My new 018 U Mobile Prepaid simpack

U Mobile is a new mobile telco in Malaysia, it was formerly known as MiTV and it’s still own by MiTV by Berjaya. 018 is their prefix and it’s still quite new and still in the process of setting up cell tower and expanding its coverage all over Malaysia. Over months, their postpaid service is only available in Klang Valley where Kuala Lumpur is. 3G and data service too is not available in other states except Klang Valley.

I got a friend that was a Beta tester for 018 told me that U Mobile is more to be focus on data and Mobile Digital TV or known as DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcast-Handheld) and they are one of the few telco that was awarded with 3G spectrum license few years back.

U Mobile still does not have a lot of cell tower all over Malaysia, when you are outside Kuala Lumpur, U Mobile will ride on Celcom’s line via a national roaming service at 0 cost. This mean you still be able to make call at the normal rate but no 3G and data for you.

So I thought about this, why not go get a prepaid for fun in Kuala Lumpur. I am still able to use it in Penang but it’s just no 3G for me. In a forum, a forumer guided that there’s actually shop here in Penang has started taking in U Mobile prepaid, though there’s still not any U Store in Penang yet. There will be one in Queensbay Mall but it’s still under renovation yet. After looking around in the mall, I have found a shop has the prepaid simpack. I planned to get a nice number but turned out all the number is just so-so only.

U Mobile Prepaid simpack is really free for everyone with RM1 credit. You just picked your desired simpack number, fill in the prepaid registration form and you are ready to go. Remember to buy a reload coupon as you need to reload your mobile credit in 7 days time to prevent line termination. Activation was pretty fast for me, after the shop dealer registered my line, it’s activated within half an hour.

On my Samsung phone it shows My Celcom as the operator, I assumed it is roaming on other network. However, when I switch it to a Nokia phone, it shows U Mobile on the screen. At the moment, I got no idea what to do with this new phone number, no GPRS for me, no MMS for me, it’s only call and SMS.

The call rate is 0.8cent/second = 48cents/minute which is rather expensive than other prepaid service, though it’s second based that means that you pay on the seconds of call you have made. SMS rate is at 8cent/sms to all network in Malaysia, this is consider cheaper than all other telco but there’s not premium service like Friends and Family or Activ5/10 on Digi and Maxis. Perhaps it’s still a new mobile, I am expecting more feature and service to come.

I’m actually hoping for cheap unlimited data rate, cheap call rate, SMS rate, MMS rate and the most I am looking forward to is still their data service. Let’s wait and see how do they do.

By the way, I have 3 mobile number now, Maxis, Digi and U, I still lack of Celcom and Happy. But it’s just for fun, Maxis and Digi still serve as my primary number.