Unifi Mobile #bebas prepaid with no credit reload expiry

It seems that Webe Digital (formerly known as Packet One or P1) had taken a long time to keep on pivoting their mobile service from P1 4G to Webe to Unifi Mobile, until recently, they seems to find some light at the end of the tunnel after the launching of Unifi Mobile #bebas prepaid plan in January 2018.

However, this prepaid plan has become less and less attractive. Initially when it was newly launched, it provided each subscribers with up to 5 free SIM cards, in which each SIM card preloaded with free 20GB of LTE data, 10 minutes voice call and 10 SMS.

Soon, it changed to provide each subscribers with up to 3 free SIM cards only, and each SIM card preloaded with free 10GB of LTE data, 10 minutes voice call and 10 SMS.

Now, it has changed to provide each subscribers with only 1 free SIM card, and the SIM card preloaded with free 10GB of LTE data, 50MB of 3G/LTE data, 10 minutes voice call and 10 SMS. Soon, the SIM card might cost you RM10, and the bundled LTE data might be further reduced to 2GB only.

In order to subscribe to this Unifi Mobile #bebas prepaid plan, you will need to download and install the Mobile@Unifi app from Google Play Store or iTune App Store, then order your SIM pack from inside the app.

During the SIM ordering process, you can either select a new number or port-in an existing phone number from another telco's existing plan. You can also select to collect your SIM pack for free at your chosen TMpoint outlet, or to have your SIM pack courier to you at the cost of RM10.60.

What makes this Unifi Mobile #bebas prepaid plan attractive?

• You can get a beautiful phone number (or port-in your existing phone number) and start using it without paying a single sen.
• You can port out the beautiful phone number to your preferred telco later, to get a better service.
• If you prefer to stay with the plan, unlike other prepaid plan with fixed weekly or monthly reload commitment, your reload in this plan does not expire. This means your next reload has no time limit, and you can perform the next reload only after you have used up all the existing quota.

Anyhow, you need to keep your SIM card active at least once in every 90 days, otherwise your number could be terminated.

To keep your SIM card active, just perform any one of the following actions, and your 90 days deadline counter will be zerorized and recalculated from scratch:

• Make a call to any number
• Send an SMS to any number
• Connect to the Internet and use some data
• Top-up your plan with at least RM10

Unifi Mobile is using its own ex-P1/Webe 4G LTE infrastructure, which has limited coverage, and running on LTE Band 5 (B5, 850MHz band). It is also riding on Celcom 3G and LTE infrastructure to obtain a much wider coverage, which is crucial to provide usable service to its subscribers nationwide.

This has made their plan a little bit complicated. Their data usage quota is separated from own Band-5 LTE (listed as LTE only in the subscription options) and Celcom network (listed as 3G/LTE in the subscription options).

For 2GB, 4GB and 8GB high speed data top-up, you get 50% of the top-up data for their own Band-5 LTE usage, another 50% for Celcom 3G/LTE usage. If you are connected to their own tower, you consume your data quota under LTE; If you are connected to Celcom tower, you consume your data quota under 3G/LTE.

Unlike other telcos which provide free unlimited capped basic data, you need to pay for the basic data in this Unifi Mobile prepaid plan. You can connected to the Basic Data either using 2G/3G or LTE, with a capped maximum speed.

Note that beside the ordinary non-expiry data reload options, there are also some unlimited data reload options with expiry (2 hours, 24 hours, 7 days) for you to subscribe whenever you need to consume a lot of data usage during certain specific occasions.

The voice call and SMS subscriptions are more straightforward, and both of them are bundled together.

Currently there are only 2 types of subscription available:

• 200 minutes call + 200 SMS for RM30
• 60 minutes call + 60 SMS for RM10

You can consider the SMS as free bundle to the voice call minutes, and each voice call is costed at 15 sen (for 200 minutes) and 16.67 sen (for 60 minutes) respectively.

This is considered pretty attractive, because for normal postpaid plans, unused voice call minutes and SMS will be burnt every month, and for normal prepaid plans, you got to keep on top-up every week or every month in order to keep the unused voice call minutes and SMS, or else all the accumulation of them will be burnt in one go.

For this Unifi Mobile #bebas prepaid plan, 15 sen per minute is really 15 sen per minute, there is no restriction of when you use it. There is no commitment to pay monthly or to periodically top-up a minimum amount, until it is fully used up, as long as you remember to keep your line active (you got plenty of SMS, just simply send out one SMS every quarter will be able to keep your line active).

