Unifi Mobile
unifi Mobile is a Malaysian converged telecommunications, broadband and 4G service provider. Originally known as Packet One Networks (P1), the company was founded in 2002 and is a subsidiary of Green Packet Berhad.
Private | |
Industry | Telecommunications |
Founded | 11 February 2002 |
Headquarters | |
Products | Mobile Telephony Services Mobile Broadband Fixed Voice Fiber SIP Trunking service Wireless Internet Leased Line NextSMS |
Number of employees | 600+ (2014) |
Website | unifi |
Overview
In March 2007, P1 was one of four companies awarded 2.3 GHz spectrum licenses by the Malaysian Government to deploy 4G WiMAX services throughout Malaysia. In August 2008, P1 became the first company to launch commercial WiMAX services in Malaysia.[1]
In March 2014, Telekom Malaysia (TM) Berhad bought a 57% stake in P1 for RM 350 million.[2] TM is to invest RM 1 billion in P1 over the next four years.
In April 2016, the company was officially re-branded as Webe Digital Sdn. Bhd.[3] May 2017 saw the announcement of webe's latest CEO, Moharmustaqeem Mohammed,[4] replacing Azizi A. Hadi who had just taken over from founder Puan Chan Cheong [5] nine months earlier.
In January 2018, TM relaunched it mobile service as one unifi Mobile brand. unifi Mobile basically is a prepaid plan featured with no expiry as long the user stayed active. unifi mobile LTE network consists of 850 MHz FDD-LTE (Band 5), 2300 MHz TD-LTE (Band 40) and TD-LTE 2600 MHz (Band 38). unifi mobile utilizes its TMgo 850 MHz LTE band 5 spectrum (refarmed from CDMA 850 MHz), and Celcom provides domestic roaming on 3G and 2G. On the 2.3 GHz WiMAX and 2.6 GHz LTE bands.
Band | Frequency | Frequency Width | Protocol | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
40 | 2300 MHz (2360~2390) | 30 MHz | TDD-LTE | 20 + 10 MHz CA |
38 | 2600 MHz (2575~2595) | 20 MHz | TDD-LTE | |
5 | 850 MHz (869~874 ; 824~829) | 2 x 5 MHz | FDD-LTE |
- Uses Celcom 2.6GHz (band 7) for some in-building coverage.
Milestones
- Alcatel-Lucent[6] – January 2008
- Intel Corporation[7] – May 2008
- Oracle Corporation[8] – May 2008
- EMC Corporation – June 2008
- Fiberail – June 2008
- ZTE China [9] – March 2009
- SK Telecom announced strategic alliance with P1, which SK Telecom will acquire approximately 25% stake in P1[10] – June 2010
- Qualcomm[11] – June 2011
- China Mobile[12] – June 2011
- Telekom Malaysia[13] – Oct 2011
Packet One was discontinued as a company after Telekom Malaysia's purchase.
Its W1MAX product offering is still in existence although it now focuses on LTE as webe.
WiMAX
P1 W1MAX
- P1 W1MAX is presently a fixed portable broadband service that runs on the 2.3 GHz WiMAX spectrum and 802.16e 2005 standard, which is known as Mobile WiMAX. It enables wireless broadband access up to 30 miles (50 km) from the base station.
- P1 W1MAX offers three type of modems:
WIGGY
- P1 W1MAX's On-the-Go Portable Modem is called WIGGY.[15]
- P1 W1MAX offers three packages:
- WIGGY 129 which has speeds up to 3 Mbit/s;
- WIGGY 89 which has speeds up to 1.5 Mbit/s.
- WIGGY 58 which has speeds up to 600 kbit/s
- The WIGGY is also available in prepaid.
- Initially, the WIGGY was advertised to offer speeds of up to 10Mbit/s. At the time the package was offered, it was the fastest wireless package offered in Malaysia. However this package was quickly pulled when the company received backlash after many of the subscribers found that they were unable to achieve the 10Mbit/s speed.
WiMAX for Embedded Devices
- P1 W1MAX also offers WiMAX subscription for Intel powered Netbook and Notebooks that are WiMAX ready.
Awards and Accolade
- Malaysia Book of Records 2008 - Malaysia's first WiMAX Telco
- Red Herring Asia - Winner Most Innovative Private Technology Company 2008
- HWM EDITOR’S CHOICE AWARDS 2009 - Best WiMAX Service Provider
- PC.COM - Top 10 Tech Brands for 2009
- PC.COM - Best WiMAX Service 2009
- MSC Malaysia APICTA - Winner Best of Start-Up Companies 2009
- FROST & SULLIVAN TELECOMS AWARDS 2010 - Most Promising Service Provider of the Year
- The Effectiveness Awards (EFFIE) 2010 - Gold winner for “Sudah Potong?” or “Cut Already?” Campaign
- The Global Leadership Award 2011 - Winner of Internet Category
- Golden Global Brand Award 2011 - The Best Enterprise Brand of the Year 2010
- GoMobile Awards 2012 - Best Home Wireless Broadband
4G WiMAX Network
P1 occasionally advertises its network as a '4G' network. However, this is primarily a marketing gimmick because at the time of writing, WiMAX does not meet the ITU's specification of 4G which requires attaining a download speed of 1Gbit/s for tabletop transceivers and 100Mbit/s for mobile transceivers. However, P1 isn't alone in this misleading marketing gimmick, two other WiMAX-based ISPs, Yes 4G and Asiaspace Dotcom AMAX, also market the technology as 4G.
The fact that the upcoming WiMAX Release 2 a.k.a. IEEE 802.16m specification does adhere to the 4G specifications and is officially recognised by the ITU as a 4G system only further adds to the confusion.
For that matter, no current LTE network meets the ITU requirements for IMT-Advanced networks. The new LTE-Advanced 3GPP rel 9 and WiMAX 2 IEEE 802.16m systems have yet to be commercially deployed. However, most WiMAX and LTE networks should be upgradable to the 'true 4G' versions, there have yet to be a WiMAX company upgrade to 'true 4G' version at this point of time. Aside from Digi Telecommunications aims to be the first to roll out LTE network by 2013.
References
- "TM succeeds in acquiring P1 stake". The Malaysian Reserve. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
- "Green Packet aims to widen operating profit". The Star Online. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
- "P1 officially rebranded as Webe - Tech News | The Star Online". www.thestar.com.my. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
- "TM appoints new webe CEO | SoyaCincau.com". Retrieved 16 May 2017.
- "Azizi A. Hadi appointed webe CEO, CC Puan now a non-executive director". Digital News Asia. 1 August 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
- "Alcatel-Lucent gains P1 WiMAX deal". wimaxday.net. Retrieved 29 January 2008.
- "WiMAX Global Providers". intel.com. Retrieved 12 May 2008.
- "Malaysia's First WiMAX License Holder, Packet One Networks, Enhances WiMAX Launch Readiness". oracle.com. Retrieved 15 May 2008.
- "P1 Awards USD28m WiMAX Contract To ZTE" (PDF). p1.com. Retrieved 24 March 2009.
- http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/6/30/business/6575149&sec=business
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 3 September 2012. Retrieved 23 May 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 4 July 2011. Retrieved 23 May 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- http://www.telecoms.com/34957/p1-signs-high-speed-broadband-deal-with-telekom-malaysia/
- http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/8/6/business/20100806160550&sec=business
- "WiMAX on the go". thestar.com.my. Retrieved 9 April 2009.