Last week, we’ve taken a look at Yes 4G Network coverage areas in the Peninsular which covers most of the west coast. During our initial visit to their coverage maps, the coverage info wasn’t clear as there was a mix of dark and light shades of grey. It was also discovered that major state capitals on the east coast were not covered despite having grey shades blanketing the city.

Just recently, @yes4g had mentioned on twitter that the maps have been revised with cyan colour indicating current coverage available with grey as upcoming coverage plots.

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	Players on the Field, Technologies, WiMAX, Yes
	4g, 4g wimax, melaka, melaka wimax, WiMAX, wimax coverage, Yes, yes 4g, yes 4g coverage, yes coverage, yes malaysia, yes ytl, ytl comms, YTL WiMAX, ytl wimax coverage, YTL yes

As we all know, Yes had a shaky start during launch. While rectification works are underway, Yes is giving out 10GB of free data for customers who sign-up for Yes before December 19.

The free usage offer is only applicable for data so calls and SMS made will still be chargeable at RM0.09/SMS or a minute of call.

In addition, Yes has extended the activation deadline for those who have pre-registered for a Yes ID and a 018 number to December 12.

Despite having issues in the beginning, such positive gesture is welcomed and it is the right step forward in handling its challenges faced. We can see that Yes is genuine about delivering Internet for all.

Assuming that Yes now have 15,000 subscribers, and that the data charge is set at the maximum rebate price of RM0.02 (30% rebate), this free data exercise will cost Yes a whopping RM3.15 million (RM21/GB X 10 X 15,000).

We’ve recently managed to perform some tests on the Yes 4G network and the results does look very promising. Check out our first impressions and recent KL Test drive post for more information on the performance of the Yes network.

We’re hoping Yes will be able to sort out these issues as soon as possible and kudos to YTL Comms for this free usage move.

Eligibility details below:

For all Yes customers who sign-up before Dec 19 2010:

We offer you complimentary data services, up to 10GB per Yes ID on our network, from the launch day until Dec 19 2010. Data billing will begin on Dec 20 2010. However, charges still apply for our Yes 018 telephony services (voice and SMS).

For all pre-registered customers:

We will also extend the activation deadline until Dec 12 2010. Those activated Yes IDs will be entitled to enjoy complimentary data services until Dec 19 2010 as well.

Full details here.

[ SOURCE ]

	Players on the Field, WiMAX, Yes
	4g, 4g wimax, WiMAX, Yes, yes 4g, yes 4g plans, yes 4g problems, yes malaysia, yes problems, yes ytl, ytl comms, YTL WiMAX, YTL yes

Earlier, we took with the Yes Go USB dongle for a spin and we’ll be the first to admit that we were quite impressed with what the Yes network has to offer. In our stationary tests, we managed 5Mbps downloads and 2Mbps uploads with only two bar reception with the test done on the 17th floor. We know that the network is still new and there’s still very little load on it but even by this measure the speeds that we’re getting are rather impressive for a wireless network.

This was stationary tests but since Yes touts its 4G network as mobile we wanted to know how mobile is mobile. Yes’ closest competitor — P1 — has been in the market for the good part of two years with a claimed population coverage of around 40% and even with a good head start, P1 still can’t claim its network as a mobile network.

How does Yes fare in comparison? First up, Yes already has a lead in terms of coverage with a claimed 65% of the population covered. Next, Yes offers an all-4G mobile phone and a 4G MiFi, two devices P1 doesn’t have in its product arsenal at the moment. Based on this, it seems to us that Yes has their sights set on taking a few chunks of the mobile market from the 3G boys. And so, that will be the bar that we will measure Yes with.

We’re expecting the Yes 4G mobile network to deliver strong and consistent performance in places where 3G would as well as while traveling in between these locations — just like 3G. We will be looking for seamless connectivity and we will also be looking to answer some of the questions that you’ve asked in our comments section. How does the Yes Go and the Yes 4G network handle hand-overs between sites? Does it disconnect when switching base-stations?

Find out the answer to this and more in our road test of the Yes 4G network within Klang Valley.

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	Players on the Field, Product review, Technologies, WiMAX, Yes
	4g, 4g wimax, WiMAX, Yes, yes 4g, yes 4g performance, yes 4g plans, yes 4g review, yes 4g roadtest, yes 4g speedtest, yes 4g usb modem, yes go, yes launch, yes malaysia, yes usb modem, yes ytl, ytl comms, YTL WiMAX, YTL yes

Yes has taken down its site for an unannounced maintenance. No details or reasons were given but they promise that it will deliver a better experience.