As such, this Unifi Mobile #bebas prepaid plan might be suitable for you if you are:

• trying to get a free beautiful new mobile number.
• planning to use it for tablet that connects to WiFi most of the time.
• planning to use it for secondary phone with low usage.
• planning to use it for mainly receive calls and/or SMS.
• an elderly person who most of the time stays at home with Unifi broadband subscription (with WiFi, IPTV and DECT phone), so you only need to use your mobile phone when you are not at home.
• a tourist who plans to stay in Malaysia for at least a few days, up to 3 months, and wants to get a free SIM card with free 10GB data, together with minimal bundled voice minutes and SMS. (you don't need to pay for it, until you need to top-up after fully used)
• a person who finds that Unifi Mobile #bebas prepaid plan is able to provide flexibility and freedom to pay for your actual use, without monthly payment or periodic top-up commitment.

You can easily toggle on/off the IDD and roaming service of your SIM card from within the Mobile@Unifi app setting.

It is advisable for you to turn OFF both IDD and roaming unless you need to use them. This is because if you use them (either intentionally or accidentally) without prior subscription to an IDD and/or roaming pass, you will be charged on Pay As You Use (PAYU) basis which could burn your wallet a big hole. The rate of IDD and roaming pass in Unifi Mobile is on par with most other postpaid/prepaid plans, not so attractive either. The IDD and roaming pass in Yoodo has more attractive price.

Yoodo - mobile service as cheap as RM3/month suitable for light usage users and backpackers

Yoodo is a mobile service provider in Malaysia operating under the umbrella of Celcom Axiata and riding on the mobile network infrastructure of Celcom.

You can't find any official outlet of Yoodo, because they operate on the Internet and prefer you to be self-service to subscribe to their mobile service, and to self-manage your mobile plan based on your actual need on monthly (30 days) basis.

Yoodo was just launched in 2018. Initially, it was not so attractive, until its data plan been reduced to cheaper price, and the quota starting from as low as 2GB/month usage @ RM12  (instead of starting from 5GB/month @ RM30 when it was launched).

Yoodo is currently one of the very few mobile service providers in Malaysia that enables you to spend less than RM30 per month in your mobile service.

You might want to seriously consider using Yoodo if you are:

• a light usage mobile user who prefers not to spend too much on your mobile plan. If you are a medium data usage user, you can opt for Hotlink Postpaid Flex instead, which provides unlimited nationwide calls and unlimited SMS, with price starting from RM30/month only (for 1GB data plan, add RM10/month to get additional 4GB/month). If you are a heavy data usage user, there are plenty of postpaid/prepaid plans available with high data quota, including those with unlimited data + unlimited calls + unlimited SMS.
• planning to maintain a beautiful mobile phone number at the lowest possible cost at RM3/month.
• planning to use it for tablet that connects to WiFi most of the time, and does not need any voice or SMS bundle.
• planning to use it for receiving calls and SMS.
• planning to use it for making calls and/or SMS, with low to medium data usage. 
• a backpacker or tourist who plans to stay in Malaysia for more than a week to a few months, and wants to get a mobile plan with cheap IDD option to receive and/or make calls and SMS to other countries.
• a backpacker or tourist who plans to visit Malaysia and some other surrounding countries, with cheap roaming option.
• a person who finds that Yoodo is able to provide flexibility and freedom to customize your own plan based on your actual need from month to month.

Yoodo plan is pretty straightforward. Its base plan consists of 3 portions: data, voice and SMS, which you can customize your usage for the month (30 days validity from day of subscription).

You can always make change to your plan for the upcoming month. So, if you know that next month your usage will be higher (for example, when going for outstation), you can subscribe a higher plan for next month, and then fall back to the lower plan the month after.

There is a GUI in Yoodo's website for you to try out how to adjust your base plan for data, voice and SMS, with the price automatically calculated for you.

The beauty of Yoodo plan is that, as long as it is still active, you can always receive phone calls and SMS, even you just subscribe a data plan and leave the subscription to voice and SMS to remain as zero.

Unlike certain data plans from other telcos which will impose restriction on hotspot tethering (mobile data sharing), there is no tethering restriction on Yoodo data subscription, be it a base plan or booster plan.

Yoodo SIM pack can be ordered online for free, and will be courier to you for free too.

Click here to order your Yoodo SIM pack and receive RM20 credit in your e-wallet when you successfully activated a plan with the SIM card.

