AFFORDABLE PHONE: Tune Talk introduces its value for money phone. It is priced at RM109.
KUCHING: In the next couple of weeks, Tune Talk, the country’s newest mobile service provider will be welcoming its 500,000th subscriber, making it one of the fastest growing telcos in the country.
The telco has targeted one million subscribers in its first year of operations.
“We are ending 2009 with resounding success and we believe 2010 will be even better. We attribute the overwhelming public response primarily to our unconventional marketing and communications strategy including our exciting web-based approach,” said Tune Talk chief executive officer Jason Lo in a press statement.
He said Tune Talk was the only mobile service that gives benefits and privileges to its subscribers the moment they activate their numbers and not only on birthdays or anniversaries.
“For example, our unbeatable lowest flat rate of 22 sen per minute is applicable to any domestic call you make to any operator in Malaysia and not just to your selected family and friends. After all, how many times do you really call family members in a day? Most calls are to people outside this range,” said Lo.
He pointed out that the company learnt from new subscribers that its services had helped customers to save a lot of money.
“At the end of the day weaim to make it cheaper and simpler to talk and it appears we are achieving that,” he said.
Tune Talk is the only mobile service provider that rewards its subscribers with free personal accident insurance coverage worth RM100,000.
“On top of that, 10 lucky subscribers receive RM200 worth of AirAsia E-Gift Voucher each and every day.
To ensure more subscribershave a chance to win these vouchers, the reward criteria are changed periodically.
“For instance, in the first month of launching, Tune Talk rewarded subscribers who had the highest domestic usage.
In the second month, highest usage included both domestic and international calls,” he said.
With IDD rates around 10 per cent to 30 per cent cheaper than other operators, Tune Talk is very popular amongst migrant workers and parents of students studying abroad.
“Foreign workers from Bangladesh, Nepal, India, Indonesia and Vietnam find great savings when calling home on Tune Talk, while parents with children studying abroad in the US, UK, Australia, Taiwan, Canada and Hong Kong find that they now have longer talktime with their kids without having to worry about increasing phone bills or being extra careful about how long they can be on the line,” Lo added.
The country’s newest mobile service operator was launched on Aug 19, offering the lowest flat rate of 22 sen per minute for voice calls and five sen per SMS.
More recently, in its efforts to provide greater convenience and affordability to subscribers, Tune Talk has come up with a value-for-money mobile phone called the ‘Tune Talk Phone’ that retails at RM109.
Every purchase is bundled with 100 minutes of free Tune Talk talktime credit and comes with a one-year warranty for the transceiver.
The promotion applies to new and existing Tune Talk subscribers.
Produced under strict quality control and assurance by Tune Talk, the phone measures 103mm x 44mm x 14.2mm and weighs only 50g.
It is equipped with an LCD colour screen, FM radio, calendar, memo, alarm and games features.
The Tune Talk Phone hasa standby time of up to 100 hours and talking time of up to 180 minutes.
“The Tune Talk Phone istargeted at those aged 12 to 30 years comprising tourists, workers and students from the low to middle income group.
Due to its simplicity and userfriendliness, it is also suitable for use by senior citizens. There is no contract imposed, neither there is a limit on number of units purchased,” said Lo.
The Tune Talk Phone is currently available from Tune Talk’s appointed dealers in the Klang Valley and would be rolled out to other regions nationwide in the next couple of weeks.
“The Tune Talk Phone adds value and convenience to subscribers as they enjoy a 100 minutes free Tune Talk talktime and can use their Tune Talk service right away. Subscribers enjoy affordability, widest and best network coverage with Tune Talk along with the lowest call rates and free personal accident insurance coverage of RM100,000.
They can also win one of the 10 AirAsia E-Gift Vouchers worth RM200 each given to lucky subscribers everyday,” added Lo.
“With Tune Talk, rather than having to visit various prepaid card vendors to hunt for your preferred number, you can just log on to our website at www.tunetalk.com to perform online registration and choose your own number.
From feedback, our subscribers think it is cool to be able to select or create their own numbers online especially when the method is fun and user-friendly.
The best thing is that you can reset and re-choose your number over and over again until you are satisfied,” said Lo.
Another innovation introduced by Tune Talk is a chat-based customer care service where subscribers can log on and chat with a ‘Talk Ambassador’ to get instant replies on their problems or queries.
Operating as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) on Celcom (Malaysia) Bhd’s 2.5G network, Tune Talk offers a no-frills voice and short messaging service (SMS) package that meets the consumers’ demand for a simple, value-for-money product with easy accessibility and widest distribution reach.
“Running on Celcom’s network means Tune Talkgives its subscribers maximum coverage nationwide and roaming on the back of Celcom’s current roaming arrangements overseas.
In future Tune Talk subscribers could look at enjoying a better roaming proposition as well as local call rates when traveling within Asean countries when we have MVNO arrangements in Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand among others,” said Lo.
Tune Talk starter SIM pack retails at RM5 and comes preloaded with RM5 worth of talk time. It is now also available on selected Kuala Lumpur-bound international AirAsia flights. Subscribers can reload via e-Pay and purchase reload vouchers at over 10,000 dealersnationwide.