Tune Talk- Offer the Lowest Prepaid Rate.
Tune Talk- Latest mobile telephone service that Offer the Lowest Prepaid Rate.
Do You still remember 010 prefix mobile phone number?
After two years long of planning and discussions, Now You can own a 010 prefix mobile phone number with Tune Talk. 😀
Tune Talk aim to offers a no-frills voice and short messaging service package with what it describes as a simple, value-for-money product with easy accessibility and wide distribution reach.
It operates as a mobile virtual operator and targets to serve the underserved segment of the market by offering the lowest flat calling rates and lot of best incentives.
Riding on Celcom (Malaysia) Bhd’s 2.5G network, Tune Talk aims to achieve One Million subscribers within a year of launch.
Tune Talk is the fourth mobile virtual network operator(MVNO) to launch its services, after Merchantrade, XOX and REDtone.
An MVNO is a company that offers mobile services, such as voice and text messages, without having to own a spectrum. It rides on the existing mobile operators’ spectrum.
It is reported a total of 143,000 starter packs was sold in less than two weeks during the pilot package.
Tune Talk Sdn Bhd chairman, Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes is confident mobile phones offer future growth potential, which led to this natural extension of the Tune Group. “It is common nowadays for people to send their email and conduct their work through the mobile phone. Soon, boarding passes will be available through mobile phones and you might even be able to pre-order your nasi lemak on an AirAsia flight through them.”
Tune Talk SIM starter pack is sold at RM5 and is already preloaded with RM5 pre-loaded worth of talk time with 30 days validity for immediate usage!
It charges 22 sen per minute and SMS is charged 5 sen each, one flat rate across all mobile Network which is officially was one the lowest rates in the country.
It also claims its IDD rates are 10 per cent lower than other operators.
On top of the lowest rate, it offer value-added incentives like a RM100,000 personal accident coverage from Etiqa Insurance Bhd and RM1 million worth of AirAsia E-Gift vouchers to its top 10 callers daily for the next 12 months.
I may get this one soon 😀
Tune Talk Subscribers Can Enjoy Lower IDD Rates Over Other Mobile Operators
SEPANG: New mobile operator Tune Talk Sdn Bhd, which operates the prefix 010 for its prepaid cellular service, aims to beat the competition by offering IDD rates that are 10% cheaper.
The company will charge a flat rate of 22 sen per minute for calls to any operator in the country, while an SMS cost 5 sen each.
Chief executive officer Jason Lo said Tune Talk would focus on voice calls and SMS but would be introducing GPRS services sometime next month.
Speaking after the launch of Tune Talk at the Sepang Aircraft Engineering Sdn Bhd’s hangar yesterday, Lo said the Tune Talk SIM pack was sold at RM5 and it came with a RM5 pre-loaded worth of talk time.
Chairman Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes said he expected one million subscribers for Tune Talk and AirAsia Bhd also hoped to bring in the customers for its mobile services.
All smiles: (from left) Shazalli, Lo, one of AirAsia’s shareholder Datuk Kamarudin Meranun, and Fernandes smiling for the camera at the official launch of Tune Talk at the Sepang Aircraft Engineering Sdn Bhd’s hangar Wednesday.
Tune Talk would become profitable in the next six months and its cash position would also be positive by then, he added.
Tune Talk operates a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) that rides on Celcom’s 2.5G cellular infrastructure to roll out services.
Celcom chief executive officer Datuk Ser Shazalli Ramly said the partnership will enable Celcom to leverage on both Tune Talk’s and AirAsia’s successful Internet business models.
Lo said Tune Talk also aimed to make inbound advertising as a key source of income.
It had secured AirAsia, Etiqa Insurance Bhd and 99 Speedmart Sdn Bhd as its SIM pack co-branding partners.
He said all Tune Talk subscribers would be given a free RM100,000 personal accident coverage from Etiqa Insurance.
It is also giving over RM1mil worth of AirAsia e-gift vouchers to its top 10 callers everyday for the next 12 months.
From:thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/8/20/nation/4556241&sec=nation
A New Mobile Phone Service to be Launched
By B.K. SIDHU
PETALING JAYA: Tune Talk Sdn Bhd, in which Celcom (M) Bhd has a 35% equity stake, is finally set to launch a new prepaid mobile service next Wednesday after over a year’s delay.
The move could potentially spark a new round of price war in the prepaid segment of the cellular market.
Celcom has an option to raise its stake in Tune Talk to 51% within three years or when Tune Talk’s subscriber base reaches 1.5 million, whichever is sooner.
Jason Lo … ‘We are offering voice, SMS and data services on a 2.5G platform’
Tune Talk is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) that rides on Celcom’s cellular infrastructure to roll out services as it does not have its own spectrum, but has operations in billings, customer care and switching systems.
“We are offering voice, SMS and data services on a 2.5G platform. A user just needs to buy a SIM card for RM5 and insert it into his mobile phone, choose the number he wants and he is connected to our network,” Tune Talk chief executive officer Jason Lo told StarBiz in an interview yesterday. “We are going to offer very low flat rates for our Tune Talk service and we offer nationwide coverage from day one.’’
Tune Talk’s prefix for its cellular service is 010.
Apart from Celcom, Tune Ventures (owned by Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes and Datuk Kamarudin Meranun) has a 37.5% stake in Tune Talk.
The remaining 27.5% in Tune Talk is held by several individuals including Datuk Seri Kalimullah Masheerul Hassan, Lim Kian Onn, Lo, Gurtaj Singh (the COO of Tune Talk) and Mark Lankaster (the CEO of Tune Hotels).
The company has a paid-up capital of RM10mil.
Lo expects the capital expenditure over the next three to five years to be between RM40mil and RM50mil, of which RM10mil will be invested in the first year.
Tune Talk is not the first to launch a service on the MVNO concept as U-Mobile, Merchantrade, XOX.An and RedTone International Bhd have all done it, but it claims to have the widest coverage.
Even so, it will have to battle it out with major players such as Maxis Communications Bhd, DiGi.Com Bhd and even Celcom which have their own networks and established subscriber bases in both the postpaid and prepaid markets where the pricing is already very competitive.
Together, these three companies control nearly 100% of the cellular market share in the country.
“We know the other players have the financial muscle but let’s see how the story develops. We are going for the under-served market, the basic users and we want to be part of the cellular industry. Celcom is very supportive of what we are doing (even though we are competitors in the market place),’’ Lo said.
What Tune Talk is about to offer may stir up competition, with entry level SIM cards reasonably priced at RM5 each, competitive rates and plans to give out 10 e-vouchers daily for a year which will cost the company RM1mil.
“Our product offering is going to be unique as every day we will be giving out 10 e-vouchers to the highest voice users. These vouchers are valued at RM200 each and can be redeemed for air tickets from AirAsia. We will also provide personal accident coverage to all our users and this is provided by our partner, Etiqa Insurance.
“I have been a user of a particular mobile company but I have not got bonus in airtime or even a free phone even though I believe I should. It really depends on where you put your customer and at Tune Talk we are putting them first,’’ Lo said, adding that the target in the first year was to get one million customers.
Tune Talk will distribute its products via 10,000 dealers in the country.
From:biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/8/14/business/4515776&sec=business
why don’t they deliver the sim pack to our home? It’s easier. Just like HAPPY sim pack. Sometime I don’t have time to go out and pick up the starter pack.
Hi. I’m student from UPM. Now, i am doing an assignment about Kamarudin Meranun. And i want to ask:
1. what is the factors which lead you to come out tune talk?
2.How do you see the oppoturnities of tune talk?
3.Do you see the risk of owning this busineess since malaysia have so many communication line such as digi, maxis and so forth? How do you overcome it?
4.What is your post in this business? second large stakeholders?
5.Can you tell me the family background of kamarudin meranun?(eg.no of siblings, parents occupation, parents name,favourate book, hobby)
6.What is the important milestone in kamarudin meranun life which lead him to be a sucessful leader?
