Brand Review: Maxis 3G Internet

I was driving to work this morning and had my car radio tuned to Era FM 103.3. The morning deejay was promoting the Maxis 3G claiming that anyone with a Maxis/Hotlink 3G services can now surf the Internet from everywhere in the country. Then I was driving back from work and was listening to Hitz.FM when the same tactical ad came on air.

I sensed that Maxis is now focusing part of the marketing spotlight to its 3G services pushing the Internet functions as the driver in boosting the 3G consumer market. So I went online to maxis.com.my and guess what I saw this on the very first page. Bingo, my guess is right!

The marketing approach that Maxis is taking is somehow interesting because the focus is on applications that can be accessed when you’re mobile rather than the boring side of Internet. They highlighted having Yahoo messenger, emails, facebook and flicker wherever you go. Even the graphics on the site focus on youngsters on the move and accessing the Internet while waiting for the Girlfriend doing shopping. Interesting approach indeed.

Regardless of the annoying SMS SPAM that Maxis loves to sent to me, I’ve been a happy user of Maxis 3G Internet. I subscribed to the RM99 Unlimited package for the last 3 months on my Nokia 6120 Classic and it’s definitely worth every single cent. Let me tell you why:

a) I travel frequently on train. I can use the mobile internet all the way from KL to Shah Alam. Of course not all areas will be full 3.5G or 3G but it’s good enough for browsing and YM.

b) The nature of my job requires me to look for info whenever I am. Sometimes the office internet is super slow or I could be in a meeting in partners/clients place. This is when my phone and Maxis 3G internet come to the rescue

c) Mobile Blogging – Last week I was at a Water Treatment Plant somewhere quite rural in Johor. My friend SMS’ed me “Where are you? Are you working on Federal Territory Day?� I immediately took a picture of me using my phone, have it edited on my phone photo editor then send it to my online photo album and I blog about it. Then I replied the SMS to my friend “Check out my blog�. All these within 10 minutes. Impressive isn’t it?

d) My part time business is Internet-based. This is the next best thing to a blackberry. I can check my emails anytime, anywhere

However few things to note about internet with Maxis 3G and Nokia 6120 Classic:

a) Despite all these packages offered below, I suggest going with the Unlimited RM99 plan. Note that a Facebook profile can easily go up to 1MB per profile, so you’ll run out of bandwidth as fast as 10 minutes of your surfing time.

b)Not all websites are accessible. Some websites like MSN/Yahoo/Google have mobile versions which fit any mobile screen. For normal websites, it is still accessible but for certain sites that use Flash, Live Video, my phone cannot handle it well.

c) Not everywhere can you get lightning fast internet. Expect choppy connections when you’re moving.

d) You need to charge your battery quite often. Using the Internet in a journey of an hour train will consume up to 4 bars of my battery. So Maxis claim you can be online 24/7. That is correct but you need to be connected to an electric socket as well.

I hope this review will help you in getting a clearer picture of the service beyond the marketing collaterals. Any questions/comments leave it here —->