Maxis has been the most-talked about telco lately, but mostly for the wrong reasons. It took Maxis CEO Morten Lundal to step in to try and appease some unhappy customers via his video announcement. Maxis announced data quota upgrades primarily for its MaxisONE customers, effective end of the month. It also announced free 3GB of data for all MaxisONE customers. However, non-MaxisONE customers have expressed being ‘left out’ and ignored. Until now.
A friend of mine, Ivan Ng, alerted me of an SMS he received from Maxis today. It informed him that his SurfMore 50 plan, which gives him 2GB of data a month, has been upgraded to 3GB. This will be in effect by the end of April. There’s no information on whether the defunct SurfMore 75 plan will get an upgrade though. I’m still awaiting official word from Maxis reps.
Ivan’s immediate response was, “Great, no need to port out now.” He did express that while he’s generally happy with the free upgrade, he wishes the price could be lower.
Mixed reactions
And that somewhat reflects the general sentiment about the announced data upgrades by Maxis. People seem to want cheaper rates, rather than more data. Thanks to the price war amongst the telcos, the market has changed, and so has customer demands.
But like I’ve been telling many, people want different things from their telcos. Yes, everyone wants everything cheaper. Everyone wants more. Having said that, some people just want cheaper plans. Hence you get crazy MYR8/month postpaid plans. And some want more data. Some don’t care about rates, but want the best coverage, speed, quality of service. Some want rewards, iflix, free music, etc. To each his own.
And perhaps there just needs to be a balance and there should be choice. Ultimately, you’ll find a plan and rate that’s right for you, regardless of telco.
Maxis customer? Time to move to MaxisONE?
For those still with Maxis, and staying with Maxis (like I am), I’d recommend you move to a MaxisOne plan, if possible. Especially if you’re on a very old TalkMore, SurfMore or perhaps expired iValue contract. With the new data upgrades coupled with unlimited talk and text plus other perks, MaxisONE is the wiser choice. It’s now much more data-centric, and looks to be the best overall package in the Maxis stable.
Just so you know, I was previously on SurfMore 75 and decided to consolidate my plans (I have two principal lines and two supplementary ones) and moved to MaxisONE 188. I’m looking forward to the data upgrade at the end of the month, although I think I’ll now have ‘too much data.’
Are you a SurfMore customer? What do you think of the free upgrade?
