The three UniFi packages launched by Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) on Wednesday cannot be unbundled and consumers have to take what is offered as there is no a la carte options. This could potentially be an issue for some users who may not want all UniFi offers. UniFi’s packages priced at RM149, RM199 and RM249 per month come with high-speed broadband, IPTV (Internet protocol TV), free voice calls and some other offerings.

With the pricing viewed as being on the high side, many wonder if TM could have priced the packages lower by unbundling these offerings. Consumers may wonder if they are actually subsidising the IPTV and voice offerings, which under the packaging are free or whether TM is subsidising the cost of the items under its three packages. A triple-play network is one in which voice, video and data are all provided in a single access subscription. Globally, the trend is for telcos to move into triple-play to mitigate the flat revenues from fixed-line networks.

UniFi plans came with an additional 8Mbps of bandwidth for IPTV, so subscribers, say for the 5Mbps packaging, would actually be getting 13Mbps. That aside, the market is abuzz over the cap issue that TM has imposed on its UniFi packages. The tweeters on Twitter were vociferous with their comments as they are disappointed with the cap on the download speed. They are even more furious that the data download caps are calculated on a daily basis. TM in a statement yesterday said it would not implement the cap on downloads for UniFi immediately. UniFi’s 5Mbps service is capped at 60GB of data per month, 10Mbps service at 90GB while the 20Mbps service has a 120GB cap. Article The Star Business