We hope that yes is doing the necessary fixes on its erratic portal especially when it comes to YesID activation. Many had complained until today of not being to access their accounts especially those who pre-registered earlier. We will monitor their site tomorrow and see if our YesID works.

	Players on the Field, Technologies, WiMAX, Yes
	4g, 4g wimax, WiMAX, Yes, yes 4g, yes 4g customer service, yes 4g problems, yes cs, yes customer service, yes id problem, yes malaysia, yes ytl, ytl comms, YTL WiMAX, YTL yes

In the wake of the Yes search engine marketing farce, the WiMAX operator’s media agency, Carat has stepped up and taken full responsibility clarifying in an official statement that an error when utilsing a feature called Dynamic Keyword Insertion was the root cause and that the agency had made an “oversight”

In the unfortunate online advertising campaign, competitors’ names were advertised in the headline of a search result but the links led back to the Yes 4G website.

Carat Media Services, the media agency responsible for all of YTL Communications’ media buy, claimed that it rectified the error within five minutes but as many have already seen, it was five minutes too long with tremendous damage already being done to the Yes brand.

Carat today, MD Roy Tan stated in an official stated:

We regret that due to an error made by us the paid search campaign has caused confusion among users of search engines. We would like to extend our apologies over this incident to them, our Client and those affected and explain what transpired.

This error was wholly unintentional and should in no way be taken as a reflection of the YES Brand or YTL Communications. At no time did YTL Communications require or instruct us to carry out the activities. It was done purely by us and in this regard YTL Communications is innocent of such an action.

What remains unclear is, how was the oversight made as veteran agencies like Carat would have processes in place to ensure that such an error doesn’t happen. It is unfortunate for a new brand like Yes to be caught up in this as it is adding unnecessary stress to an already botched up launch.

[source]
Note to source: Appreciate if you’re going to use our picture, to please credit us. Thanks!

	Players on the Field, Yes
	4g, 4g wimax, Advertising, Carat, Carat media, deception, google, online advertisement, Search Engine Marketing, WiMAX, Yes, Yes, yes 4g, yes 4g problems, yes advertising, yes malaysia, yes ytl, ytl comms, YTL WiMAX, YTL yes

Things are starting to turn around for Yes. After a poor start off the blocks in this ridiculously competitive telco race, the new contender is looking like it might be able to keep up with the pace.

After receiving an email confirmation that our pre-registered account has been activated, we were finally able to log onto the Yes network with our Yes ID. And with that we immediately started on some performance tests of the Yes network and the Yes Go 4G dongle.

So here it is our first impression of Yes 4G network while using the Yes Go dongle.

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	Players on the Field, Product review, Technologies, WiMAX, Yes
	4g, 4g wimax, WiMAX, Yes, yes 4g, yes 4g performance, yes 4g plans, yes 4g review, yes 4g speedtest, yes 4g usb modem, yes go, yes launch, yes malaysia, yes usb modem, yes ytl, ytl comms, YTL WiMAX, YTL yes

UPDATE: Yes4G confirms account expires after 90 days via twitter.

One of the selling point of Yes is that you only pay for what you use and your yes credit never expires. Their claim of only paying for what you use isn’t really what consumers would expect as there’s a minimum RM30/month commitment discovered during sign up. As a result, casual users with usage below RM30 monthly will end up paying more than what is needed. In short, you’ll need RM1 a day to stay active on yes or a minimum of RM365 top up for a full year.

On yes credit, we were told that failing to top up RM30 a month will result suspension however your credits will be frozen until the next top up is made. This morning, in response to our previous tweet on suspension, @yes4G had replied that you’ll have 90 days for the account to remain valid where you’re able to receive calls and SMS.

So what happens after 90 days? They didn’t reply but from what we can tell is that you’ll probably lose your credit along with your yes ID after 90 days of not topping up. Isn’t that already expiry of credits? They have confirmed via twitter that your yes account will expire after 90 days of inactivity. In short, yes is no different from any other prepaid players in town and they do practise the usual “active” period and the final “suspension” period before you lose your entire prepaid account.

So isn’t this misleading? Few days back we posted an article about deceptive advertising by an Singapore owned telco in Australia. Now we have this together with yes deceptive Google Adsense advertising.

