Our lives are growing more connected every day. In the home, more and more gadgets and appliances – computers, tablets, games consoles – work best with a good Internet connection.
Traditional broadband connections often struggle to cope with the simultaneous demands of downloading large files, streaming videos or music, with multiple devices and appliances logged on at the same time. With the right fibre broadband, everyone within a home is able to do what they want online – all at the same time – without any annoying delays.
While the usage of fibre broadband being the order of the day with more fibre broadband on board, Celcom recently soft-launched their very own home fibre broadband service.
| Monthly price for the package | Monthly discounted price for 6 months | Best for | Why we like it? | What’s the drawback? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RM153.70 | RM76.85 | Web surfing, email & social networking | 50% discount for the first 6 months | Only for Celcom FIRST Gold customers |
This expands the 10Mbps playing field a little more since previously it was only Maxis (UniFi no longer offers 10Mbps). Their offering isn’t as comprehensive as Maxis but it does have its perks.
1. Speed & pricing
Celcom Home Fibre Broadband is now official and will offer the 10Mbps package for RM153.70 monthly (including GST) for unlimited data. The entry-level fibre broadband package offers 10Mbps for both upload and download speed.
However, this new plan is only available for FIRST Gold customers in the Klang Valley.
Being a Celcom FIRST Gold subscriber, you will receive a 50% discount for the first six months of your fibre home broadband subscription. With the discount, you will only pay RM76.85 monthly (including GST) for the first six months. By taking advantage of this discount, you will be able to make a savings of RM461.10 over six months.
This package definitely gives Maxis Home Broadband a run for their money. A similar 10Mbps package from Maxis costs RM156.88 for non-Maxis customers. However, if you are a Maxis ONE subscriber, you get a discount and will only be charged RM136.88 for the entire contract.
Over a 24-month contract, a Maxis ONE customer signed up for a 10Mbps home fibre broadband package would have forked out RM3,765.12, while a Celcom FIRST Gold customer signed up for the Celcom Home Fibre Broadband package would be paying RM3,227.76. That’s RM537.36 savings for Celcom subscribers!
2. Coverage
Currently, this 10Mbps package is only offered in the Klang Valley.
According to a report by Soya Cincau earlier this year, Celcom and TM signed an agreement to extend Celcom’s access to TM’s HSBB Network. Hopefully, this will mean Celcom’s fibre home broadband coverage will be similar to what TM’s UniFi is offering.
For now, if you would like to know if your home is covered, you will have to visit the nearest Blue Cube in the Klang Valley.
3. Add-ons
For calls, the Celcom Home Broadband will charge users RM0.08 per minute to all networks, while International direct dialling (IDD) calls will follow Celcom Postpaid’s IDD rates and will be charged in 30-second blocks. Your total credit will be limited at RM400.
What’s offered for voice falls short compared to its competitors. Maxis offers 330 minutes or 600 minutes worth of FREE calls to all mobile and land lines in Malaysia respectively. Even for pay-as-you-use, Maxis offers a more competitive rate for local calls at RM0.05/minute. But the rates for nationwide and mobile calls are slightly higher at RM0.09/minute.
However, Celcom still has a much more affordable rate than UniFi’s RM0.20 per minute to all TM fixed lines and mobiles nationwide.
When you sign up for Celcom Home Fibre Broadband, you will receive free broadband modem and box.
If you’re on this plan, you’re probably also a Celcom First Gold user so you can just use your cell phone since that has unlimited calls to all networks making the fixed line phone not a real deal breaker.
4. Installation and activation fees
Always read the fine print before you sign up for anything, broadband included. You need to know what are the installation charges, and cancellation fees, if you decide to terminate the service before the contract is up.
The best part of Celcom Home Broadband is its simplicity. With the registration fee, installation fee (RM200) and activation fee (RM100) waived, you don’t have to worry about high upfront fee when you sign up.
You will only need to pay a stamp fee of RM10, which will be charged to your bill. If you are a foreigner, then you will be required to pay a deposit of RM500.
The verdict?
This home broadband package by Celcom is suitable for light users, who do not use too much bandwidth at home. With only 10Mbps in speed, it is not the best option for moderate or heavy users.
It will make more sense for these users to top up the monthly fees a little to get double or triple the speeds on UniFi or Maxis Fibre. And if you are within TIME’s coverage, you can just top up RM4.24 a month and get the 100Mbps plan.
With too many restrictions on the Celcom fibre broadband plan, and the bare minimum speed of 10Mbps, it’s really not very attractive for users who crave for lightning speed on their home broadband. Video streamers and heavy downloaders, this is definitely not the plan for you.
This fibre broadband plan is only open to Celcom FIRST Gold subscribers, so it’s a decent option if you’re one of those given the price discount. It’s also a little more convenient when it comes to paying your bills since it would be consolidated to one biller.
One important thing to note is that we’ve thus far not been able to find anything on a contractual obligation which would have a big impact on the overall cost savings for this plan in the long run.
