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Home » Players on the Field » P1 (Page 2)
P1 confuses itself with its own device
Posted:
July 8, 2011
By: ccsoya
16 comments
In a press release accompanying the recently launched P1 One Plan, P1 disclosed that the “new” plan was introduced as a response to findings revealed in a consumer study conducted by Frost & Sullivan on Malaysian broadband behavior. It was unclear in the release if the study was commissioned by P1.
The study indicated that only 7% of on-the-go modem users correctly utilize the device for on-the-go broadband while as many as 45 percent of subscribers use their on-the-go modems exclusively at home. The remaining 48% of on-the-go modem users are split using their modems for both home and on-the-go.
Essentially, P1 is saying that a large number of wireless broadband users were using the wrong modem for the wrong purpose…
Here’s a quote from P1 CEO, Michael Lai taken from the press release:
Most people are not aware that an on-the-go modem is not optimised for indoor usage. “Being a much smaller hence more convenient device to carry around, an on-the-go modem is best suited for outdoors. As wireless broadband signal travels through air, it inherently becomes weaker as it penetrates walls and may not be optimally received by the smaller antenna of a pocket-size.
The quote continues:
“By using the devices according to their functions, consumers will have better 4G broadband experience.
Based on this, the One Plan includes in its package two modems. One, an “outdoor” on-the-go modem and the other an “indoor” fixed modem. The logic behind this is that by offering two modems, one for outdoor and the other designed for indoor use, users can use the right modem for the right condition and “by using the devices according to their functions, consumers will have better 4G broadband experience” claimed Michael Lai.
P1 4G refreshes portable, fixed & combo broadband plans
Posted:
July 8, 2011
By: soyacincau
9 comments
P1 has recently given its entire broadband line up a new refresh for both portable and broadband plans. Their biggest highlight is their new “ONE PLAN” which claims to offer the best of outdoor and indoor. What it offers is a combination of desktop modem and portable WiGGY modems at a combo price. Despite the “One Plan” naming, there are actually 3 plans available which are tied to its 3 Home/Office broadband plans.
If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. The One Plan is actually a rename of their Super Broadband package which was launched last October.
Head after the jump for more details and comparison of their old and current offerings.
P1: “we don’t sell MiFi”
Posted:
April 25, 2011
By: soyacincau
7 comments
With the cheapest cost-per-GB MiFi plans in the country there’s actually a strong case for P1 to promote its MF230 MiFi device. The generous monthly data allowance combined with seamless wireless connectivity for up to five devices makes it easy for users with multiple devices to get connected when out and about with a MiFi and a P1 plan.
P1’s MF230 MiFi was initially launched exclusively with Harvey Norman back in December 2010. To purchase the MF230 you will need to buy an iPad with Harvey Norman as well. There is no option that allowed you to purchase the MF230 as a standalone device.
We thought that this exclusivity period was only for a couple of months, so we got in touch with P1 Customer Service via its web-chat service on its website to get the latest information about the MF230 and whether it is available a standalone purchase item now.
The above screen capture was the answer that we got from a P1 customer service rep. Close to four months after the Harvey Norman deal, you still can’t buy the MF230 from P1 directly. This is confusing because there is a prominent mention of the MF230 MiFi on P1′s website but as we’ve discovered, the device is not sold by P1. The only way to get the MF230 is through Harvey Norman and even then, you’ll need to buy an iPad from them first.
With the market now inundated with tablets from numerous manufacturers MiFi devices are gaining popularity. We have a market primed for a high adoption of this particular breed of gadget. And with the impending iPad 2 mania hitting the nation this coming Friday, it’d be smart for P1 to start selling its MF230 through multiple channel rather than rely on one single channel partner (in this case, it’s Harvey Norman). Also, there should be an option to purchase the MiFi standalone and not have it tied-up to an expensive purchase-with-purchase program.
On top of this P1 CEO Michael Lai openly proclaimed via his Twitter account that its MF230 “works wonderfully well while others fail”. If this is indeed the case, then it would seem that P1 have a strong product in its hands. So why the bashful market approach?
We’re not sure why P1 is not selling the MF230 using their own channels. All we know is that, if the CEO thinks very highly of the device, the should make it widely available and easily purchased.
