Let's have a look a fresh comparison on the postpaid plans for 2009.

There have been no new postpaid plans introduced since the last end-year.
Note: This article is an updated version of the one issued in October. We've tried to make it more readable and friendlier :).

It is not evident to compare apple-to-apple the different plans offered on the market due to the diversified marketing strategy employed by the operators. Since every operator have aligned themselves to offer commitment-type plans based on usage profile, we shall be able to make comparison with the nearest common denominators between the brands i.e. lowest usage, medium usage and high usage. We shall focus comparison on voice and SMS to gauge the most probable cost impact to the consumer, as we believe that the usage of video call and MMS is still not significant in comparison to voice and SMS.

Note:
U-Mobile does not specify if its free 12,000sec tied to the RM38 commitment is valid for both on-net and off-net. Assuming it is, the voice call rate for the first 200min is equivalent to the rate of 19sen/min. Other operators impose a fix access fee and charges the stated voice call rate in addition. The table below provides a cost comparison between the plans for a usage below RM50.

* consideration for Maxis if all calls made during day time at peak hour and if all calls made locally within Maxis at non-peak hours.

U-Mobile U38 clearly offers the cheapest voice usage (with the said assumptions) compared to other plans on the market for the below RM50 usage segment. Maxis is the most expensive.

It is not clear how U-mobile translates the free call into SMS. For our SMS rate comparison, we shall not consider SMS to be tied with the free call bundle. Celcom CEP20 offers 10sen SMS across all network, while Maxis Standard Plan and U-Mobile U38 offers 5sen within Maxis and 15sen inter-operator. Being new on the market, the likelihood for a U-Mobile customer to be able to SMS to another U-Mobile subscriber is low (unless if you are a U-Mobile employee), therefore most likely he will spend 15sen to send out SMS. If you SMS a lot to Maxis numbers, then Maxis would top the SMS rate comparison. But with the MNP in place, you would never know if your 012/017/0142 friends are still with Maxis. In this segment, we are of the opinion that Celcom CEP20 offers the most competitive SMS rate.

We opine that for postpaid plans tailored for the below RM50 usage segment, U-Mobile is slightly more competitive than others. But if you are a heavy SMS user, you might want to consider Celcom CEP20. Make sure you do not bust the RM50 usage threshold or else the plans offered under this segment would no longer be viable.

The moderate usage segment is where operators are expected to find the bulk of their postpaid market, and therefore we should see many interesting plans in this area. Maxis has 3: Value Plus 50, Value Plus 80 and Value Plus 150. Digi has 2: DG50 and DG150. U-Mobile has 2: U68 and U98. Celcom, strategically has 1 to attack the whole moderate spectrum: the CEP50. Interesting. Let us analyze these plans based on the different usage tier.

The first common commitment usage value proposed by Maxis, Celcom and Digi is RM50. The nearest that U-mobile offers with relation to this segment is its U68 plan (RM68 commitment). If we consider solely on voice rate criteria, U-mobile would have the cheapest rate among all at 12sen, but the setback is that customer must commit RM68 usage month, RM18 higher than the others. Taking SMS into consideration, a U68 subscriber will most probably be sending off-net SMS at 15sen most of the time. Based on these factors, Digi’s DG50 looks like the next most attractive plan with 13sen voice and 10sen SMS to all network. Maxis is discriminating on-net and off-net with its 12sen and 18sen voice rates respectively, which is not very helpful to the consumer especially post-MNP. Celcom’s CEP50 baseline rate competitiveness lies somewhere in between, but we will touch on its other competitive edge later in the sub-chapter.

