Telekom Malaysia’s (TM) new unifi plans to “bring Malaysia up to speed” have been the focus of conversation the past week or so. Perhaps for the wrong reasons. Here’s why.
If you’ve been following TM’s updates, you’re probably chuffed that the convergence champion is bumping unifi speeds by ten fold, up to 800Mbps. It’s also making broadband uber affordable with its cheapest plan yet – the entry-level unifi Basic plan.
Let’s not forget current Streamyx or what TM label’s pre-unifi subscribers who stand to upgrade to unifi, if they’re in unifi coverage areas that it. Otherwise, these users will enjoy double the speed they are currently subscribed to. Alternatively, Streamyx users can opt for unifi Wireless Broadband, a hassle-free, installation-free option that’s both affordable and offers decent broadband speeds over 4G LTE.
TM said that upgrades will happen starting 15 August 2018, all the way till 2019.
To enable users to easily check if they qualify for upgrade, TM launched an online unifi upgrade checker. All you needed was to enter your Full Name, IC number and your unifi or Streamyx ID.
Unfortunately for TM users the webpage experienced unexpected high load and crumbled. I was lucky to have managed to access the page after several attempts, and I was able to get confirmation of my upgrade.
Other users, however, were not as lucky, reporting of intermittent connection issues as well as inaccessibility.
After putting the page on maintenance mode, TM eventually completely pulled the page and removed any reference to it.
However, all is not lost.
Users who qualify are now receiving emails from TM informing them if they’re eligible for upgrades.
You’ve been Turbo-fied!
I received the email with the header “Get ready for turbo speed Internet!”
The email, however, lacked key details. Firstly, on the now-defunct unifi upgrade check page, I was able to see when I could expect my upgrade to happen.
If you’re unaware, there are two notable timeframes for upgrade: August-December 2018, and January-June 2019.
The email unfortunately, does not mention this, ending up being incredibly generic with the statement “Speed upgrades will roll out in phases starting from 15 August 2018.”
The second key detail that’s missing is the new speeds you’ll be upgraded to. It’s great to know that I’ll potentially be getting a 10x speed upgrade, but some sort of indication would be great.
As a refresher, here’s a breakdown of the speed bumps TM is offering for unifi plans:
- 20Mbps and below – 100Mbps
- 30Mbps – 300Mbps
- 50Mbps – 500Mbps
- 100Mbps – 800Mbps
If you’re not yet a unifi customer, you’re encouraged to sign up via unifi.com.my starting 15 July 2018. New customers will also get to enjoy speed upgrades, as long as they sign up before 31 December 2018.
Current unifi plans are as below:
- Unifi lite plan (10Mbps) – MYR129 per month
- Unifi advance plan (30Mbps) – MYR139 per month (special deal until 31 December 2018)
- Unifi pro plan (100Mbps) – MYR329 per month
Note that speed upgrades are subject to technical availability, thus not everyone may be able to enjoy upgrade speeds. That is until TM upgrades the existing infrastructure. On that note, high-rise buildings will have limitations compared to if you reside in a landed property.
Also, it is important that you know that your current modem/router may not support the new upgraded speeds, so an equipment upgrade may be required, at a cost.
Did you try to access the unifi upgrade check page? Did you receive the upgrade email from TM? Let me know in the comments below.
Catch up on TM’s new unifi plans here:
