Is ookyo a new prepaid brand under Maxis?

What looks like a brand new MVNO (riding on Maxis’ network) has popped up on our radar. It’s called ookyo and it claims to offer “unlimited internet” for RM30/month. But, after a little digging, ookyo seems more like a Maxis sub-brand — kind of like Happy to Digi back in the day — than an MVNO.

First, lets get down to what ookyo is offering. They have two packs, both valued at RM30/month, that offer high-speed unlimited internet on selected applications. The first is a Social Pack that gives you unlimited internet on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, Pintrest, and KakaoTalk. The second is called the Entertainment Pack and that gives you unlimited internet on Spotify, Musical.ly, BIGO LIVE, Smule, Joox, 9GAG and Shazam.

Both packs will also give up unlimited internet on WhatsApp, LINE, WeChat, and Facebook Messenger, plus 3GB of data for all your other data needs. Users can also buy an unlimited pass to a specific application of your choice for as low as RM3 (valid until the end of your billing cycle). Local calls and SMS rates are 15sen/30 seconds and 15sen/SMS. International call charges are the same as Hotlink’s.

Besides internet, ookyo also gives 10% Google Play credit back whenever you shop at the ookyo store. If you refer friends, you also get RM5 in Google Credit for your first friend while subsequent friends will add towards upgrading your tier level so you can earn more Google Play credit.

Fundamentally, ookyo is offering prepaid plans where you have to top-up RM30 before you can subscribe to either the Social or Entertainment pack. However, it works similarly to the way TuneTalk’s +VIBE plan does instead. This means that you will have to set up a credit or debit card with Maxis Pay and ookyo will deduct RM30 from it each month (30-day validity).

That said, there are a few caveats. First off, everything is done through the application and you will need to give it VPN access before you can get access to the unlimited data packs. If you don’t enable VPN access, all usage will be deducted from your 3GB data quota instead. Next, this application is only available on the Google Play Store and they are only offering Google Play Credits as a rebates, which means if you’re on iOS, you won’t be able to subscribe to this plan.

Finally, although the data packs seem pretty compelling, it is worth noting that popular video streaming apps like Netflix, iflix and even YouTube are absent from the Entertainment Pack.

Now why do we think that it’s more like a Maxis sub-brand rather than a new MVNO? Well, the first tell is that ookyo’s website has a footnote that says Copyright © 2017 Maxis Bhd (867573-A). Then, a quick check on whois also reveals that it’s registered to Maxis Bhd, which seems to hint at the fact that Maxis is trying to introduce a new prepaid brand besides Hotlink.

Either way, if you’re interested you can go check them out at ookyo’s website. You can also sign up there or through the application, just remember to have your debit/credit card ready as well.