Bong (left) posing with Navin (right) at the launching of Hotlink FAST in Kuching yesterday.
KUCHING: Maxis Bhd (Maxis) saw a surge in demand for 4G services particularly from Sabah and Sarawak on the back of rising consumer data needs.
According to Maxis head of Sarawak region Alexius Bong, to date, consumers today are using more data on the back of an increase in smartphone penetration and growing accessibility to the internet.
“Smartphone penetration in Sabah and Sarawak has grown to 77 per cent while the average internet usage for 4G users now amounts 7.1 gigabites (GB) for East Malaysians. This amount of 4G usage is 10 per cent higher than the nationwide average of 6.5GB,” he said to reporters during the launch of Hotlink FAST.
Hotlink FAST is Maxis’ latest prepaid plan, offering consumers greater features to more data.
Sarawak is in fact the state with the highest consumption rate in Malaysia, added Maxis’ head of prepaid, Navin Manian.
“With the explosion of streaming and sharing on social media, we have seen a surge in demand for 4G data especially in East Malaysia. In fact, usage (here) is among the highest in the country, averaging 7.1GB per month for those on 4G,” he added.
To note, Maxis’ 4G LTE network is the widest in the country with 89 per cent population coverage. Particularly in Kuching and Kota Kinabalu, Maxis has more than 98 per cent 4G coverage and more than 80 per cent in secondary and tertiary towns in East Malaysia.
In Sarawak, customers in secondary towns (such as Sibu, Miri and Bintulu) as well as tertiary towns (such as Bau, Lundu, Sematan, Padawan, Saratok, Niah and Betong) are now enjoying 4G experience with fibre-like speeds.
Meanwhile, in Sabah, Maxis’ 4G LTE network has also been rolled out in towns like Putatan, Semporna, Kota Belud, Papar and Beaufort in addition to Sandakan, Lahad Datu and Tawau.
This was among the reason why Maxis enhanced its prepaid offerings via Hotlink FAST.
“This new prepaid offering from Maxis comes with even more data. This means customers in East Malaysia can now surf, stream and share non-stop,on the No.1 4G network,” Navin added.
Now availabe in Sabah and Sarawak, Hotlink FAST comes with free 8GB of 4G data during the weekends together with free 1,000 minute calls to five friends using Maxis or Hotlink numbers.
Customers will enjoy these benefits for life, as long as they keep their account active, Navin said. There is no minimum spend or minimum reload required.
“In addition, Hotlink FAST customers can also look forward to the newly launched Hotlink Happy Hour that offers 1 Hour of Free 1GB high-speed Internet daily during the week,” he explained.
“In total, Hotlink Happy Hour offers Free 30GB of high-speed Internet every month. While other prepaid free data is limited and exclusive to certain app usage, such as social media apps. Hotlink FAST offers customers unrestricted app and internet usage.
“Customers will also be getting ‘Internet Larut Malam’ that offers free 1GB of high-speed Internet every night (from 1am to 7am). That is free 30GB of high-speed Internet Larut Malam every month with no app and Internet restriction as well.”
The Hotlink FAST starter pack is priced at RM10 and comes with 300MB preloaded 4G high-speed Internet, RM5 preloaded airtime and free basic Internet, on top of the 8GB weekend 4G Internet every month and free calls to Friendz.