Bluetooth 4.0 is coming

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) has confirmed that Bluetooth 4.0 will be in available in the fourth quarter.

The new version consumes less power and can transfer data at up to 25Mbits per second. Read- Bluetooth 4.0 to Reach Devices in Fourth Quarter

SIMFi, WiFi hotspot on your SIM card

Some mobile phones can do Wi-Fi tethering but most just can't do it.

Sim card maker Sagem Orga and Telefonica a Spanish mobile operator will be offering "SIMFi", the first SIM card with integrated Wi-Fi targeted for mobile broadband services.

The embedded WLAN modem built into the SIM card can be controlled by the SIM toolkit applets running in the SIM, will turn the new generation USIM SIMFFi SIM card into a mobile hotspot/router that any device can connect to.

SIMFi is compatible with most existing phones.

Press Release

Another ways of creating a mobile WiFi hotspot is using a Wi-Fi Router app on a WIFi enabled phone which is currently limited to a certain brand and OS.

A simple guide to choosing a Mobile Broadband service

Are you not decided on which mobile broadband service to choose? Here's a simple guide for you.
Before you read below, please check out my blog post on "Mobile Broadband is not for Everyone".

Coverage
If you are getting a mobile broadband service for use while traveling, choose between Maxis Broadband and Celcom Broadband. Celcom may have more 3G/2G coverage areas compared to Maxis in Malaysia but Maxis could offer faster speed than Celcom considering that Celcom Broadband has about 3 times more broadband subscribers than Maxis.

Conclusion: Go for Celcom Broadband when it comes to coverage.

Speed
Speed really depends on current network traffic and overall network subscribers. As Celcom has the highest number of mobile broadband subscribers(about 500k), I personally do not recommend Celcom Broadband if you are looking for speed.

You may choose between Maxis Broadband, P1 WiMAX, DiGi Broadband and U Broadband after you consider the options below based on your requirements:

Maxis Broadband- More than 100k broadband subscribers(may not get high speed all the time and in all areas), but it offers the best coverage among the 4 above.

P1 WiMAX- About 100K subscribers and speed is very much dependent on location and signal strength. Coverage is not there yet for mobile broadband but expanding aggressively.

U Broadband- Network is not congested and may offer you speed about 1Mbps at most of the time, but lack of good 3G coverage.

DiGi Broadband- Could offer high speed broadband at the moment but lack of good 3G coverage for mobile broadband.

Conclusion: It is a hard decision to make but if you are looking between standard coverage and speed than Maxis Broadband is recommended.

Price
From a price perspective, all of them (mobile broadband providers) have very attractive packages, as low as RM40. Some packages comes with USB modem as well. Refer their websites:

• Maxis Broadband
• Celcom Broadband
• U Broadband
• DiGi Broadband
• P1 WiMAX

Conclusion: Refer to the ISP websites


Note that experience on a mobile broadband service may vary depending on location and current traffic load that the network is handling. You may want to pick a package that offers a trial period before subscribing.

P1 WiGGY is not Mobile Broadband

P1's WiGGY is not a mobile broadband service, yet. Until P1 expand its coverage, especially in building coverage, we can only say that WiGGY is something portable that offers you a wireless connection, similar to WiFi.

I strongly recommend that you consider Maxis, Celcom, DiGi or U Mobile for a mobile broadband service.

If you notice, P1 does not brand it as a mobile broadband service, they call it personal broadband service.

Mobile Broadband is not for Everyone

In my opinion, the mobile Internet operators are not doing enough in educating consumers when it comes to mobile broadband.

Let me clarify.

There has been a lots of perception that 3G broadband can be compared to your Streamyx at home. Well that is totally wrong. First of all, the 3G technology was never built to replace fixed broadband service. It was built to allow faster Internet speed with light surfing on your mobile phone. Fixed line services such as Stremayx was built to handle heavy traffic such as video, heavy downloads and more.

To make their 3G investment more profitable, the 3G operators has extended the 3G Internet access for use on computers.

Who should use 3G mobile broadband?