In between the RM50 and RM150 usage profile, we have Maxis offering a plan to accommodate the average RM80 spending behaviour. The difference between a Maxis Value Plus 50 and a Value Plus 80 lies at the off-net call rate of 18sen/min and 15sen/min respectively, and the readjustment of on-net call rate to 10sen/min for VP80 when usage exceeds RM80. A small carrot to entice customers moving up the ARPU echelon. U-Mobile offers the next nearest usage plan to Maxis with its U98, with lower call rates to all network at 12sen/min, but an RM98 monthly commitment would be necessary, an additional RM18 on top of VP80. SMS rate between these plans is similar. A quick benchmark calculation between a VP80 and U98 for a RM98 utilization shows that with VP80, consumer gets approximately 846min of talk time compared to approximately 816min of talk time with U98 for the same amount spent. Maxis VP80 is therefore slightly competitive, with lower commitment fee, and better gain on excess. Would U-Mobile per second charging make a difference here? Not really, since consumer has committed for the RM98 usage.

For the comparison between a U68 and a U98, there is no advantage in the rates for U-mobile’s U98 plan as the RM98 commitment translate into 49,000sec worth of free call equivalent to the value of 12sen/minute call, similar to what U68 is offering, albeit the higher commitment. U98 offers a phone bundling option, of which U68 does not provide, but you must sign a contract with U-mobile for a year to be eligible for that.

The final commitment tier offered on the market is RM150 offered by Maxis and Digi. Maxis seems to excel in this space, showing their preference to capture high ARPU subscribers. They offer 10sen for on-net call and 12sen for off-net, compared to Digi’s rate of 13sen to all network. But Digi promotes otherwise to entice usage, they offer unlimited free on-net call and SMS if the subscriber exceeds RM150 usage, while Maxis provides RM100 worth of free on-net call if the subscriber exceeds RM100.

In our opinion, compared to Digi, Maxis’s offer would be the best on this segment so far. The threshold to get the free minutes is lower, and RM100 is already a lot to spend. But hang on, we have not gone through how Celcom competes with the RM80 and RM150 usage segments with its CEP50.

Celcom provides the following discount tiers:
10% for usage between RM60 – RM79
20% for usage between RM80 to RM149
30% for usage above RM150

The following graph plots the talk time minutes gained against the billable amount from the different plans in the RM50-150 segment. The assumption made for this comparison is that the duration for on-net and to off-net calls is equal.

When we throw Celcom's CEP50 into the equation, after taking into account the different usage-based discount tiers, we find that for usage between RM50 and RM150, we would gain more talk time with Celcom. Celcom offers easy 15sen/min for calls to any network destinations, which is higher than the rate offered by its competitors, but after factoring the usage incentive discounts, the cost of the minutes drops lower than that of Maxis and Digi. The margin of gain with Celcom can reach approximately 24%, or approximately 10.5sen/min when the 30% discount is applied. Remember, this is applicable to all network destinations. Describing this from another perspective, when your spending reaches RM150, you would get a 30% discount and would need to pay only RM105. In other words, you can get a flat rate of 10.5sen/min for your calls at the expense of RM105 per month. Your commitment for the plan is only RM50, meaning that you only lose out if you do not spend more than RM50.

The gain in talk time gain significantly with Maxis and Digi when usage spending breaches RM150. This is due to the fact that Maxis offers free RM100 worth of talk time within Maxis when usage reaches RM100 (but only available under the RM150 commitment plan) while Digi offers unlimited free calls and SMS within Digi after an RM150 usage. Beyond RM150, Celcom only offers a 30% discount and no free talk time, even within the same network. That is why on the graph, the Celcom curve continues on a linear mode after the RM150 worth of usage while the curves of Maxis and Digi experience a discontinuity and surge of talk time value. Does this mean that Maxis and Digi plans are better?

Not necessarily. Maxis and Digi plans are better if you are sure to use RM150 monthly and most of your calls are between the same network. In other words, Maxis and Digi plans are designed to have their customers to spend more to gain more. Celcom does that too but it only asks its customers to commit minimum RM50.

We conclude, based on our analysis, that Celcom offers the most flexible plan with the most attractive rate for the RM50-RM150 usage band. Maxis or Digi is the way to go when you are sure that your average monthly usage crosses RM150 and that you communicate mostly with peers from the same network.

Note: The comparison is based on the assumption that on-net and off-net calls are of equal proportion and the free minutes offered by Maxis and Digi worth RM100. We are considering sharing the details for the calculation and formula online in near future.

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