Broadband Plan Comparison in Malaysia

Broadband plan internet users in Malaysia are continuously growing. According to a report called Measuring the Information Society 2013 commissioned by the United Nations International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Malaysia had the highest rate of “digital natives” among fellow developing nations across the globe. Digital natives is a term used to describe those who are the most technologically savvy; accept technology ahead of their peers, and those who use their smart phones frequently.

With the growing number of students and professionals accessing internet connection in their day-to-day lives, it is no wonder that various broadband and cellular service providers have become competitive in offering the best broadband plans to its users.

Below are some of the cheap broadband plans offered by various Malaysian service providers categorized into fiber broadband and wireless broadband plans:

Fiber Broadband Plans
Fibre is a type of broadband internet connection which uses fibre optic cables to send signal through pulses of light. The speed of this broadband plan is usually not influenced with the distance, and as light travels fast, it usually provides a quicker connection than more traditional connections such as the ADSL. Here are some fiber broadband plan service providers in Malaysia:

Maxis’ Fibre broadband plans are divided into three speed categories. Their 10 Mbps package costs RM148 per month. For faster internet connection, Maxis offer a 20 Mbps package for RM198 per month. Finally, if you want a super-fast connection which allows you to watch streaming videos without buffering, you can get their 30 Mbps fibre package for RM248 per month. Maxis’ fibre broadband internet plan comes with free calls worth RM30 to all mobile, fixed numbers and IDD destinations, along with unlimited downloads for your internet use.
On the other hand, P1 Fiber broadband plan costs RM169 to RM269 per month with a download and upload quota of 50GB to 200GB. P1’s contract is valid for 24 months.

UniFi offers three packages as well under their Video, Internet and Phone (VIP) Services. VIP 20 offers 20 Mbps as the name suggests and costs RM249 per month. VIP 20 can allow up to 120 GB of monthly download and uploads, comes with a free modem, free wireless router, phone and set-top-box that feature 18 free TV channels. VIP 10, on the other hand, provides 10 Mbps and is priced at RM199 per month. Its maximum monthly download is 90GB. Lastly, VIP 5 provides 5 Mbps for a monthly fee of RM149. It has a maximum download capacity of 60 GB. Users may also save RM2 by choosing the autopay option, which charges RM147 per month.

Wireless Broadband Plans
Wireless may be used for home or on-the-go. For home use, a WiFi router is needed while on-the-go users need to connect a broadband USB stick or dongle to their computers to be able to use wireless internet out of their homes. For mobile internet users, a 3G mobile phone network or mobile phone network is needed to get internet connection. Here are a few wireless broadband plan service providers in Malaysia:

Celcom provides different plans for iPad, PC & Notebook, and Smartphone use. Celcom’s iPad and PC& Notebook plans are both priced at RM48 to RM138 per month at the speed 1.5 to 7.5 Mbps. The bandwidth cap is from 1.5GB to 10GB per month. Meanwhile, their Smartphone plan costs RM68 to RM88 per month with a bandwidth cap of 3 to 5GB per month. The speed is also estimated at 1.5 to 7.5 Mbps. According to Celcom, speed of all three plans can increase by up to 10x with 4G LTE compatible devices.

Maxis’ home wireless broadband plans are divided into five categories according to volume of use. All plans come with a RM150 activation fee. Light users are charged RM49 per month for a 3GB bandwidth cap (1.5 + 1.5). This package comes with 100 free minutes plus a free 7.2 home WiFi modem and a free DECT phone worth RM80. A casual surfer on the other hand, will be charged RM69 per month for an 8GB (4 + 4) bandwidth cap. Casual surfers also get the same freebies as light users of 100 free minutes plus a free 7.2 home WiFi modem and a free DECT phone worth RM80. Both light users and casual surfers are also entitled to a rebate of RM10 per month for the first 12 months of use. For a higher bandwidth cap, there’s the regular streamer package, which offers a RM99 monthly fee for a 20GB (5 + 15) bandwidth cap. Freebies include 200 free minutes, a free 21 Mbps modem and a free DECT phone. The heavy downloader plan costs RM139 a month for a 28GB bandwidth cap (7 + 21). This comes with free 200 minutes plus the free 21 Mbps modem and the DECT phone. Finally, the power user plan costs RM169 per month for a 48GB (12+36) bandwidth cap. This package comes with the same benefits offered to heavy and regular users: the 300 free minutes plus the free 21 Mbps modem and a free DECT phone. Regular, heavy and power users are all entitled to a rebate of RM10 per month for the first 5 months.

P1 offers four wireless broadband plans: OnePlan, ForHome, ToGo Prepaid, and ToGo Postpaid. OnePlan is for on-the-go and home users and costs RM109 to RM169 per month for an 8GB bandwidth cap at 1-4 Mbps speed. The contract runs for 12 to 24 months. ForHome is for home users and costs RM79 to RM139 per month for a 8GB to 35GB bandwidth cap with a speed of 1-4 Mbps. Contract is for 12 to 24 months. ToGo Prepaid is for those who ants to pay-as-they-use. A starter kit is worth RM199, and it comes with a 4GB bandwidth cap valid for 30 days, with a speed of up to 800 Kbps. For reloads, the RM20 plan offers a quota of 500MB, with a download speed of up to 800 Kbps and valid for 15 days. RM50 plan offers a quota of 2GB, with a similar download speed of up to 800 Kbps, valid for 30 days. Finally ToGo Postpaid is for those who prefer to be charged monthly. The cost is RM39 to RM99 per month for a 3GB to 15GB bandwidth cap and a speed of 1 Mbps to 10 Mbps. Contract for this plan rund from 6 to 24 months.

Other wireless broadband service providers include U Mobile Broadband and YES Broadband.

With all the many options available to Malaysian internet surfers, you will surely find the best internet connection deal. All you need to do is research a lot, outline your actual needs versus your wants, and factor in your budget to decide.