Communications and Multimedia Minister Fahmi Fadzil recently announced that telcos will no longer impose 5G access fees and customers can enjoy faster 5G without extra charges. Some telcos don’t charge extra for 5G while others have recently waived the charges for their existing plans.
According to Maxis, they have always offered their 5G access pass for free even after the initial 30-day free 5G trial period.
Maxis 5G Access Pass enables 4G on existing plans
Maxis started offering 5G services in August 2023 after it signed the access agreement with Digital Nasional Berhad. Besides introducing all-new 5G prepaid, postpaid and wireless broadband plans, the green telco also introduced a 5G access pass priced at RM10 which allows existing customers on 4G to access the 5G network. As part of its introductory offer, the 5G pass was offered for free for the first 30 days.
Subscribers who don’t need more data could just continue renewing the pass to enjoy 5G with their existing postpaid plans. The eligible plans for the 5G access fee include Maxis Postpaid 68, 98, 108, 128, 158, 188, Maxis Family Plan, Maxis Additional Member 48, Hotlink Postpaid 30, 40 and 60.
So essentially to enjoy 5G, you can either upgrade to the new Maxis 5G plans which offer more data or activate the 5G access pass on your current 4G plan. If you have supplementary lines on your current plan, you’ll need to activate the 5G access pass for each line.
For Hotlink prepaid, the pass doesn’t auto-renew. You can either purchase a monthly data pass with 5G enabled or simply activate the 5G pass to enjoy 5G on your existing pass.
Maxis 5G access pass remains free for postpaid and prepaid
Last month, Maxis upgraded its new 5G postpaid plans with up to 1TB of bonus 5G data. At the time, we also noted that the 5G access pass was still offered for free to existing customers and there’s no RM10 monthly fee required. This also includes customers who had previously redeemed the free 5G trial offer.
The free 5G access pass was also mentioned in their FAQ. We have reached out to Maxis on the 5G access charge and they have responded to us with the following statement:
We have always waived our promotional 5G access fee, and this is now free. Our new 5G prepaid and postpaid plans offer more data and better value across the board with 5G enabled automatically for everyone to enjoy.
Maxis representative
[ UPDATE 14/1/2024 17:00 ] Maxis bills for September to December 2023 showing 5G Pass waiver.
With the recent upgrade, the cheapest all-new 5G postpaid plan offers more data than the previous most expensive 4G postpaid plan. As a comparison, the new Maxis Postpaid 79 plan at RM79/month offers 160GB of data (80GB + 80GB 5G bonus data) while the previous Maxis Postpaid 188 (RM188) plan only came with 120GB of data after the last upgrade.
However, take note that you’ll need at least Maxis Postpaid 109 to add supplementary lines. A higher-tier postpaid plan is required if you need to add more lines under one account.
How to activate free 5G access pass on Maxis and Hotlink?
Here are the steps to activate 5G for free on your Maxis/Hotlink postpaid line:
- Launch the Maxis (Apple App Store, Google Play Store, Huawei AppGallery) or Hotlink (Apple App Store, Google Play Store, Huawei AppGallery) app, and log in to your Postpaid account
- Tap on the “Get 5G” icon on the home screen
- Scroll down to “Enjoy free 5G access pass with your existing Postpaid plan”. Click on “Try Now”
- Follow the instructions to activate the pass
If you’re on Hotlink Prepaid, here’s how to activate your 5G access pass:
- Hotlink (Apple App Store, Google Play Store, Huawei AppGallery) app, and log in to your prepaid account
- Click on “others” and click on 5G Access
- Click on Buy Now
- You will receive a message once the pass is activated
Besides having a plan with 5G access, you must also own a 5G-enabled device and reside within a 5G coverage area. According to Fahmi, DNB has accomplished 80.2% 5G population coverage as of 31st December 2023.
For more information, you can visit the Maxis 5G page to learn more.