P1 4G Fast and Furious Broadband Promo
Posted:
April 23, 2011
By: soyacincau
7 comments
Recently you probably have seen P1 4G doing tie in ads with the latest installment of Fast and Furious movie. The movie sponsorship, if it considered as one seems to portray P1 as a speed demon broadband in conjunction with its Stronger, Wider and Faster motto. From the surface, it looks as if P1 is hard selling the movie more than its own broadband service which is actually having some noteworthy offers.
For the past several months, P1 has been doing its 50% off promo on its broadband service for 2 months on both fixed home broadband and portable USB broadband plans. Now they have thrown in more discounts for new subscriptions.
By the numbers: P1 4G vs Yes 4G
Posted:
April 21, 2011
By: soyacincau
27 comments
A couple of weeks back, P1 together with ZTE organised a demonstration to showcase the capabilities of LTE in Malaysia. This strikes us as rather odd because since its inception P1 has been a strong proponent of WiMAX.
Its CEO, Michael Lai, has often been quoted as saying that P1 “will live and die with WiMAX” and that LTE stands for “late to evolve” rather than long-term evolution aggressively campaigning that WiMAX is the superior technology.
Why the sudden change then? Why condemn a technology and then flip 180 to adopt it? Could it be that P1 is having difficulties in getting its WiMAX network to work the way that they want it? Or are they looking for an edge to get a one up over its closest rival, Yes 4G? Or is it simply a case of the CEO making a bold statement without the benefit of foresight?
Whatever the reason may be, the message is clear, P1′s open demonstration of LTE marks a significant shift in the operator’s strategy, whatever that strategy may be.
Speaking of strategies, while the Government’s move to offer WiMAX in Malaysia has generally been seen as a bold step forward, most of the operators in which it has entrusted with the WiMAX spectrum have faltered. Out of the original four operators that were offered a WiMAX spectrum by the government, only two remain — P1 and Yes.
Between these two operators, which one is leading the 4G race? We attempt to answer this question by looking at the numbers.
How did this happen?: Two different people saying exactly the same thing
Update: We downloaded the case study again to see if Green Packet rectified the error and they did. At the same time, we got a comment from a person claiming to be the Marketing Director of Green Packet, Carol Koh explaining how the major mix up happened. We can verify on the authenticity of the person behind the comment but check revealed that there is indeed a Carol Koh in Green Packet and she is the Marketing Director of the company. Below is the comment in verbatim:
Hi, I’m the Marketing Director of Greenpacket Solutions. We do take these things seriously, so thank you for pointing out this human error on the design & layout stage, which would otherwise undermine the case study. The pain and anxiety the team is feeling right now is punishment enough. The team had been forgiven after they promised to never make the same mistake again.
Miss Koh claims that the version of the case study in which we spotted the grave error was a “design & layout stage” version. If that was indeed the case, it shouldn’t be made available for download in the first place. In fact the, “design & layout stage” version has been on Green Packet’s website for public download since January 31, 2011.
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A case study is a tremendously important piece of work. It is a highly detailed document providing in-depth investigation findings on a subject. Organisations use it to establish credibility, to showcase how effective a product has been in a certain application. Generally, it is a document that tells its readers “hey so and so is good and we’ve got the findings to back it up”.
In P1′s and Green Packet’s case, a case study is a demonstration of how they can’t even be bothered to read their own material.
P1 and it’s parent company recently released a case study entitled “P1 4G staying one step ahead” and it talks about how P1 is a “successful” 4G operator and how Green Packet has been instrumental in making P1 a success.
Although we don’t agree with the contents of the case study, both P1 and Green Packet have their justifications, but that’s not the interesting part. If you go through the document available for download here, you will notice that there is a glaring and terribly embarrassing mistake.
There are two quote boxes in the article highlighting two different high level persons in the P1 organization, one the CEO, Micheal Lai and the other Ti Lian Seng, the VP of Technology. The funny thing is both are saying exactly the same thing.
How did this happen? We don’t know but by our reckoning it is conceivable that neither Mr. Lai and Mr. Ti had even read their respective quotes before the call was made to publish the case study, and to us that tells you so much more about both company than any case study ever can.
P1 offers purchase of additional usage quota
Posted:
February 26, 2011
By: soyacincau
5 comments
Most if not all broadband plans especially wireless comes with a fixed amount of monthly usage quota. Upon reaching the limit, your speeds are throttled down to snail pace and there’s nothing much you can do until the next month’s cycle.
