Telekom Malaysia has announced the launch of a commercial Long Term Evolution (LTE)-based service, branded ‘TMgo’, in Alor Setar, the capital of the state of Kedah. In unveiling its new product offering the company said that it will initially have 17 active LTE sites in Kota Setar and Pendang, though it will only offer pre-paid tariffs at launch. Package prices for the service start at MYR115 (USD36) for the ‘4G Mobile Adapter’ package, which includes a LTE USB dongle and 2GB of data, valid for one month, plus a further 500MB per month allowance for a six-month period. Meanwhile, the ‘4G Mobile Router’ package offers the same usage allowances, but provides a MiFi router in place of the USB dongle. Once customers have used up the included data caps, they can purchase reloads for either 1GB (MYR30, valid for seven days), 3.5GB (MYR30, 30 days) and 6GB (MYR50, 60 days); those customers opting for either of the latter two reload options will also benefit from a 500MB bonus.
On the back of the service launch, TM said that the introduction of its new wireless broadband service reflected its ‘continuous efforts in providing broadband services to the nation across all segments and locations, consistent with the National Broadband Plan to deliver High Speed Broadband (HSBB), Suburban Broadband (SUBB) and Broadband for General Population (BBGP) to all Malaysians’. With the company saying it would now look to connect more communities in underserved areas of the country, it has suggested that TMgo will be available in most of Malaysia’s states by ‘early next year’.