I really need this information and it’s urgent.Hope to see the feedback which I eager to see. Thanks for your cooperation.
hi Lee,
Sorry, I don’t have the answer for you.
Maybe you can direct all your questions to Tune Talk directly 😀
Cheers
how can i check my credit balance
Tune Talk eyeing 400,000 subscribers
It hopes to achieve target by leveraging on AirAsia and Tune group
KUALA LUMPUR: Mobile service operator Tune Talk Sdn Bhd is targeting to achieve 400,000 subscribers by year-end by leveraging its links with low-cost carrier AirAsia and the Tune group.
The company has already secured over 200,000 subscribers since its launch on Aug 19.
Chief executive officer Jason Lo said he was confident that Tune Talk would breach the 300,000 subscriber-mark by year-end based on the “rate it was going”.
“We’re looking at 300,000 to 400,000 subscribers by year-end,” he said after presenting prizes to its 100,000th and 200,000th subscriber yesterday, adding that Tune Talk was on track to signing up one million customers within a year of operations.
Lo said Tune Talk was currently registering an average of 4,000 new subscribers per day with an average revenue per user of RM45 per month. He said the company was targeting 6,000 subscribers per day by year-end.
The Tune group is the brainchild of AirAsia Bhd group chief executive officer Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes, who is also chairman of Tune Talk.
Lo said Tune Talk started offering its starter packs on board AirAsia flights last week.
“We are on board AirAsia flights and hope to maintain that partnership with them. We feel that we can become a relevant player in Asean, especially if we can leverage off AirAsia’s extensive network,” he said.
“Tune Hotels will also be launching 50 hotels by 2012. Right now, Tune Hotels (which has hotels in Malaysia and Bali, Indonesia) is doing 60,000 to 70,000 guests per month.
With 50 hotels, that’s three million guests and we have to service that as well,” Lo added.
He also said Tune Talk was in preliminary talks with two of Singapore’s three mobile operators to expand its services to the island republic and potentially offer zero or reduced roaming to its subscribers.
Tune Talk has been offering AirAsia E-Gift vouchers daily and RM100,000 personal accident coverage to its subscribers since its launch.
Operating as a mobile virtual network operator on Celcom (M) Bhd’s 2.5G network, Tune Talk charges a flat rate of 22 sen per minute for calls to any operator in Malaysia while an SMS costs 5 sen each.
It claims that its IDD rates are 10% to 30% cheaper than other operators.
from:biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/11/25/business/5176711&sec=business
Tune Talk on target to hit one million subscribers by end-August
PETALING JAYA: Trying to get half a million subscribers onto its network had been rough for Tune Talk Sdn Bhd in the past five months and it would get even harder with the intense competition in the cellular market, but this celco wants to beat its own internal target of having one million subscribers by the end of August.
Will it be able to do this with only a fraction of the budget that its rivals, who are the big boys of the industry, spend on marketing and advertising?
Jason Lo … ‘In a highly competitive market place, we need to support our subscribers and forge partnerships with our dealers.’
“Simplicity has been our greatest weapon and with our one rate – 22 sen per call anywhere in the country at any time – we are slowly getting (our) space. Our top-up numbers are growing and there is more spending by the IDD callers.
“We will continue to spend on marketing to expand our reach (and visibility) and for a brand that is five months old, we are right on target to hit the one million mark by end-August. We get 5,000 to 7,000 activations every day,” chief executive officer Jason Lo told StarBiz recently.
With the product now offered onboard AirAsia and AirAsia X, about 100 to 200 SIM cards were sold daily, he said. Competition will continue to be intense in the market place although growth remains in the single digit.
Tune Talk is up against major players like Maxis Communications Bhd, DiGi.Com Bhd, U Mobile and even its shareholder Celcom Axiata Bhd.
These days, Tune Talk has also changed its strategy of using billboards around the country to advertise as some of its posters have gone missing.
Its subscriber profile is a mix of migrant workers, students, IDD callers, young professionals, senior citizens and other groups. This is contrary to market perception that Tune Talk only attracts the migrant community.