Now P1 has introduced an option for you to purchase additional usage quota upon reaching your limit at RM10 for 2GB. That’s RM5/GB for additional use. The good thing is that you don’t need to pay upfront and additional quota can be activated immediately on SelfCare and the extra add-on is then billed to your following month’s statement. It also comes with 30 days validity so no worries if you can’t finish it before your next billing cycle. To purchase, just log in to self care and you may buy immediately.
P1 isn’t the first to offer such add-on quota option. Celcom 3G Broadband too has something similar called Volume Purchase for power users that need more data than what they originally subscribed. As comparison, Celcom charges RM12.88 for 1GB and RM38.88 for 5GB.
For more information on P1 add-on usage quota, head to P1′s postpaid broadband page and click on the Increase your Quota section.
P1 Voice CNY Promo with IDD rates from 5sen/min
Posted:
February 1, 2011
By: soyacincau
No comments
This Chinese New Year, P1 is offering 2 special promotion on P1 Voice. All P1 Voice subscribers can make IDD calls as low as 5 sen per minute to both fixed and mobile numbers for China, Hong Kong, Singapore and USA. Australia and Taiwan numbers are also on offer at 8 sen per minute for fixed line. This special discounted IDD rate is applicable only from 2nd till 17th of February 2011.
For P1 subscribers who have yet to sign up for P1 Voice, they are giving a gradual discount on local calls for 2nd – 4th month if you signed up for their P30 and P50 plans from now until end of February 2011. How it works is that it gives you 30% off for the 2nd month, 40% off for the 3rd month and 50% off for the 4th month of your subscription.
P30 and P50 voice plans are free from monthly rental but there’s a minimum monthly commitment of RM30 and RM50 respectively. The main difference is that P30 domestic call rates are charged at 15 sen/minute while P50 is charged at 12 sen/minute. All IDD calls are charged at 15 seconds block while domestic calls within Malaysia are charged at 30 seconds block. Since P1 Voice uses your typical home phone, this is only applicable for P1 home or office modem that comes with a phone port such as DV-230 and DX-230.
For more information, visit P1 Voice page.
P1 revises fixed broadband packages with speed upgrades
Posted:
January 8, 2011
By: soyacincau
2 comments
P1 has started the new year with a revamp of its fixed broadband packages for home and business users. Previously they had 3 home and 2 business plans with speed offerings between 400kbps to 2.4Mbps but now they have bumped their highest Pro plan with 4.8Mbps download speed.
To make it simple, P1 no longer offer separate plans for business or home users so there’s only 3 plans to choose from right now – Lite with 400kbps, Plus with 1.2Mbps and Pro with 4.8Mbps. This also means that they have stopped offering unlimited plans which was previously exclusively for business users.
The Lite and Plus plan remains unchanged as it maintains the same speed, quota and monthly subscription. However with the new rates, existing Plus users are clearly enticed to get 4X the download speed with 10GB additional quota for a mere RM40. That’s only RM4/GB for additional quota for those who exceed their typical 20GB quota for Home Plus plan.
Earlier on, P1′s Pro plan was originally priced at RM199/month for 2.4Mbps download speeds at 40GB quota a month. Probably knowing that this is too much for a wireless broadband service, they later reduced the subscription fee to RM139/month while reducing the quota to 30GB a month.
With the latest revision, Pro users get to enjoy much higher download speeds but like any other wireless services, it all depends on the network congestion of your area. We hope that P1 is ready to deliver 4.8Mbps download speeds to avoid situation of over-promising like its P1 W1GGY some time ago.
The offer is also made sweeter as P1 is giving all plans additional 50% off for the 2nd and 3rd month subscription, which is basically 1 month worth of savings. For more information, head to P1′s broadband promo page.
P1 4G gets hilarious Hitler meme treatment
Posted:
December 30, 2010
By: ccsoya
2 comments
In the meme world, when Hitler gets word of the latest happenings, hilarity often ensues. One of the latest subjects of Hitler’s wrath is local WiMAX operator P1 4G and it got us laughing.
For the uninitiated “The Hitler Meme” or “Hitler finds out” is a video meme involving the addition of new subititles to the dramatic scene of Hitler’s final meltdown from the German movie Downfall directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel. The subtitles are often anachronistically altered with humerous English subtitles surrounding current events.
It appears that the source of this viral video could very well be from P1 themselves and while some might not agree with the message in the video, we think many will agree that it is rather funny.
Head on over to after the jump for the funny vid. Also included, bonus video on the origin of the Hitler meme. Enjoy!