KUCHING: There has been no aggressive plans since mid-2018, analysts observed in the latest telco sector report, while also projecting weak near- to medium-term revenue growth outlook.
According to AmInvestment Bank Bhd (AmInvestment Bank), since the middle of 2018, no celco has launched a comparable package to counter U Mobile Sdn Bhd’s (U Mobile) prepaid GX30 which offers unlimited data with speeds up to three megabits per second (Mbps) for just RM30 per month.
“Recall that U Mobile also launched postpaid GX50 which provides unlimited voice and data with speeds up to five Mbps for RM50 per month,” the research firm said.
“Postpaid plans for Digi.Com Bhd (Digi) remained at RM58 per month for 10 Gigabytes (GB) data, Celcom Axiata Bhd (Celcom) offers RM80 per month for 20GB data and Maxis Bhd (Maxis) RM98 per month for 40GB.”
AmInvestment Bank, however, noted that Digi also offers unlimited voice and data plans via online registration at a higher priced RM100 per month for speeds of up to 10Mbps, similar to unifi mobile’s unlimited voice and data plan at RM99 per month.
“Even though there appeared to be a half-year cease-fire in the postpaid wars, near- to medium-term revenue growth outlook remains weak against the backdrop of persistent pressure to gain market share.
“As U Mobile and unifi mobile wrestle for new customers on the unlimited mobile data arena, prospects for incremental service revenue accretions are unexciting at this stage, underscored by the sector’s tepid forward momentum over the past years.”
On fiberised solutions, AmInvestment Bank highlighted that more celcos are venturing into this segment.
According to the research firm, Maxis, which is already an established player in the fiberised solutions via the leasing of Telekom Malaysia Bhd’s (TM) High Speed Broadband network, is aiming to more aggressively penetrate the business and enterprise markets by offering converged offerings.
“Celcom has started offering home fibre solutions in Sabah while Digi is testing the waters at the Jasin pilot project in Melaka.”
All in, AmInvestment Bank maintained its ‘neutral’ call on the telecommunications sector, given the continued intense competition in both the mobile and fixed broadband markets.
“We have ‘hold’ calls on Axiata Group Bhd, TM and Digi while Maxis is ‘underweight’ due to the group’s premium valuations despite its FY19F guidance for an earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) decline amid additional capital expenditure (capex) for fiberised solutions, digitalisation and productivity capabilities.”