• Those who use WiFi in Starbucks or Coffee Bean
  
• Those who require Internet access while on the move(not at home or travel frequently)
• Those who use light Internet services such as web browsing, emails, Youtube without HD, social networking, reading online..etc
• Not for heavy downloaders (such as P2P)
  
• Those who don't use it for than 6-8 hours a day
• Not for gamers
  

In my opinion, 3G mobile broadband should be used as a secondary access to your fixed line services such as Streamyx. If you are comparing your 3G mobile broadband service to Streamyx, then you are using it for the wrong reasons since 3G will also need to cater for voice services.

That is why the telcos are limiting the usage of 3G mobile broadband to control the data traffic on the network. This is expected to continue since bandwidth/backhaul/maintenance is expensive on a 3G network.

It is time that the mobile operators put in more effort to educate consumers on this matter rather than thinking of ways to sign up more broadband users and hog up the network.

You can compare Streamyx to a technology like WiMAX since WiMAX is built for Internet.

Are you the right mobile broadband user?

P1 WiMAX-WiFi Mobile Device

This is so interesting that P1 will soon make available a mobile WiFi device that will allow you to carry it around. What this device does is simple, it receives P1's WiMAX signal and creates a WiFi hotspot for you. In simple word, its a portable WiFi hotspot generator.

Its a real shame that none of the mobile broadband provider has come out with something like this(although the close one is Celcom with its Broadband Wireless Gateway) when 3 out of 4 mobile broadband operator has better coverage than P1.

The current prototype carries a logo of Infomark Co Ltd, a company that develops Mobile WiMAx products in South Korea. The partnership with Infomark is via the collaboration with GCT Semiconductor, which their chips can be found in Green Packet's solution such as the WiGGY.

You can use this hotspot generator for up to 5 hours. No news on when will it be available or the cost.

New Maxis Broadband Plans

The Maxis Broadband team has taken huge steps with the launch of these new broadband packages as the company has been losing market share far behind Celcom in the 3G broadband market.

Maxis Broadband With Device Packages

Some of the rates shown above are for current Maxis users and after deducting the direct debit rebate. The most interesting package here is the 2GB package at RM48 including a free ZTE modem(not sure if its an USB modem) and 2 months of free usage with an upfront fee of RM168(non-refundable), no contract.

Maxis Broadband No Device Packages

The difference between RM68(after RM10 direct debit rebate) and RM48 package is that the RM48 package is specifically targeted to the 18-25 age group, while if you are not within this age group then you can opt for the RM68 package.

The detailed new Maxis Broadband plans can be viewed here

My opinion:

These new packages are expensive if you are not a Maxis customer and if you don't use direct debit for 12-months, however I think some of the packages are interesting, for an example the three 2GB data limit packages between RM48-RM68 a month.

It is a good move to offer such packages based on data limits. In other words, the more data you use, the more you pay for it. It will also allow Maxis to upgrade the network bandwidth when necessary as they will be no more excuse that customers are hogging up their network. It's a good start for Maxis and I hope to see them improve the 3G network with the launch of these new broadband packages.

No speed details were mentioned in the new packages above, probably the Maxis Broadband team forgot to include those information.

I believe Celcom will follow up with similar packages however they will have to fix the network issues and improve their current broadband user's experience.

Personally, I think the new Maxis Broadband packages are better than Celcom's broadband offering, for now.

Update 1: The 2GB Home Value device package comes with the big, old ZTE MF600 modem.

Note: 3G broadband is an alternative to Streamyx or your fixed broadband, I strongly advice you to retain your fixed internet service if you are a heavy broadband user.

P.s: The first thing to do is to cancel my Celcom Broadband Advance Plan as the experience has been disappointing over the past few months. Hoping that Maxis Broadband will give me a better experience.

P1 is an example to the Broadband Industry

It is the 1st time(that I know) an ISP in Malaysia has come out publicly and ask users to provide feedback on their service, whether it is good or bad.

“We regard those who send us negative comments as our best friends; only a good friend will be honest and frank,” said its chief marketing officer, Kenny Wong-source

P1 is currently the only ISP in the country to open various active channel for customers to provide feedback on their service. These channels include their customer hotline, email, social networks, dealers and more.

Personally, I have seen the man himself(CEO of P1, Michael Lai) apologising to customers and following up a customer's complaint despite his busy schedule. From Marketing, Corp Comm, to Product, I have not seen a team of people who are passionate with their work, open to feedback, and serious with what they do.

How many CEOs have you seen "turun padang"(coming down) to their own roadshows or booths to help out? None? Well, Michale Lai is one of them.

