TM revised Lets Talk packages to give more benefits

Recently, TM sent me a notice about the changes in their Let's Talk plans, which would replace the existing from 15 November 2008 onwards.

Here are the new Let's Talk packages:

Let's Talk 38

• Monthly fee: RM38
• Local calls: free unlimited
• National (STD) calls to TM's fixed lines: free 60 minutes/month, thereafter 18 sen/min
• Calls to mobile & other fixed lines: flat rate @ 25 sen/min
• International (IDD) call: normal rate
  

Let's Talk 68

• Monthly fee: RM68
• Local calls: free unlimited
• National (STD) calls to TM's fixed lines: free unlimited
• Calls to mobile & other fixed lines: free 60 minutes/month, thereafter flat rate @ 25 sen/min
• International (IDD) call: normal rate

Let's Talk 108

• Monthly fee: RM108
• Local calls: free unlimited
• National (STD) calls to TM's fixed lines: free unlimited
• Calls to mobile & other fixed lines: free 90 minutes/month, thereafter flat rate @ 20 sen/min
• International (IDD) call: up to 80% discount. The discount is based on destination country.
  

Click here for information of the IDD normal and discount rate.

From the "2008 Q1 Communications & Multimedia - Selected Facts & Figures" bulletin published by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC, a.k.a. Suruhanjaya Komunikasi dan Multimedia Malaysia - SKMM), we can notice that TM feels the challenge in sustaining their fixed line subcriptions, while the cellular phone subscription has been growing steadily.




I believe the declination in fixed line subscription could be even greater if not sustained by the Streamyx broadband service which relies on the fixed line infrastructure. However, the emergence of faster and more stable wireless Internet technologies such as 3G Mobile, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), and so on, will definitely introduce new challenges to the fixed line business of TM.

It is good to know that TM realises their situation, and has taken some action to try to maintain their fixed line business which they have been dominated in the country.

You might probably also interested to read my other article about "is it wise to change your phone plan to Let's Talk?".

Cellular phones penetration rate

10 years ago, you might find only 1 or 2 out of 10 people around you had a cellular phone. Today, the scenario has reversed, you can hardly find anybody around you without a cellular phone, especially those above 18 years of age.

The graph below shows the number of cellular service subscription in Malaysia over the years.

We can clearly see that prepaid subscription greatly outnumber postpaid subscription. The sum of them in 2007 is already very close to the population of Malaysia.

The graph above can be converted into the one below to show the enetration rate per 100 inhabitants in Malaysia.

As you can see, we have a penetration rate of 85.1% in year 2007, which is quite a high figure. Let's break down that figure by state, and we have the penetration rate in each state for year 2007 as below.

We have a high penetration rate in urban area, such as Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Penang, etc. Melaka also has a high penetration rate of 85.5% by 2007. The penetration rate in East Malaysia (Sabah & Sarawak) is the lowest, probably caused by the lack of coverage of cellular network in rural areas there.

The next graph compares the penetration rate among ASEAN as well as some other countries. It is a very interesting graph.




In 2007, among the ASEAN countries, Singapore has the highest cellular penetration rate, followed by Malaysia and Thailand.

Notice that in certain places such as Singapore, Australia, Taiwan, UK, Hong Kong, etc., the cellular penetration rate has already gone above 100%. This mean that in those regions, there are quite a lot of people subscribed to more than one cellular number at the same time. Hong Kong has a really high penetration rate that out of 2 people on the street, you can probably find 3 mobile phones from them.

All raw data is obtained from the "2008 Q1 Communications & Multimedia - Selected Facts & Figures" bulletin published by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC, a.k.a. Suruhanjaya Komunikasi dan Multimedia Malaysia - SKMM).

How many SMS did you send out last year?

According to data provided in the "Communications & Multimedia - Selected Facts & Figures" bulletin published by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC, a.k.a. Suruhanjaya Komunikasi dan Multimedia Malaysia - SKMM), total amount of SMS sent out by cellular phones in Malaysia in 2007 is 56.8885 billion or 2,590 per subscription SIM card.

This means that on average, we sent out 7.1 SMS per day last year. If you sent out more than 7 SMS everyday, you are contributing more than average to the figure.

The graphs below show the growth of SMS amount sent over the years.

Assuming that each SMS is charged for 5 sen, this will be a hefty RM2.85 billion business for telco operator in 2007, which is still growing exponentially.