YES 4G Wimax
Thanks to the invitation by DanEvo, I was able to be there to witness the first ever 4G launch. It was the YES 4G Wimax by YTL Communications. The launching took place in JW Marriott Hotel in Bukit Bintang. Claimed as the world’s first fully converged 4G mobile Internet service, they offer voice at the industry’s lowest rates of nine sen a minute, per SMS or per 3MB of data through its pay-as-you-go plan.
The launch was officiated by the Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin. The YES service incorporates fully converged data and voice services, speeds of up to five times faster than 3G, new devices and a unified communication tool. So you need to have either a USB dongle with Wimax chipset, or a phone or modem router – Buzz or something like that. After the launch, Muhyiddin spent fabout five minutes on a video call with Malaysian students in London but yet they are unable to stream the video from inside the hall to the lounge area. ***Pssttt** I still think they were doing the video call via a dedicated Internet line back-end. It’s not like Wimax all the way. Together with Muhyddin were YTL Corp executive chairman Tan Sri Yeoh Tiong Lay; Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Utama Dr Rais Yatim; Tun Lim Kheng Yaik; and Datuk Seri Chua Soi Lek.
So said the Tan Sri Dr Francis Yeoh “Every Yes account comes with high-speed Internet access and a mobile phone number, making the convergence of data and voice seamless. Our subscribers will have not only high-speed mobile data access but will also enjoy voice, online chat and SMS services that can be accessed from anywhere in the world, through the Internet.” . Yeah right, but you still need to have the devices to get connected.
YTL Communications’ CEO, Wing K Lee said there is no throttling of data services and there is no wastage as customers are charged only for what they use. There is no contract or lock-in period and there is no expiry for the credits, so it is another compelling reason to switch to Yes. At the same time, Yes also offers up to 30% rebate to power users who consume a high amount of data that reduces the rates to as low as two sen per MB or RM20 per GB.
A Wimax connectivity is required I believed since that Yes is also a SIM-less service that comes with a user ID and telephone number that works across all devices, turning any device connected to the Internet into a phone. Which means, you need to have a device with Wimax chipset to detect the signal before you can sign on. So Samsung and YTL Communications collaborated together to produce the 4G-mobile phone – A similar to the Nokia E75 with no front-facing camera. So how can one make a video call? Have we ever asked the question about video call using their mobile phone? I mean the Yes Buzz?
Yes 4G devices that I mentioned one need to have include Yes Huddle (4G mobile router), Yes Go (4G USB dongle) and Yes Zoom (4G WiFi router). But they do provide to almost every guests that attended the launch with a Yes Go worth RM99. I don’t get it because I don’t have a name card to provide to the reception. What a heck.
Some information about the Yes 4G is that it covers 65% of the population in Peninsular Malaysia and the company aims to increase the coverage to at least 80% by end- 2011. YTL currently has the licence for only Peninsular Malaysia but will extend the service to Sabah and Sarawak at the right time. So meaning we couldn’t use their services in East Malaysia? So what is the reason we want to get Yes for?
The company has spent some RM2.5bil for the Yes 4G infrastructure. Sounds less convincing because the operation got halted due to the massive DDoS that was happening to the web portal. No IPS, no redundancy, no load balancing? Come on, it’s a basic design structure since ISP like YTL Communications in service based industry. Not good. Not good.
After the official launch, we headed over to Lot 10 for their YES Flagship store. When me and Joshua arrived there, we realized that there was a great performer.
They did invite the Taiwan’s Susan Boyle – the bubbly face Lin Yu Chun!!!!! Woot! He performed 2 songs.
That would be the best thing they have done so far when I was there for the launch. Also the food. the drinks.
One the other note, my friend asked me if the YES 4G is good. I told him that I don’t know yet. I need to find out the answer as I have no idea what is their RM2.5bil infrastructure like.
Popularity: 23% [?]