If you need the SIM pack to be delivered to you within 2 hours, it is possible if your receiving address is in Klang Valley, and you are willing to pay for the express delivery service. This express delivery option is available when you order your Yoodo SIM pack. This will be necessary for backpackers or tourists. You can arrange for your accommodation's reception to receive the SIM pack on your behalf while you are away visiting places.

You will need an Android phone or iPhone in order to manage your Yoodo account with the Yoodo app, which you can download and install from Google Play Store or iTune App Store. Each account can manage up to 5 Yoodo SIMs.

Note that the device you use to manage your Yoodo account with Yoodo app need not be the same device which you are going to install the Yoodo SIM card. If it is the same device, then you might need to connect to WiFi to download the app and to perform SIM card activation, before you got mobile data available for use.

After you've received your SIM pack, you need to activate the SIM card inside it to start your subscription. Don't worry whether you have already customized your base plan during SIM pack ordering process or not, because you will be given a chance to customize the base plan again during the activation process.

However, if you have customized your base plan for a mobile number port-in from another telco, your base plan for the first month cannot be changed during activation. You will need to order a new SIM and start over the process for such a change.

Yes, Yoodo does support MNP (mobile number portability).

Yoodo activation process involves scanning (or manually key-in) the barcode of the SIM card, taking a photo of your NRIC or passport, taking a photo of yourself which requires you to do some action, and paying for your first month subscription by using your credit/debit card or PayPal account.

You might want to use a phone with better camera for the activation process to be smoother, because it will use OCR to scan your NRIC/passport and use face recognition AI to scan your face.

Don't forget to key-in this Referral Code during activation for you and me to get RM20 in our e-wallet respectively: cwqhp2909

After you become a Yoodo user, you will also have your own unique Referral Code to get RM20 for each referee sign-up.

Below is the Yoodo Dashboard shown in Yoodo app for you to manage your Yoodo subscription.

It will show you your current plan and usage. Don't worry when your base plan used up in the middle of the month, you can always purchase a booster plan by taping on "Buy more" to get additional quota for the month.

For example, even though I did not subscribe any voice plan for the month, if I need to make call, I can purchase a voice call booster plan to get the required quota immediately.

Note that you can buy roaming and IDD service from the above Dashboard screen too. Just follow the steps, the app will explain about the service to you clearly.

Your plan will be auto-renewed after 30 days, using the same configuration as this month unless you change it. Changes will take effect on the next cycle, and before it is effective, you can always come back and modify the configuration by tapping on "Change".

In the above screen, you can switch off the auto-renew function, and your e-wallet or linked credit/debit card or PayPal account will not be automatically charged when your current 30 days subscription cycle ended.

If you don't pay for the next month, you can still receive voice calls and SMS, but unable to access to Internet, make call and send SMS. There is a grace period for this, after that, your account will be terminated and your mobile number will be unusable.

Beside the 3 base plans of data, voice and SMS, you can also subscribe for specific app data usage add-ons, including Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, and PUBG Mobile. The data usage for subscribed add-ons will be consumed first before the base data plan is deducted for the month. Note that these add-ons are not applicable for tethering.

Also note that since Yoodo is riding on Celcom network, it shares the same pros and cons, as well as strength and weaknesses, with Celcom mobile service, which you might be interested to read my another article here.

Yoodo's customer service is pretty friendly, helpful and responsive. They are contactable with Live Chat in the app and also in their website, within the operating hour from 9am to 9pm (weekdays) and from 9am to 6pm (weekends). To access to Live Chat, just go to the Help section and scroll to the very bottom of the screen, and look for this:

Beside using Live Chat, you can also fill in a web form to submit an issue ticket to them. There is also a community forum to discuss with other Yoodo users and staffs.

No doubt Yoodo's establishment and its business model has disrupted the Malaysia mobile service market. It provides a 3rd kind of mobile subscription beside the traditional prepaid and postpaid plans.

It is flexible that you can customize your plan according to your need, with booster plan to boost up your quota within a subscription cycle, so that eventually you only pay for what you need to use. It is also very easy to exit, either by MNP to another telco, or stop paying for the subsequent month and let the subscription lapses by itself.

There are also options for immediate termination and SIM card replacement, in the event of handphone lost, for example.

If you find it interesting, you can order the SIM pack for free without any obligation. Then when you want to start using it, you can customize your own plan in Yoodo app, and activate the SIM card to start your subscription.

Comparison of Maxis vs Celcom network usage experience (year 2019)

Maxis and Celcom are the 2 mobile service market leaders in Malaysia in terms of network coverage and speed. They are closely challenged by Digi and U Mobile, followed by Unifi Mobile.

