Refreshed Maxis Satu Plans but…. [Opinion]

Its good to see a refreshing Maxis Satu Plan which still comes with 4 different plans.

More data, free video streaming data, bla bla bla…

Honestly? I’m glad to see this coming from Maxis today, even upgraded all its current Maxis ONE plan users. But I wonder, why is Maxis doing this and for who?

Is Maxis doing this for customers who are upset with the Telco, it is because the minority shareholders are not happy or is it because Maxis is following steps of the other Telcos?

I think Maxis has lost it. It lost the leadership, it lost the branding, it lost the good people.

This is my personal opinion.

Maxis is always known to be a market leader but that has changed. Many good people in Maxis, passionate people, they left. These capable people, some of them leaders, are now in Celcom, Digi, U Mobile, even webe.

The Maxis I knew, it was a great Telco, it was a market leader, it listened to customers, it had a great network, but this was 2-3 years ago.

Maxis used to offer something innovative, something new, and the rest of the Telco would follow. Remember #Hotlink? I was there when it launched. It was the 1st prepaid plan in Malaysia with free basic Internet. #Hotlink changed everything, because Celcom followed, U Mobile followed, Digi too have prepaid plan with free basic Internet.

MaxisONE plan was launched in May 2014, it was a great plan back then, from RM128/month, 2GB data, Unlimited Calls and SMS to all networks. And then in August 2015, it revised the ONE plan with the lowest one being the RM98/month, 1GB data, Unlimited Call/SMS. But Maxis “glory days” did not last long when U Mobile launched the P70 postpaid plan within the same month. P70 cost RM70/month, 7GB data and Unlimited Calls (no unlimited SMS). This changed everything in the Malaysian postpaid market.

Later, Digi offered a RM65/month plan (Oct 2015) with 3GB data (unlimited calls/SMS), Celcom launched the First Gold in November 2015 (RM80 plan in Feb 2016), Digi offered Unlimited Calls/SMS, 7GB data at RM75/month in Jan 2016.

Maxis did not make big changes to the ONE plan until today, it was a sleeping giant for almost 8 months!

So what’s the big deal with the new refreshed Maxis ONE Plan?

It starts from RM98/month for 5GB data plus 5GB data for video streaming. Maxis also upgraded close to 1 million ONE plan with more data.

That’s 1 million postpaid subscribers with additional data, but wait, what about the other 2 million Maxis Postpaid subscribers, no upgraded data for them?

The refreshed Maxis ONE Plan are not cheap. In comparison, Digi Postpaid 80 (RM80 for 10GB) comes with 7GB data plus 3GB weekend Internet(Unlimited Calls/SMS), Celcom First Gold cost RM80 with 5GB plus 5GB weekend Internet, Unlimited Calls and SMS. U Mobile’s P70 now comes with 15GB data (extra 8GB until Dec 2016), at RM70/month, unlimited calls.

Why does Maxis ONE plan cost more compared to Celcom, Maxis and U Mobile? What does it even mean by ONE plan, a single plan for all? A single plan for the rich people?

Malaysians are not rich, the economy is bad, there’s GST and everything is priced higher today. People wants to spend less. Celcom, Digi and U Mobile could offer a cheaper postpaid plans with decent data, unlimited calls and SMS, why not Maxis?

Maxis CEO says that it has a premium service, premium network.

Really?

Maybe Mr. Morten should read all the comments on Maxis Facebook page. If Maxis has a premium service, why it doesn’t respond to all its customer comments,  every single one, thousands and thousands of it? Don’t forget to count all that Angry Facebook emotions as well.

Maxis does not have the fastest 3G network, I am saying this from my experience and from all the comments I read. Despite this, I admit that Maxis has a superior 4G LTE network compared to the other Telcos but this does not justify the high pricing. Personally, I don’t want to use 4G LTE on my phone because it drains my phone battery. I want 3G and Maxis 3G network was very congested when I terminated my line. And I wasn’t the only one, Maxis lost more than 1 million subscribers in the past 12 months.

As for the Maxis network, I tried, many times to tell the Maxis Head of Network, Mr. Karim about my poor 3G network experience. He never listened, he never admitted to network problems. The excuse was, “You are no longer with us,”. But you see, I have friends, network contractors who works for Maxis, contractors who have access to internal emails, so, you know…………stuff that I cannot mention here. In summary, Maxis has a congested 3G network. I even tried telling Mr. Morten that the Maxis network is getting worse day by day, gave him detailed info, but I was eventually ignored.

I am not writing this because of me, this isn’t about me. The reason why I am sharing this, is because I know these people in Maxis, but what about millions of customers out there, isn’t Maxis ignoring them too?

So there you go, lousy product, lousy network, lousy customer service….but the Telco is still standing. Is it because customers still love Maxis? Is it because they are locked down with contracts? Is it because they are waiting for a better mobile plans? Maybe only Maxis has coverage at a specific location?

Everyone has their own version of their story. I don’t know. But I know for sure, Maxis is not premium.

Maxis refreshed its ONE Plan today, not the best plans in the market or the cheapest but better than before. Good mobile plans, but is that enough? Will it take another year before these plans are refreshed again? In the mean time, I am sure Digi, Celcom, U Mobile (& webe) would offer something great.

You can have the most premium brand, most premium network, most premium customers, but without happy customers, all these are for nothing.

P.s: Scamboy wishes to see a new management, a new network team, a new corporate communication team, a new branding and marketing team, a new customer service team—–yes, that’s about the whole Maxis that needs to be refreshed.

Disclaimer: This is an opinion. Internet Everywhere is not responsible for any misleading information above.