Which telco in Malaysia offers the best value for calls, SMS and data all in?

UPDATE: Check out our updated comparison which includes supplementary lines.

Malaysians are really getting spoilt for choice as the major telcos have gotten into a postpaid price war by delivering more data for less. After U Mobile introduced its Hero Postpaid plan that offered 7GB of data and unlimited calls to all networks for RM70/month, the competition is seriously heating up.

Digi has thrown the gauntlet by introducing its SmartPlan 75 that comes with similar offering at RM75/month for a limited time only. Just earlier this week, Celcom has responded by revamping its FIRST Gold Postpaid plan with 10GB of data for only RM80/month.

So which is the best “Pau ka liau” (do everything) plan in town? Read on to find out.

Celcom
On the surface, Celcom offers the best value with 10GB for RM80/month. That’s equivalent to just RM8 per GB, and you also get unlimited free calls and SMS for greater peace of mind. However the only gripe is probably the way they split the data. 5GB is given for all day use and the other 5GB is only for the weekends (split at 1.25GB per weekend).

If you need more data, you can top up RM20 per GB and it is valid according to your billing cycle. Another plus for Celcom is that you can carry forward unused data up to 5GB but this is only from the all-day data bucket. On top of that, they are giving out 5GB of WiFi for free, but that’s only usable if you can find a Celcom WiFi hotspot in the first place.

Digi/U Mobile
For Digi and U Mobile, both are very similar with 7GB of data and unlimited free calls. Unlike Celcom and Maxis, you would need to pay for SMS. For Digi, you can enjoy unlimited SMS but that’s only applicable to 3 numbers on their network.

If you use more than 7GB, you can top up data but both only offers a single short term option. 1GB on Digi costs RM8 and it is only valid for 2 days while U Mobile offers a booster pack of 1.5GB at RM10 that’s valid for 3 days.

UPDATE: Maxis and Digi have upgraded their plans with more data. More details here.

Maxis
Meanwhile for Maxis, they are the most expensive of the lot offering just 1GB at RM98/month. While they promise a worry-free proposition with unlimited calls and SMS, it is way costly if you compare this with Celcom’s FIRST Gold plan side by side. Even if you plan to add more data, it will cost you a hefty RM30 per GB. What’s more mind boggling is that Maxis is offering 4GB of data for only RM48/month for its Hotlink prepaid users.

Of course, pricing is just one factor to consider. There are other things to take into account such as 4G LTE coverage, quality of calls, customer service, and other value added services that you may use in the future. For Celcom, they are offering unlimited music service via Yonder, while Digi offers unlimited music streaming for 120 days and free iflix for a year.

On U Mobile, you get to enjoy free YouTube and Tonton streaming between 2AM and 10AM, plus free music streaming for radio and KKBox all day. If you travel a lot, U Mobile is also offering free 50MB data roaming daily for selected countries. As for Maxis, they do offer free Spotify with free streaming quota for its MaxisOne Plan but that’s only applicable if you opt for its higher MaxisONE 128 plan and above.

Which plan would you choose? Let us know in the comments below.