TIME slashes fibre broadband prices by over 50%, base plan now MYR99

Last week, TIME quietly embarked on an upgrade exercise for its existing customers, bumping fibre broadband speeds up to five times previous speeds. Delighted customers weren’t quite as silent, judging from reactions in social media postings. No one in the right mind wouldn’t be thrilled right?

Subscribers on the 100Mbps plan have seen their connection speeds bumped up to 500Mbps, while customers on 300Mbps and 500Mbps are getting 1Gbps. Existing subscribers pay the same subscription fee or the new retail prices, whichever is lower. TIME is also upgrading customers’ routers (TP-Link Archer C1200 or D-Link DIR-882) for free to support the new speeds.

Now that it’s taken care of existing customers, TIME has revealed new plans for the general public. The new plans break new ground in terms of affordability and connections speeds. The telco has reduced prices up to 53.5 percent from previous.

Its entry level 100Mbps plan is now offered at MYR99, undercutting both Telekom Malaysia’s (TM) and Maxis’ of MYR129 per month. Note that TIME is offering this plan as an online exclusive.

It’s also officially the fastest fibre home broadband plan in the country, with up to 1Gbps.

Here’s how TIME stacks up against its competitors.

* Price for asymmetrical plan (100Mbps: 100Mbps download/50Mbps upload)
** Price for asymmetrical plans (30Mbps: 30Mbps download/10Mbps upload | 100Mbps: 100Mbps download/50Mbps upload)
*** Upgrades for existing subscribers only

Aside from the new aggressive pricing structure and raw broadband speeds, there are a couple of important things to note about TIME.

For one, it offers a symmetrical connection meaning you will enjoy the same speeds whether you’re downloading or uploading. TIME offers this for its 100Mbps and 500Mbps plan. For the 1Gbps plan, download speeds are 1Gbps but upload speeds are set at 500Mbps.

To compare, TM unifi offers asymmetrical connections, e.g. 30Mbps: 30Mbps DL / 10Mbps UL; 100Mbps: 100Mbps DL / 50Mbps UL).

Secondly, the new plans are offered with a 24-month or 12-month contract. For the 12-month option, there’s a one-time charge of MYR300 and subscribers are not entitled to promotions.

Lastly, TIME has a 100 percent fibre optic infrastructure, which translates to higher performance, better speeds and lower latency. This can’t be said of rivals like TM that uses a mix of fibre optics and copper-based VDSL.

Being a 100 percent fibre network has its own set of challenges, of course. TIME’s inherent problem is coverage and accessibility. Because laying fibre is expensive. The telco has continued to focus on high-density condominiums and apartments.

Can TIME share existing infrastructure from TM and Maxis to reach out to more customers? Sure, it can.

Raw speeds and cheaper pricing are great things to have but ultimately it will be pointless if it benefits only pockets of people.

That said, if you’re in a TIME covered location, there’s little reason not to subscribe (or switch).

You can check if your location is covered here. Also, new subscribers who sign up online get MYR100 off the first bill.