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.

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	P1, P1, Players on the Field, Technologies, WiMAX
	Fast and Furious, Fast Five, P1, P1 4G, P1 Broadband, P1 w1max, P1 WiMAX, P14G, promo

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.

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	P1, P1, Players on the Field, Yes
	Comparison, P1, P1 4G, P14G, WiMAX, Yes, yes 4g

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.

===

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, Players on the Field
	case study, Green Packet, Micheal Lai, P1, P1 4G, WiMAX

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, Players on the Field
	Broadband, P1, P1 4G, P1 Broadband, top up, Usage Quota

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, Players on the Field, Promotions
	Chinese New year, CNY, Discount, IDD, IDD Calls, P1, P1 4G, P1 Promo, P1 Voice

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, Players on the Field
	4g, 4g wimax, P1, P1 4G, P1 Broadband, P1 Broadband Plans, P1 Plans, P1 w1max, P1 WiMAX, WiMAX

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!

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	P1, P1, Players on the Field, Technologies, WiMAX
	Hitler meme, P1, P1 4G, P1 Super Broadband, P1 Super Broadband kids, Super Broadband, WiMAX

Yesterday P1 launched the MF230 its very own MiFi device making it the sixth operator to offer portable hotspot in Malaysia, despite being the first to indicate that it will be launching a MiFi.

So now that we have a selection of MiFi from virtually all of the mobile operators in Malaysia, 3G and 4G, the inevitable question in consumers’ minds would be, which operator provides the best offering? Well we’ve taken out all the guesswork for you and compare all the MiFi plans available in the market based on device pricing and subscription costs over 12 and 24 months. Going a step further, we’ve also taken consideration of each operators respective bundled rebates, discounts and upfront costs.

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	Celcom, DiGi, Maxis, Mobile Devices, P1, P1, Players on the Field, U Mobile, Yes
	3G MiFi, 4g, 4G MiFi, 4g wimax, Celcom, Celcom Mifi, DiGi, DiGi MiFi, Huawei MiFi, Maxis, Maxis MiFi, mifi, P1, P1 4G, P1 MiFi, U Mobile

Update (1800hrs 23122010): P1 has updated the information on their website to include the newly launched MF230 MiFi device. Find out more after the jump.

A while ago, P1′s CEO, Micheal Lai teased everyone with the prospect of P1 coming out with a 4G MiFi. This was two months ago and he claims that the P1 MiFi “works wonderfully well while others fail“.

We like MiFis and it’s nice to know that there will soon be another type to choose from. Though it’s rather ironic that P1 was amongst one of the first (if not the first) operator to have hinted that they were going to market a MiFi device but are now the last of come into the market with one but as the saying goes, better late than never.

So here it is, the MF230 MiFi device from P1 and currently you can only get it from Harvey Norman.

Reliable sources reveal that in terms of pricing, the device itself cost RM250 but you’ll have to purchase it with a plan. The plan that comes with the 10GB data usage a month with download speeds up to 1.5Mbps at RM89/month. As an introductory offer, P1 is giving first month subscription free and you only pay RM44/month for the 2nd and 3rd month. Essentially the plan is the same as the one offered with the P1 W1GGY.

In terms of device performance, you can connect five devices simultaneously to the the MF230 and Green Packet claims that the battery lasts up to four hours “active-usage“. In terms of range, the FAQ states that you get 20 meter connectivity range indoor and 35 meters outdoors.

The P1 MF230 is produced by its parent company Green Packet, you can check out the specifications here. Unlike P1 devices previously the MF230 is branded Green Packet rather than P1 which can confuse some customer we think.

No details available on P1′s website yet but we’ll keep you posted if there’s any. P1′s website is updated with info on the MF230 and we’ve poured through the FAQ to understand the plan, head on over to after the jump to see what we’ve discovered.

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	P1, Players on the Field, Technologies, WiMAX
	4G MiFi, 4g wimax, MF 230, michael lai, mifi, P1, P1 4G, P1 MiFi, P1 WiMAX, Pocket WiFi, WiMAX, WiMAX Router, WiMAX WiFi Router

P1 has done a revamp on its WiGGY packages featuring the new UH Shuttle modem. Last week the UH Shuttle modem was offered for its Super Broadband package but now it is also offered on its own.

NEW

In the new revamp, the UH Shuttle Modem is bundled together with the RM89 and RM129 subscription plans while the lower RM59 plan gets the old WiGGY. To sweeten the deal, they are also giving 50% off for 2 months subscriptions which is only valid for RM89 and RM129 subscription.

OLD

Compared to the old WiGGY Plans, the new offering has less data quota than before while the speed is pretty much the same. The RM59 plan is 2GB less while higher 2 plans with the new UH Modem are getting 5GB less monthly. If you’re an existing WiGGY customer, it is better to stick to your current plan.

More details of the new WiGGY packages here.

	P1, Players on the Field, Technologies, WiMAX
	4g, 4g wimax, P1, P1 4G, P1 4G Super Broadband, P1 w1max, p1 wiggy, P1 WiMAX, Super Broadband, UH Shuttle, USB WiMAX Modem, W1GGY