[ PICTURE CREDIT ]

	Players on the Field, Technologies, WiMAX, Yes
	4g, 4g wimax, WiMAX, Yes, yes 4g, yes 4g plans, yes credit, yes credit expiry, yes launch, yes malaysia, yes price plan, yes ytl, ytl comms, YTL WiMAX, YTL yes

UPDATE: Yes reveals yescare hotline number 03-83130000. 8AM-10PM Mon-Fri and 9AM-5PM Sat-Sun and PH.

Problematic Yes 4G has just emailed to all of its subscribers with the title “yes ID registration support”. In the email, yes acknowledges that some subscribers are not able to login with their pre-registered ID to complete the registration steps. As a solution, they recommend the 2 options – To write an email to yescare[at]yes.my or to visit their flagship store at Lot 10 or Yes Store at KL Sentral.

The first option of emailing Yes is definitely out and many have yet to receive reply for their email complaints sent earlier. The 2nd option of asking affected customers to go all the way to the flagship centre is too troublesome and there is no guarantee if they can solve the problem as well. You don’t expect customers staying far away to drive all the way to Lot 10, do you?

We felt that Yes is not taking the right steps to resolve their issues affecting their customers. As mentioned before, yes should provide a hotline number for immediate customer interaction of complaints. Based on the email they sent, it sound as if the Yes ID issue is a minor one so why not let your customers talk to your customer service staff?

Since it is merely 2 days from launch, yes doesn’t really have a massive subscriber base yet, for now. The issue on the yes ID is clearly shown above as being not found. Why can’t they check through if all yes ID has been activated and currently in use by its small subscriber base? They should be able to check if there’s any customer who hasn’t deducted their credit which probably mean there’s problem connecting. Having said that, with a much smaller customer base, yes customer service should be able to give ALL yes subscribers a simple courtesy call to find out if they are getting good yes experience. We hope yes will actually work on having a customer hotline number ready in the next few days. Even TuneTalk despite being low cost even has a phone number for you to speak to a real person. Telcos can cut corners but they can’t cut off customer service necessities.

So far the only channel to talk to immediately is via twitter with their @yes4g and @yescare accounts. However not everybody is on twitter. We are all for this new approach to CS that yes is embarking on but the transition needs to be gradual, not cold turkey like this. There’s no online web chat to get answers fast and all the customer support channels are solely based on web. If you got no connectivity, you don’t get support.

So yes, what are you going to do about it? Read about previous posts on Yes 4G here.

Email from yes after the jump.

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	Players on the Field, Technologies, WiMAX, Yes
	4g, 4g wimax, WiMAX, Yes, yes 4g, yes 4g customer service, yes 4g problems, yes cs, yes customer service, yes id problem, yes malaysia, yes ytl, ytl comms, YTL WiMAX, YTL yes

While Yes 4G is busy firefighting at their own backyard, they still managed to run a series of “deceptive” ads which there’s more than meets the eye.

If you search for a competing broadband provider, you’ll see a related ad which carries the title of what you’re looking for. However a closer look reveals that the link is directed instead to Yes 4G’s website at http://www.yes.my. Obviously this is something unethical and we feel was done without class. Why resort to such deceptive tactics in the first place?

Whoever is running yes’s adwords campaign should be stopped immediately. This is no accident and was done with bad taste. One word of advice, fix your website first before spending money on advertising. All that click-thru costs are flowing down the drain as we speak.

[ VIA ]

	Industry in General, Players on the Field, Yes
	4g, 4g wimax, Advertising, deception, WiMAX, Yes, yes 4g, yes advertising, yes malaysia, yes ytl, ytl comms, YTL WiMAX, YTL yes

Despite the numerous delays, we were actually looking forward to the launch of Yes which is the last WiMAX operator to launch commercially. We pre-registered the moment the Yes brand was revealed and gotten ourselves a Yes Go dongle on launch night. We bought into the hype and was one of the many Malaysians out there looking forward to a positive change…

But as far as we’ve seen and experience — and we are sure that many will agree — Yes has faltered in virtually every aspect. Yes claimed that it wanted to delive innovation, performance and value, and just within its first day of launch, yes is struggling to meet even the most basic of customer needs.

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	Players on the Field, Technologies, WiMAX, Yes
	4g, 4g wimax, WiMAX, Yes, yes 4g, yes 4g problems, yes 4g website down, yes id problem, yes malaysia, yes website down, yes ytl, ytl comms, YTL WiMAX, YTL yes