If you walk up to an ISP to complaint about their lousy service, in most cases they will put a blame on something that does not relate back to them. In this case P1 is different, they accept the critics and in the same tries to resolve the problem. Although you may not experience this at all levels(example: customer service), the management has been trying their level best to improve customer experience, for an example, the people who handles P1's Twitter account is not part of the customer service team.

I am not saying P1 is perfect, but their willingness to improve the service sets a good example to the broadband industry in Malaysia. It is not that the other ISPs are not improving, but how to improve if they are not doing the best to listen to their own customers, get feedback? Even the biggest ISP in the country, TMNet doesn't have any social networking presence when it is estimated millions of Malaysian are using social media.

ISPs need to change! If you offer an Internet service, you don't communicate with your broadband customers through the phone. Malaysians deserve a better broadband experience.

Mobile Broadband Map needs a change

When you don't get the broadband speed that you are paying for, the Wireless ISPs such as Maxis and Celcom puts the blame on users, claiming that it is hard to manage bandwidth when users are always moving from one place to another.

Here's an easy solution!

Why not add traffic info/status to your broadband coverage map?

Let me explain, here's an example:

Mid Valley- High Usage/Overloaded/ High Users
Jalan Semarak- Normal
Kampung Cempadak- Less Users
KLCC- High Usage/Overloaded/ High Users

I am not asking the telcos to update this map with traffic details everyday as I understand that it changes every hour. Perhaps updating this every 3 months will give users an overview on what type of speed to expect when they surf in a particular area.

Although Maxis, Celcom, DiGi and P1 WiMAX have spent a lot of time on their broadband coverage map, it does not indicate traffic status in a particular area unless the user experience the service themself. Wouldn't it save time, money and cost for both ISPs and customer if they(ISP) could just reveal the traffic status of that particular area? It will also help users on the road to make better decisions on where to surf the net at faster speed, thanks to the traffic details on the map.

So telcos, stop giving excuses about slow broadband speed. If you can't meet the customer's demand, they you shouldn't offer the service in first place. This traffic info will help reduce the number of complaints on mobile broadband that your customer service team handles everyday. You can also get new customer in areas with less traffic.

Time to make things better? Let's see who makes the first move!

The Mobile Broadband Scene in Malaysia- Interview with Mobile World

Check out this latest interview with Kashminder Singh, Group Managing Editor of Mobile World Magazine on BFM 89.9.

Free Modem for Student with DiGi Campus Plan

Students can now sign up for DiGi Broadband Discover Campus Plan at RM58 per month and pay absolutely nothing for the USB modem.

Likely average download speed on this plan is 700Kbps while the upload speed is around 200Kbps and these is also a 3GB monthly limit.

The Discover Campus Plan is available to students age between 18- 25 years old and an advance payment of RM100 applies.

DiGi said that a "termination fee" will charged if students terminate the plan within the 12 months installment tenure, full info here.

Don't forget to check if your area is covered by DiGi 3G before subscribing.

More on Celcom Broadband

Update 1: At Pavillion just now and Celcom 3G was terribly slow with too many packet loss. Had to reload a page a could number of times.

My experience on Celcom Broadband has been pretty bad over the past one week. I am wordless so I leave it to Malaysians to express it.

• F*ck Celcom Broadband!
  
• Internet Kelas 3 di Malaysia
  
• Celcom totally s*ck this week
• CelCom broadband its suck
  
• Broadband
• Broadband punya halll.......
  
• Celcom broadband
• Celcom broadband macam H1N1!!!
• Kecewa dgn Celcom Broadband
• Celcom Broadband Discussion on LowYat.net
• Celcom Daily Unlimited Broadband Problem
  

Celcom Broadband MSN problem that I have complained to Celcom for a number of times

• Never the same
  
• Celcom 3G Broadband
• Streamyx and Celcom Broadband
  
• CELCOM BROADBAND S*CKS !!!!!!!
• Bit Meter

Malaysia's Mobile Broadband Is Growing Fast

Over the next five years, the Malaysian telecom market will grow at a CAGR of 9.2 percent, Pyramid Research forecasts. In 2014 it will generate $11.7 billion thanks in part to increased demand for mobile and fixed broadband services, notes Tae-Hyung Kim, analyst at Pyramid Research and author of the report. "Mobile penetration reached 98 percent in 2008, which is more than double the regional penetration average of 47 percent," Kim says.

