| Type | Public (MYX: 6012) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Founded | 1993 |
| Headquarters | Maxis Tower, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
| Area served | Asia |
| Key people | Sandip Das, (CEO) |
| Products | Telephone, Wireless, Internet, Television |
| Revenue | 6.37 billion MYR (2005) |
| Employees | 3,000 |
| Parent | Usaha Tegas Group Holdings Bhd |
| Subsidiaries | Aircel |
| Website | maxis.com.my |
Maxis Communications Berhad (MYX: 6012) is a Malaysian mobile network operator headquartered at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was started in the year 1993. It uses the dialing pref ix identifier of "012", "017" and “0142”. Their mobile services are provided over the 900 & 1800 MHz GSM band and as July 2005, the 2100 MHz UMTS band. Majority of the company's stake is owned by billionaire Ananda Krishnan. The company has total subscribers at [1] 13.95 million as of December 2010. The company primarily operates across Asia-pacific.
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Maxis provides a variety of mobile communication products and services. They offer prepaid call plans, monthly subscription plans, International Roaming, MMS, WAP (over both GSM and GPRS), Residential Fixed Line services, Broadband Internet plans, and as of early 2005, 3G services to both prepaid and postpaid subscription customers.
For business customers, Maxis offer VSAT services (satellite based communications) and BlackBerry based mobile services besides regular services. Maxis also provides an online Music store for its customers to download multimedia content.
Maxis most popular service is its prepaid brand Hotlink, which currently serves over 8 million customers in Malaysia. They are currently heavily promoting a new IDD 132 service, which offers cheaper calling rates mobile & landlines in selected countries, at a rate of 20 sen (roughly 6 US cents) per minute which is, at certain times for many subscribers, even cheaper than a local call.
Maxis was involved in a price war with its competitors (particularly DiGi) in the prepaid SIM market which was driven its Hotlink starter pack prices down to RM6 (about US$1.2).
Maxis was the first mobile communications company in Malaysia to be authorized to sell the Apple iPhone, later the offered was also given to its competitor DiGi. Although the pricing of the phone is slightly cheaper than DiGi, but the plans for data and services are slightly higher than DiGi (Furthermore, for iPhone plan, no extra charge after monthly quota will be charged even if DiGi's customers exceed the data quota but not for Maxis)
There are several high profile celebrities who have signed on as spokespersons for Maxis, including big names such as Siti Nurhaliza, all the Akademi Fantasia's stars, along with many other local celebrities includin yen
In 2002, Maxis purchased Timecel, a rival mobile service provider, from TimedotCom Berhad. Prior to the purchase, Maxis offered phone numbers beginning with 012, and TimeCell 017. Now, subscribers can choose between the two. In 1999, Maxis introduced the popular pre-paid brand "Hotlink", which currently has 10 Million customers.
On April 27, 2007, an offer was made to buy out Maxis and privatise the company in preparation for expansions into the Indonesian and Indian markets. The deal was offered by Ananda Krishnan, who pledged Maxis RM17.46 billion (US$5.1 billion) in exchange for all remaining shares of the company. The offer is to be formally made by Usaha Tegas, a company owned by Krishnan, on May 3, 2007, while the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange suspends trading of the company's shares until May 3.[2][3][4][5]
Under the urging of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, Maxis announce that it will re-list the company in Bursa Malaysia on November 11, 2009. The initial public offering, which constitute 30% of the company and involve its Malaysian operations, will raise at least MYR 11.7 billion. The IPO is expected to be the biggest in Asia to date.[6]
Maxis Communications is part of Ananda Krishnan's business empire. In 1996, the company launched Malaysia's first three satellites; MEASAT 1, 2 and 3. And the fourth satellite, MEASAT 1R, was damaged during transport to the launch site and is under reconstruction.
Saudi Telecom Company bought 25% of Maxis.
Maxis officially launched its 3G services on July 1, 2005 (the 3G datacard service was soft-launched earlier in February 2005). The 3G service is available in selected regions of the country since nationwide coverage does not make economic sense (due to the high CAPEX involved). The main coverage areas include:
Maxis appears to be adopting a "thick coverage" strategy for 3G. This means 3G service will be rolled out only in areas where data traffic is heavy, or with strategic importance (for example, Putrajaya which is the government's administrative centre). The rest of the country will be served by 2.5G (GPRS; nationwide coverage) which is progressively being upgraded to 2.75G (EDGE or E-GPRS).
The key "shouting points" for Maxis 3G appear to be:
In Sept 2006, Maxis launched 3.5G (HSDPA) as part of the "wireless broadband modem" service which is targeted at "mass market consumer/home" users (instead of business or corporate). Maxis is progressively upgrading its entire 3G network to 3.5G capability. Maxis claimed it has widest 3G/3.5G/HSPA coverage that covers 80% of populated areas.
Maxis is also the pioneer of Malaysia's first NFC (Near Field Communication) service called FastTap. It integrates Touch 'n Go and Visa Wave from Maybank.[7]
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