TM announced today that come 1 October 2010 TM will begin charging for UniFi installations.

From 1 October onwards TM will charge RM200 per installation for any UniFi package however the equiptment that comes with the UniFi package — the fiber modem, wireless router, IPTV set-top box, DECT cordless phone and additional outdoor terminals — will still be provided for free.

TM’s executive VP for consumer products, Imri Mokthar said in the announcement that although there will be an installation charge, those who has registered for UniFi before the changeover date will not have to pay for installation.

We think RM200 is a fair charge considering the amount of work required at the various equipment that you get for free. The fibre-optic cable that is laid in your house alone will cost more than RM200. So it’s a decent charge. What’s more the RM200 installation charge will be spread across five months at RM40/month, so you don’t actually feel the pinch right away and that’s ok too.

What we don’t like is how TM makes is sound that you’re actually getting an additional RM200 off if you sign-up for UniFi from now until 30 September. Technically you’re not, TM’s just going to start charging for installation after 30 September.

It’s really confusing for customers and very underhanded for TM. Shame on you TM for using such a tactic.

If you’re not up for paying the RM200, then sign-up ASAP. Though what is not being mentioned is what happens if an interested customer wants to sign-up for UniFi but stays in an area that is not yet covered.

Does the customer get to sign-up and have the RM200 installation charge waived when the UniFi service eventually becomes available in their area or will they have to wait for the service to be available and then sign-up?

On a side-note, there’s currently 9,000 UniFi subscribers and another 12,000 who have already signed-up waiting for the service to be installed. In July 2010, there was about 3,200 UniFi subscribers. No bad in a span of just a month.

You can read the full TM announcement after the jump.

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	Players on the Field, TM, UniFi
	FTTH, FTTH Malaysia, HSBB, HSBB Malaysia, TM, TM to charge for UniFi installation, Unifi, UniFi installation charge, Unifi Pricing

TM UniFi Price Plans are out after a long wait since the launch yesterday evening. Let’s go straight to the details.

UniFi Home Users

3 Packages are offered: VIP5, VIP10 and VIP20 designated by its Broadband speeds

VIP5

• 5Mbps Download/Upload
• 60GB Download Quota
• RM149/month

VIP10

• 10Mbps Download/Upload
• 90GB Download Quota
• RM199/month

VIP20

• 20Mbps Download/Upload
• 120GB Download Quota
• RM249/month

All UniFi Home (Residential) Packages comes with:

• Dynamic IP
• FREE Calls to all TM Fixed Lines (similar to TM Streamyx Combo)
• Flat Rate of 10sen/min to all mobile numbers
• FREE DECT Cordless phone, Premise Gateway (WiFi), IPTV Set Top Box (STB)

UniFi Business Users

3 Packages for commercial use are: BIZ5, BIZ10 and BIZ20

BIZ5

• 5Mbps Download/Upload
• Unlimited Download Quota
• Dynamic IP
  
• RM199/month

BIZ10

• 10Mbps Download/Upload
• Unlimited Download Quota
• Fixed IP
  
• RM599/month

BIZ20

• 20Mbps Download/Upload
• Unlimited Download Quota
• Fixed IP
• RM899/month

All UniFi Business Packages comes with:

• Flat Rate of 5sen/min to all TM Fixed Lines
• Flat Rate of 15sen/min to all mobile numbers
• FREE DECT Cordless phone, Premise Gateway (WiFi)
• 10GB Web Hosting with Domain Name

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	Players on the Field, TM
	HSBB Price Plan, Malaysia FTTH, Malaysia UniFi, TM Fibre to the home, TM High Speed Broadband, TM HSBB, TM HSBB Package, TM Unifi, TM Unifi Package, Unifi Pricing

UPDATE: Official Price Plans are out.

TM has finally launched its new High Speed Broadband brand called UniFi at Merdeka Square this evening. UniFi is a convergence of 3 services namely broadband, video content (IPTV) and telephony.

IPTV is something exciting to look forward to as it is seen as a serious 2nd Pay TV operator. Just recently it had announced agreement with 20 content providers and this is expected to grow provided TM is aggressive in getting more channels. At time of launch, there will be 22 channels, video on demand and other interactive services.

3 packages are available with speeds of 5Mbps, 10Mbps and 20Mbps. This positions UniFi right above Streamyx that tops at 4Mbps. For its IPTV Content, a dedicated 8Mbps will be allocated for this purpose in addition to the broadband package. We believe this would allow IPTV content to stream on an exclusive bandwidth without interfering with broadband usage.

Pricing is not available at the moment but monthly subscription is rumoured to start from RM150 to RM300. An official price plan is expected to be released tomorrow. Official Price starts from RM149, details here.

Availability is still limited to 4 exchange areas namely Shah Alam, Taman Tun Dr. Ismail (TTDI), Bangsar and Subang Jaya. According to TM, UniFi is now available to 311,000 premises in those 4 areas. It is expected that UniFi will expand to over 48 exchange areas by end 2010 which allows 750,000 premises potentially connected to UniFi.

More details tomorrow.

Related Links
TM launches high speed broadband
TM Launches UniFi High Speed Broadband
TM HSBB Now known as HSBB

	Players on the Field, TM
	HSBB Price Plan, Malaysia FTTH, Malaysia UniFi, TM Fibre to the home, TM High Speed Broadband, TM HSBB, TM IPTV, Unifi Area, Unifi Pricing