Maxis has finally enabled 5G services for its customers in Malaysia today as it has signed the 5G access agreement with Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB). Maxis has revealed its new 5G Postpaid and Prepaid plans which offer more data with access to 5G for less. If you want to use 5G on your Maxis line, here’s everything you need to know
What do you need to enjoy 5G on Maxis?
In order to enjoy 5G on Maxis, you will need three things. Firstly, you will need a 5G-enabled plan, a 5G smartphone and you must be within DNB’s 5G coverage areas. If your phone doesn’t support 5G, you won’t be able to enjoy 5G. If you already have a 5G smartphone and a 5G plan but are not covered by DNB’s 5G network, your connection will drop back to Maxis 4G network. You must fulfil the three conditions in order to enjoy faster 5G. If you still can’t get 5G, do check if your smartphone’s 5G network settings are enabled.
Where can I enjoy 5G in Malaysia?
Digital Nasional Berhad is currently Malaysia’s 5G single wholesale network and all major telcos in Malaysia now have access to DNB in order to provide 5G services. Regardless of which telco you’re with, all 5G services are tapping on DNB’s 5G coverage.
As of the end of June 2023, DNB has achieved 64.7% population coverage and it aims to achieve 80% 5G population coverage by the end of 2023. You can check DNB’s 5G coverage here. Your 5G speeds may vary depending on location and the network currently provides an average of 324Mbps according to DNB. At the very least, DNB promises to offer a minimum of 100Mbps at the cell edge of the network.
How to activate 5G on Maxis Postpaid and Hotlink Prepaid for free?
At the moment, all Maxis customers can enjoy 5G for free as they are offering a free 30-day pass to access DNB’s 5G network. If you’re on Maxis Postpaid, just launch the Maxis app (Apple AppStore, Google Play Store, Huawei App Gallery) and tap on the “5G” icon on the home screen to activate the free 5G pass. For Hotlink Prepaid and Postpaid, you can do the same with the Hotlink app (Apple App Store, Google Play Store, Huawei App Gallery). Take note that the 5G pass enables you to enjoy 5G using your plan’s current quota.
If you plan to do a speed test, be warned that a speed test may consume over 1GB of data, so do take note if you have a limited data quota per month.
After 30 days, you can continue to enjoy 5G on your existing plan for an extra RM10/month on Maxis Postpaid or RM5/month on Hotlink Prepaid. For Hotlink, this is a one-time pass and you need to activate this on a monthly basis. Meanwhile, Maxis Postpaid’s 5G pass is auto-renew and if you wish not to continue, you will need to terminate this pass before the next renewal.
If you have supplementary lines on an older Maxis Postpaid plan, you’ll have to activate the pass for each line. Existing Maxis Family Plan and MaxisONE Prime users who currently enjoy unlimited mobile data can also enjoy unlimited 5G data if they enable the 5G access pass.
Should you upgrade to the new Maxis and Hotlink 5G plans?
Before making any plan changes, we highly recommend that you try 5G for free using the above 30-day free 5G passes. This is to give yourself some time to evaluate the 5G performance and to make sure that your device and your location are 5G enabled. If you’re happy with 4G and do not see the benefits of using 5G on your phone, you can continue with your existing plan.
New Maxis and Hotlink 5G plans offer more data for less
The new Maxis Postpaid and Prepaid plans with 5G offer more data for less. On Maxis Postpaid, their new Postpaid plans start from RM79/month and it comes with 120GB of 5G data. However, if you’re on existing Maxis Postpaid Plans of RM98/month and above, you’ll need to add on RM11/month to switch to the newer plans which offer 2.5X more data. For example, the old Postpaid 98 comes with 60GB for RM98/month but the new Postpaid RM109 offers 150GB (100GB 4G/5G + Bonus 50GB 5G).
If you don’t need so much data, you can downgrade to the lower plan provided that you are not tied to a contract. For example, Maxis Postpaid 98 customers who don’t need 60GB per month, can downgrade to Postpaid 79 provided that they are not tied to a contract. If you need extra Maxis Share 48 supplementary lines, you need to subscribe to at least Postpaid 109. All supplementary lines will get to access 5G for free if the main principal line is upgraded to the new postpaid plan with 5G.
On Hotlink Prepaid, the new monthly Pantas 5G plans start from RM45/month which gives you 75GB of data (50GB 4G/5G + Bonus 25GB 5G). As a comparison, the previous Pantas 5G plan offered 40GB for RM35/month.
Related reading
- Hotlink 5G: New 5G Prepaid plans start from RM3/day with 3GB, up to RM60/month with 100GB 5G data
- Maxis 5G: New 5G Postpaid plans start from RM79/month with 120GB of 5G data
- Due to lack of alternatives, Maxis will sign 5G access agreement with DNB
- 5G Malaysia: Fahmi says all 5 telcos are going all in with DNB, to finalise shareholding soon