This comparison is made based on my personal experience and observation by installing SIM card of different operator, one at a time, into the same SIM card slot of the same handphone, and using the handphone at the same location during the observation timeframe.

Note that only Maxis, Celcom and Digi (and their respective sub-brands) are using own 2G/3G/4G and even 5G network. Yes only has 4G coverage at limited areas. The others are somehow riding on the network of these Big 3 (mostly on Celcom), as shown in the table below.

However, based on my observation, the SIM card of the operator does play a role in your network usage experience. For example, TuneTalk and Celcom will be connected to the same infrastructure belonged to Celcom, but the way your handphone maintains the connection with their SIM card might behave differently.

Between Maxis and Celcom, I observed that Maxis provides an overall better experience, particularly when you are inside a building. This observation is made in a location which OpenSignal indicates that both their 2G/3G/4G signal at the area are equally strong.

How does Maxis achieve the better result? This is possibly due to Maxis behave differently from Celcom when the phone is in standby mode (not in phone call, no SMS in/out, no foreground open app, screen is on).

When WiFi is connected, Maxis will settle down with the most stable signal at highest strength (in terms of dBm and ASU). For layman, this will be a state which your phone get the most signal bars shown at the status bar. In my observation, unless there is background network activity ongoing, else it will settle down to 3G UMTS connection, giving a full bars or close to that. The maximum network speed at UMTS is 384 kbps only.

When WiFi is off, Maxis will immediately scale up its connection, and maintain at a balance between speed and signal strength, to provide optimal network stability. In my case, it will stay at HSPA+ with maximum speed of 42.2 Mbps. It will only reach out to 4G LTE when the phone's network activity increases, demanding higher network speed.

On the other hand, Celcom will always go for the highest generation and stays at 4G LTE or LTE+ as long as there are 2 bars of signal and above for 4G, regardless WiFi is connected or not, despite the signal at lower generation is much stronger.

U Mobile will settle down with 2.75G EDGE with maximum speed of 220 kbps, when WiFi is connected. OpenSignal showed that it connects to the same Maxis tower when Maxis was tested as above.

By connecting and staying at lower generation when WiFi is connected, it actually helps to save some battery usage.

When WiFi is connected, it seems that:

• Maxis connection will stay at the most stable signal at highest strength.
• Celcom connection will try to show off they got 4G LTE/LTE+ at the area by connecting to 4G, even though the signal is comparatively weaker than lower generations.
• U Mobile will connect to the lowest possible generation while maintaining decent connection speed.

When WiFi is disconnected and Internet is in used, it seems that:

• Maxis connection will try to strike a balance between speed and stability.
• Celcom connection will actually fall back to HSPA when LTE/LTE+ signal is too weak for stable connection, otherwise it will just stay at LTE/LTE+.
• U Mobile does not have 4G coverage at the area, since the connection never reach LTE/LTE+.

When there is an incoming phone call or SMS, it seems that:

• Maxis connection will raise from UMTS to HSPA.
• Celcom connection will drop from LTE to HSPA if the 4G signal is too weak.
• U Mobile connection will raise from EDGE to UMTS.

Due to the different in their behavior:

• When I make a call from another phone, Maxis will ring faster than Celcom. Sometimes, you will see the connection of Celcom changed from LTE to HSPA before the phone actually rings.
• When I send an SMS from another phone, it will generally reach Maxis faster than Celcom.
• The voice quality in a phone call with Maxis is generally more stable and better than Celcom.
• There is not much different between them in Internet usage, their speed is almost the same in this area, regardless connected with HSPA or LTE. The download speed is much higher than the upload speed.
• Let the phone lying overnight, U Mobile is able to conserve slightly more battery than Maxis (different for about 1% draining), which in turn conserves more battery than Celcom (different for about 2% draining).

Therefore, Maxis provides an overall better network usage experience than Celcom, in terms of battery saving, phone call quality, speed of receiving phone call and speed of receiving SMS.

Besides, there are several other reports available in the Internet about general comparison of Malaysia mobile service providers, including comparison of postpaid packages, prepaid packages, price, coverage, network speed, etc. One of the good source is OpenSignal which you can search around for their analysis reports.

• Observation facilitated by Network Signal Info Pro by KAIBITS Software GmbH, cross checked with SIM Card Network Status info shown in Android OS "About" screen.
• You might probably be interested to also read about The evolution of cellular mobile technology (from 1G to 5G) .