Well of course I'm much more interested in the latter..... Sue me....I've only seen the 2nd Harry Potter movie....no point going Gaga with the rest of the worked yet when I've not seen the rest of it...
So there I was, with no excuse to be there to make it a coincidence but with the specific mind of checking out new tech stuff...
The speed and service was mind blowing for a wireless carrier. An independent mobile modem capable of serving up to 4 wifi users while streaming off the 4G network was capable to achieve a download speed of 7.4Mbps on a iPhone!!! That's bearing in mind that there were 3 other users using it simultaneously.... A test of random video in YouTube achieved to fully download a 3 minute clip within 15 seconds...... That really puts my previous home landline broadband to shame....
Yet...one must bear in mind that this is the launch and it would do them no good to have crappy demo service on the launch week....so much more will be there to disappoint people once their subscription grows beyond their service capability. Time will show and tell.
In the mean time, some pretty cool news. The service is essentially a 4G Internet service. It also provides voice and SMS service. Rates are competitively priced at 9 cents for a minute of call to anyone and also 9 cents per SMS. Internet service goes by 3 cents for every MB of data. At present it runs only as a prepaid service with no expiry of credit time. Only catch is that it charges a minimum reload of 30 ringgit per month.
While calculating 3 cents per MB seems weird when people are already offering packages of 3GB or unlimited Internet service out there, I do recall telcos that still charge by blocks of 1kB or 10kB....sheeeshhh....
So when I calculate my usage, my mobile Internet is charged at 90 ringgit for a 3GB account. In all honesty, I have tried my best to use it maximally before without doing massive downloads....just sensible day to day use, and the 3GB has never been achieved. My max was about 2GB. So... For mobile users like me, it may make more sense to use a prepaid service thatncharges only for what I use. At 3 cents a MB, it would be the same as my current package....shhh but there's a bonus in place for Yes Mobile. With increasing use of it'd mobile service, the cheaper the charges get. So by the time one hits the 3GB mark, the charge would be somewhere in the range 2.3 cents per MB, giving it a nice price of 69 ringgit (more or less)
Next.... While most telcos run into network congestion because they run voice and data service within their network, YES mobile only runs on data service. From what I was told, the voice and SMS services are likened to what we would get by using Skype. Voice are actually VoIP (voice over IP). So as long as we have a YES mobile ID or number, we would be able to make calls and receive calls as a normal phone would. Kinda like using the Skype phone (premium service). Hence there is no need for a simcard, which is a selling point with YES mobile.
Calling overseas would be charged as IDD rates. Roaming? No roaming charges are applied. But if for example a user is in Singapore, all calls will be charged as IDD charges. This is until YES mobile breaks into any of the other countries. Then it will be charged according to the local charges. With YTL as it's main backer, it will be inteesting to see where this will lead to.
Anyway, will write more next time once I am able to go on 4G while watching YouTube stream live onto my device as I cruise on the NSE (north south expressway).
Until then....signing off from my maxis mobile....(when is that page ever gonna finish loading!!! Arghhhh!)
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