Pyramid Research expects Malaysia's mobile penetration rate to increase to 133 percent by 2014. At that point mobile broadband subscriptions will number 2.6 million -- an upward revision from earlier forecasts. Although nearly three-quarters of Malaysia's mobile revenue is now generated by voice services, broadband data services will account for an increasing proportion of mobile revenue over the next five years, Kim notes. "Pyramid Research expects mobile data services to account for 45 percent of all mobile revenue by 2014, driven by increases in adoption of mobile broadband services and mobile data applications," he explains.

Four operators engage in cutthroat competition in Malaysia's mobile market. "New entrant U Mobile, along with the latest 3G licensee Digi, will take competition to the next level as each operator attempts to compete in not only traditional mobile voice and data services but also in the mobile broadband arena," Kim says. "We believe that incumbent Maxis and runner-up Celcom will continue to lead the market with a combined market share exceeding 70 percent through the end of our forecast period, while U Mobile's gains will likely come at the expense of Digi."


Source

New Maxis Broadband Data Only Sim Plan

I don't know how long this has been made available, but it is certainly a good deal.

The Maxis Broadband Advance Lite Plan is a data sim only package(without modem) and offers speed up to 3.6Mbps at RM78 per month or RM68 if you use direct debit.

The only thing that you should be looking at before considering this package is the 2GB data limit. I guess Maxis still thinks that Malaysians don't use bandwidth hungry services such as video stream and heavy downloads on mobile broadband that could easily hit the 2GB within days. Get ready for slower speed once you hit the limit.

I have been using the Advance Lite Plan for the past one week and so far the experience is good although I do get a lot of disconnections, depending on area.

With the availability of this plan, Celcom should seriously look into reducing their Broadband Advance Plan at RM98 per month currently if they want to keep up with competition.

Good package Maxis. Hope to see more offerings on the prepaid side too.

Check out- Maxis Broadband Advance Lite


P.s: There are no 7 days trial on this plan, read the FAQ here

Mobile Broadband Roadtest

Mobile World is currently working on a mobile broadband roadtest for the next month cover.

As you can see we managed to obtain the modems above and we drove to 6 different location to conduct the speedtest.

Results? Stay tuned for the Mobile World July 2009 issue.

In the mean time, please take part in the poll below, at least you can tell the wireless ISPs on what type of network would you prefer. Poll ends 30 July 2009.

Online Surveys & Market Research

P.s: One the ISP had higher upload speed than the download speed.

DiGi Broadband: Upcoming Challenges

DiGi Broadband was launched in March this year.

A lot people has been asking me about DiGi Broadband, whether is it the right mobile data service for them.

Few years back, mobile operators was launching 3G and then later they launched mobile broadband running on 3G and HSDPA. While 3G service(mobile phone) is not that popular in Malaysia, mobile broadband is a demand.

Two operators in Malaysia launched mobile broadband before their 3G mobile service- U Mobile & DiGi.

At this point, DiGi can still manage their network traffic and bandwidth on their HSPA network since the network is only handling one traffic- mobile broadband.

The other three 3G operators(Maxis, Celcom, U Mobile) are handling more traffic on their 3G/HSDPA network- Voice, Data on mobile phone, mobile broadband.

Since DiGi Broadband was launched, there has been lots of positive feedback from DiGi Broadband users such as download speed exceeding 7Mbps and upload speed over 1Mbps although DiGi only promises a LAS(Likely Average Speed) of 700Kbps-2Mbps. This is because they could still manage the traffic and bandwidth on the network.

In my opinion, these experience will change once DiGi enables "Voice" on their HSPA network and then they will have to go through the problems that other 3G operators faced in the past including handoff between 2G & 3G, interference issues and more.

For the question whether DiGi Broadband is a good choice for mobile broadband, my answer is YES, but only until DiGi enables Voice on its network. Also, do note that DiGi Broadband has limited coverage and users will fall back on EDGE as they move out of the HSPA coverage. Plus DiGi is the only wireless ISP charging for data exceeding the given data limit.

http://digi.com.my/broadband/

Related:

• New broadband service launched in Penang
• Digi To Spend RM75 Million On Sabah's Broadband
  

Get the Best Wireless Broadband, ask the Internet Insider

Internet Insider(http://internetinsider.com.my) is a "specialist" who can tell you what is the best wireless broadband service for you.

