. “In the coming year, we promise to deliver more #khabarbaik in the form of greater connectivity, seamless customer experience, and an all-round digital lifestyle to all parts of Malaysia,” he concluded. To learn more about the latest unifi offerings, log on to unifi.com.my
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