Maxis introduces ONEplan with “limitless” calls and SMS

UPDATE: Maxis ONEplan™ is now called as MaxisONE™ plan.

Maxis today unveiled its new postpaid offering called the OnePlan, a plan that was created based on what Maxis believe it’s customers wanted — a lot of voice and text with very little data to deliver what Maxis feels is a “worry free experience with competitive pricing and worry-free surfing”.

According to Maxis, an average Maxis subscriber uses around 1GB of data a month. In addition to that Maxis claims its average user makes more calls and SMS than they think they do. To deliver a “worry free experience without monthly bill surprises”, the ONEplan offers what Maxis say are “limitless” voice calls and SMS for a fixed monthly fee which also comes with bundled mobile data.

By Maxis’ terms “limitless” is 3,000 minutes of calls and 3,000 text messages a month.

UPDATE: Maxis has removed its 3,000 minutes/3000 SMS cap to offer true limitless calls and SMS. Details here.

Despite its ONEplan naming, there are actually 2 plans on offer:

ONEplan – RM128/month

Limitless Talk – to all networks
Limitless SMS – to all networks
4G LTE Data – 2GB

ONEplan Lite – RM78/month

Limitless Talk – Maxis to Maxis only. 15sen/minute to other networks
Limitless SMS – Maxis to Maxis only. 10sen/SMS to other networks
4G LTE Data – 1GB

Typical with most mobile plans in Malaysia, once your data quota is used up, there will not be any excess charge but speeds will be throttled down. There’s an option to add more data at RM30 per GB per month. For example, if you want to add 2GB a month on top of the existing data offered by the OnePlan, you will have to pay a hefty RM60 on top of the monthly subscription fee. For 3GB extra, you’ll have to top up RM90 and so on. Where other operators reduce the cost per GB with more data you subscribe to the linear rate that Maxis is charging for additional data with its OnePlan is unconventional and expensive.

Alternatively if you’ve burst your quota and just need a small data top up so that you’re speed is not throttled down, you can purchase a one time booster at 200MB for RM10, 500MB for RM20 and 1GB at RM30, which by industry standards, is still expensive.

With data usage rising as more and more people switch from feature phones to smartphones, the ONEplan offers very little for those who prioritise data over voice calls and SMS. Maxis reckons that 2GB is more than enough for the average user and they claimed that most people hardly utilise their data quota on a monthly basis. The problem with that is at RM128 for 2GB per month and an additional RM30 for every 1GB of data, the average user will be better off sticking to their current SurfMore plans or simply subscribe from another operator. U Mobile for example offers 3GB of data for RM80/monthly inclusive of unlimited calls within U mobile + 200 minutes calls to all networks and 100 SMS (50 within U Mobile + 50 to other networks) on its Unlimited 80 plan.

The ONEplan is better suited for those who make lots of phone calls on a daily basis and we mean A LOT, at least over 200 minutes a month. We were told that this would replace the TalkMore 78 plan which offers 600 minutes of voice calls and 500 SMS per month. If you need internet, you would need to bolt on data at RM48 for 1GB or RM68 for 3GB, which brings it up to a total of RM126/month and RM146/month respectively. If you fit in Maxis average profile of using less than 2GB a month, this would suit you well if you do make more than 600 minutes of phone calls per month. For light users, Maxis has shared that about 75% of calls are made within their network hence the ONEplan Lite at RM78/month would be an affordable proposition but you need to take note that calls and SMS to non-Maxis numbers will be charged separately.

To find out if this is for you, we suggest that you study your bill breakdown to understand your usage patterns. Overall, the ONEplan looks like a reboot of their previous Value Plus Internet but comes with more calls and data. Back then, there was even the option to add 6GB data for just RM98/month.

For those who need data with occasional calls and SMS, the SurfMore 50 plan with 2GB a month at RM50/month is a better bargain or you can opt for its SurfMore 75 with 5GB at RM75/month which calculates to just RM15/GB. If you make more calls than expected, you can top up RM12 for 120 minutes of calls to any network or RM6 for 120 SMS with their More Voice and More SMS add-on. Adding data is more affordable too as the SurfMore quota upgrade charges just RM10 for 500MB, RM15 for 1GB and RM50 for 5GB. That’s at least half of what ONEplan is charging for its data top up. Got more devices that need internet? You can add RM15/month for extra SIM cards to share your existing data quota on your tablet or MiFi.

We’re not convinced with the ONEplan. Data usage is set to rise and with the expansion of 4G LTE coverage, more users will be able to consume more digital content especially videos. Is free calls and text more important to you than data? What would give you better value, more data or more calls? Of course this varies from user to user but at the end of the day, we all want the best value for our money and this new plan from Maxis struggles to offer that.

Interestingly, P1 has a plan offering that carries the same name, what is even more interesting is that P1 has trademarked the name OnePlan.

For more information, check out the ONEplan and ONEplan Lite on their online store.