Just make an appointment with them and they will visit you to test all the wireless broadband service available at your area and recommend you the fastest service to subscribe. It's that simple!!

The service is available in the Klang Valley and you can be charged a RM30 service fee if you are not serious in getting a wireless broadband service. However Internet Insider would not charge you if you subscribe with them or if they can't find the best wireless broadband service that don't suit your needs.

Currently, only five ISPs are tested- DiGi, Maxis, Celcom, Izzi and P1. They also offer Streamyx installations.

My opinion: It is a good service for those who are serious in finding for a suitable broadband service, plus Internet Insider is giving you a free test drive and don't charge you extra for the service if it meet you needs.

Go ahead and Summon the Insider now!!!

Facts about Mobile Broadband

Here's SOME facts that you should know about mobile broadband using 3G networks:

• Shared service- Mobile Broadband uses your mobile phone network and it is a shared service, so don't expect maximum speed(exp: 3.6Mbps) all the time.

• Mobile & Wireless- Mobile Broadband is made for the purpose of getting broadband while NOT AT HOME and on the move. It is designed as an alternative broadband to your existing fixed broadband service.
• Plug & Play- Most mobile broadband today is plug & play, although some of it needs a one time software installation to use.

• Speed is location/signal strength based- Speed is very much dependent on your current location and the signal strength.

• Limited use: Since this is not your primary broadband service, the ISPs has implemented a fair usage policy to ensure everyone gets a fair use out of this shared network. Some ISP even charge for excessive usage and limit the speed for users exceeding this given limit.

• Average Speed- Average download speed to expect using HSDPA technology is 2Mbps while upload speed to expect is 384Kbps.

• Expensive- Most mobile broadband service are expensive since maintenance cost are not cheap and ISPs usually spends million in a year to upgarde bandwidth and network capability.

More info:

Celcom- http://www.celcom.com.my/broadband
DiGi- http://www.digi.com.my/broadband
Maxis- http://www.maxis.com.my/broadband

P1 Makes Changes on WiGGY Speed

If you notice the picture above, Packet One appears to have made changes on their marketing material for their WiGGY. It was rather confusing when P1 says that WiGGY offers speed up to 10Mbps when you don't enjoy that speed on average usage.

Resulted from the gathering with their WiGGY test users early last week, P1 now claims an average speed of 1-3Mbps download speed on WiGGY, subject to network conditions.

It took them less than 5 working days to make those changes, great work P1!!

As for my experience on the P1 network, the service has improved since last Tuesday(14 April) after an upgrade on Monday. Hopefully, the network will be able to sustain the growing amount of subscribers and they will fix the remaining issues.

Mobile Internet: Speed vs Connectivity

How many of you uses mobile internet on your mobile phone? If you do then which will you prefer, do you want connectivity or speed?

When I say connectivity, I mean any type of mobile connection starting from GPRS up to HSDPA regardless of the mobile technology as long as you have a mobile connection on your phone.

As for speed, I am talking about 3G, HSDPA and above.

Personally, when it comes to mobile phone, I will prefer connectivity even if its GPRS. As long as I could check my email(not download emails), MSN on the phone and do some very light surfing on the phone(wap sites), and that's enough for me.

Looking back at the telco's mobile broadband offering, everything is catered to speed but not connectivity. There are unlimited packages for EDGE(DiGi), 3G and HSDPA but no packages that are GPRS-based.

In my opinion, GPRS only data packages could cost less than RM30 a month looking at DiGi's secondary unlimited EDGE package at RM33. So why not offer a GPRS only data package?

GPRS does not offer high speed mobile connection but it could drive the adoption of mobile application on mobile phones, at least it is a start for first time users as they could upgrade to 3G when they demand more speed. On top of that GPRS is available almost everywhere, as long as you have a mobile signal.

It is also a new revenue for mobile operators as their GPRS and EDGE network will be underutilised as more subscribers move to the 3G and HSDPA network(as the coverage expands) and most of them are doing it because they require mobile broadband.

It is time for a cheap mobile connectivity, not expensive high speed mobile broadband packages for those who want cheap connectivity on their mobile phone.