The official pricing for the P1 Wiggy is finally here after much speculation earlier. In a nutshell, the Wiggy is P1 W1MAX’s entry in the mobile broadband arena that offers 10 Mbps. This is the fastest USB based broadband device compared to the other 3G HSDPA Players. Even AMAX’s USB offering is only 1 Mbps.
P1 Wiggy Plan
The Wiggy is priced at RM149/month and has a monthly data quota of 10GB. Minimum contract is 12 months.
For first time registration, there’s an upfront payment of RM459 for cost of modem, registration fee and activation fee. The entry payment is quite steep for a mobile broadband package. P1 should have spread out the one time cost over the 12 months period to ease out the payment. Total cost would be RM459 (one time) + RM1788 (subscription) = RM2247.
Since it is mobile with potential of higher speed up to 10Mbps, the Wiggy priced higher than its desktop DS 300 plan of RM99/month for 12 months. However the desktop DS 300 plan has double the data quota of 20GB. We believe that these 2 serve different purpose and obviously mobile usage are often less than what they would use at home or office. If you’re looking to download more and need the potential to share the connection over WiFi, the desktop DS 300 plans would be a better choice.
PC Fair Promotion
This coming PC Fair, P1 is having a promotion on the Wiggy for the early adopters.
For the 12 month contract subscribers, the normal Wiggy plan rates apply but they will enjoy RM200 rebate on their first bill. This would make the total 12 month subscription cost RM2047.
However for those who subscribe for 24 months, P1 is giving out a FREE Acer Aspire One Netbook.
The one time upfront payment of RM459 still applies. However the subsequent payments are done via Credit Card 0% Interest Easy payment plan at RM149/month which is the same monthly subscription rate. The Easy Payment Plan is only applicable for Maybank, OCBC, Citibank and Public Bank credit card holders only. Total cost for this 24 month netbook bundle would be RM459 (one time) + RM3576 (subscription) = RM4035.
Similar offerings
In the market right now, there are 2 similiar netbook + mobile broadband bundles to consider as well.
A) Maxis Broadband + Dell Mini
Maxis is the exclusive partner for Dell for the Dell Mini. It bundles for as low as RM89 for 24 months. However the bundle only comes with 6 months worth of broadband. Advertised speed goes up to 3.6Mbps on 3G HSDPA. Despite that, Maxis’s Dell Mini is the only all in one Mobile Broadband Netbook solution that does not require a USB device thanks to its built in 3G HSDPA Module. Monthly data quota is at 3GB per month.
B) AMAX USB + HP Mini
AMAX offers the USB Plan with speeds of 1.0Mbps on its WiMAX network together with the HP Mini. The monthly price is at RM149/month for 24 months as well but it doesn’t come with any activation fee. It is also noted that AMAX currently offers unlimited data usage for all plans.
The offering of these 2 plans are obtained pre-PC Fair and who knows that they might be giving a better deal this coming weekend.
Without a doubt, P1 Wiggy is creating some waves right now with its 10Mbps download speed and netbook bundling plan. However we find that the upfront payment is unattractive and the claim of 10Mbps is still in doubt. What is more important is the average speed that user would get on average. It would be interesting to see the reaction from current mobile broadband players such as DiGi, Maxis, Celcom and AMAX in the next few days.
For more details, visit the P1 Wiggy site.
