Maxis Communications
 |
|
| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Traded as | MYX: 6012 |
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Founded | 1993 |
| Headquarters | Maxis Tower, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
| Area served | Asia |
| Key people | Sandip Das, (CEO) |
| Revenue | 8.8 billion MYR (2010) |
| Employees | 3,200 (2010) |
| Parent | Usaha Tegas Sdn Bhd |
| Subsidiaries | Aircel |
| Website | maxis.com.my |
Maxis Communications Berhad, DBA Maxis, is a Malaysian mobile network operator headquartered at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was started in the year 1993. It uses the dialing prefixes of "012", "017", "014-2" and "011-12". Their mobile services are provided over the 900 & 1800 MHz GSM band, in the 2100 MHz UMTS band on July 2005 and the first to lanuch 4G LTE in Malaysia in January 2013. Majority of the company's stake is owned by billionaire Ananda Krishnan. The company has total subscribers at 13.95 million[1] as of December 2010. The company primarily operates across Asia-pacific. The company is in preliminary negotiations for selling its Indian unit, Aircel because of alleged regulatory uncertainty and probe against its founder.[2]
Products and services
Maxis provides a variety of mobile communication products and services. They offer prepaid call plans, monthly subscription plans, International Roaming, MMS, WAP (over both GSM and GPRS), Residential Fixed Line services, Broadband Internet plans, and as of early 2005, 3G services to both prepaid and postpaid subscription customers.
For business customers, Maxis offer VSAT services (satellite based communications) and BlackBerry based mobile services besides regular services. Maxis also provides an online Music store for its customers to download multimedia content.
Maxis most popular service is its prepaid brand Hotlink, which currently serves over 8 million customers in Malaysia. They are currently heavily promoting a new IDD 132 service, which offers cheaper calling rates mobile & landlines in selected countries, at a rate of 8 sen (roughly 3 US cents) per minute which is, at certain times for many subscribers, even cheaper than a local call.
Maxis is involved in a price war with its competitors (particularly DiGi) in the prepaid SIM market which was driven by its Hotlink starter pack with prices down to RM6 (about US$2).
Maxis was the first mobile communications company in Malaysia to be authorized to sell the Apple iPhone, later the offered was also given to its competitor DiGi. Although the pricing of the phone is slightly cheaper than DiGi, but the plans for data and services are slightly higher than DiGi (Furthermore, for iPhone plan, no extra charge after monthly quota will be charged even if DiGi's customers exceed the data quota but not for Maxis)
There are several high profile celebrities who have signed on as spokespersons for Maxis, including big names such as Siti Nurhaliza, all the Akademi Fantasia's stars, along with many other local celebrities including yen
Recent corporate history
In 1999, Maxis introduced the popular pre-paid brand "Hotlink", which currently has 10 Million customers.
In 2002, Maxis purchased Timecel, a rival mobile service provider, from TimedotCom Berhad. Prior to the purchase, Maxis offered phone numbers beginning with 012, and TimeCell 017. Now, subscribers can choose between the two.
On April 27, 2007, an offer was made to buy out Maxis and privatise the company in preparation for expansions into the Indonesian and Indian markets. The deal was offered by Ananda Krishnan, who pledged Maxis RM17.46 billion (US$5.1 billion) in exchange for all remaining shares of the company. The offer is to be formally made by Usaha Tegas, a company owned by Krishnan, on May 3, 2007, while the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange suspends trading of the company's shares until May 3.[3][4][5][6]
Under the urging of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, Maxis announce that it will re-list the company in Bursa Malaysia on November 11, 2009. The initial public offering, which constitute 30% of the company and involve its Malaysian operations, will raise at least MYR 11.7 billion.[7]
Maxis Communications is part of Ananda Krishnan's business empire. In 1996, the company launched Malaysia's first three satellites; MEASAT 1, 2 and 3. And the fourth satellite, MEASAT 1R, was damaged during transport to the launch site and is under reconstruction.
Saudi Telecom Company bought 25% of Maxis.
Maxis 3G
Maxis officially launched its 3G services on July 1, 2005 (the 3G datacard service was soft-launched earlier in February 2005). The 3G service is available in selected regions of the country since nationwide coverage does not make economic sense (due to the high CAPEX involved). The main coverage areas include:
- The Klang Valley (including large part of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor) - the initial launch in July 2005
- Penang - Dec 2005
- Johor Bahru - Jan 2006
- Kuantan - Sept 2006
Maxis appears to be adopting a "thick coverage" strategy for 3G. This means 3G service will be rolled out only in areas where data traffic is heavy, or with strategic importance (for example, Putrajaya which is the government's administrative centre). The rest of the country will be served by 2.5G (GPRS; nationwide coverage) which is progressively being upgraded to 2.75G (EDGE or E-GPRS).
The key "shouting points" for Maxis 3G appear to be:
- Video call
- packet-switched video streaming services (including live channels, video-on-demand & video clip downloads)
- Traffic Check (Maxis claims to have 50 video cameras installed around Klang Valley, Penang & Johor Bahru)
- Full-track music download
- 3G datacard
In Sept 2006, Maxis launched 3.5G (HSDPA) as part of the "wireless broadband modem" service which is targeted at "mass market consumer/home" users (instead of business or corporate). Maxis is progressively upgrading its entire 3G network to 3.5G capability. Maxis claimed it has widest 3G/3.5G/HSPA coverage that covers 80% of populated areas.
Maxis FastTap
Maxis is also the pioneer of Malaysia's first NFC (Near Field Communication) service called FastTap. It integrates Touch 'n Go and Visa Wave from Maybank.[8]
Maxis eBooks
Maxis introduce its Malaysia's 3rd e-book service called Maxis ebooks (or Maxis ebuuk in official website and app). The first was e-Sentral followed by MPH Digital. [9] It was launched on April 16, 2012 and during the launch, more than 300000 books are available in e-book store and available through web, iPad app or through Android tablet running 3x and above.[10][11]
References
- ^ Maxis Communications Bhd. "Annual Report 2010". Maxis. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
- ^ "Maxis mulls India exit, in talks to sell Aircel". 11 July 2012.
- ^ E-Ling, Liaw (April 30, 2007). "Malaysia's Maxis Receives Takeover Bid From Parent". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2007-04-30.
- ^ Azman, Syed (April 29, 2007). "Malaysia tycoon to buy out telco Maxis". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2007-04-30.[dead link]
- ^ Azman, Syed (April 30, 2007). "UPDATE 5-Malaysian tycoon to buy out telco Maxis". Reuters. Retrieved 2007-04-30.
- ^ "Announcement: MAXIS COMMUNICATIONS BERHAD REQUEST FOR SUSPENSION OF TRADING". Bursa Malaysia. April 30, 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-30.[dead link]
- ^ "Maxis to raise RM11.7bil via IPO". The Star. 2009-10-29.
- ^ Soyacincau (2009-04-19). "Maxis introduces FastTap NFC Service". Retrieved 2009-04-19.
- ^ Liau Yun Qing (2012-04-13). "M'sian operator launches online bookstore". ZDNet. Retrieved 2012-04-16.
- ^ "Time to turn to ebooks". The Star. 2012-04-16. Retrieved 2012-04-16.
- ^ Official website of Maxis ebuuk
External links
|
||||||||||||||
|
|||||