“We cast a large net and may get 5% of each segment of the market,” Lo said, adding that the challenge for the company was about “understanding what our consumers want from us and vice-versa.”
“In a highly competitive market place, we need to support our subscribers and forge partnerships with our dealers so that we are able to capture market share,” he said.
The company hopes to break even in July but Lo did not disclose any figures. But going by what Lo said on achieving average revenue per user (ARPU) at RM40 in the longer term, the company should be able to rake in RM10mil or so based on an active subscriber base of 250,000.
Revenue could be more if the active base is higher and Lo is looking at half a million of active users over time.
“The churn rate (for prepaid) is about 45%-50%industry wide as each user will have 3-4 SIM cards and he will move where value is,” he said.
Tune Talk is a mobile virtual network operator that rides on Celcom’s network, which in turn owns 35% of the company.
The other shareholders of Tune Talk are Tune Ventures (owned by Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes and Datuk Kamarudin Meranun) with a 37.5% stake, and the remaining 27.5% are held by several individuals including Datuk Seri Kalimullah Masheerul Hassan, Lim Kian Onn, Lo, Gurtaj Singh (the COO of Tune Talk) and Mark Lankaster (the CEO of Tune Hotels).
While working to gain more subscribers in the country, Lo said Tune Talk has set sights on Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia. Singapore will be its first stop and it hopes to enter the market in the second half of this year.
“Singapore is an opportunity area and the idea is for users to change to a local SIM card that we will offer once they are in the republic. That lowers the cost of roaming. We are in talks with two players in Singapore on this,” Lo said.
Tune Talk hopes to enter the Indonesian market in 2011 and Thailand in 2012. It also is exploring ways to enter the fixed broadband sphere.
How this will be done is unclear but Lo reckons that “it is an area that we would like to be in as we expect ARPU hitting RM200 per month eventually. We are in talks with some parties about bundling services.”
fr:biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/3/business/5578906&sec=business
Actually, DiGi was allocated the 010 prefix first after the years of absence of the ATUR services using it (it began re-offering 010 prefix numbers in 2008). TT is allocated 010-5xx-xxxx later, following XOX, another MVNO allocated 010-3xx-xxxx.
FYI
BIMB, Tune Talk in card tie-up
KUALA LUMPUR: Bank Islam (M) Bhd (BIMB) expects its subscriber base for the Bank Islam Card (BIC) to increase 10% by year-end, from the present half a million, through a collaboration with Tune Talk Sdn Bhd.
The bank’s consumer banking general manager, Khairul Kamarudin, said the bank was confident that with strong value propositions offered by the joint promotion, it would be able to grow the subscription for the BIC significantly this year.
“This mutually beneficial collaboration gives Bank Islam an immediate access to Tune Talk’s current 4,500 dealers network, and will help market our card,” he told reporters after the signing of a memorandum of understanding here yesterday. Tune Talk subscribers who sign up for the BIC will receive RM5 free bonus airtime each month for the first 18 months and 0.3% of retail purchases, which will be converted to additional free airtime on a quarterly basis.
Khairul said by enhancing customer experience through this collaboration, the bank hoped to increase its customer loyalty. “This is first step and not the end of the partnership. There is one more product in the pipeline, as you need innovation to stay ahead,” he explained. To date, Bank Islam has a nationwide network of 100 branches. — Bernama
Khairul said by enhancing customer experience through this collaboration, the bank hoped to increase its customer loyalty.
“This is first step and not the end of the partnership. There is one more product in the pipeline, as you need innovation to stay ahead,” he explained.
To date, Bank Islam has a nationwide network of 100 branches.
Meanwhile, the chief executive officer of Tune Talk, Jason Lo, said the company was expecting to hit one million activations by next month.
Currently, it has about 860 thousand activations, after eight months in the market. “About 80% are prepaid users in Malaysia and this market is the commodity of the century.
“It’s a competitive market. It will take a while for people to realise we are offering the cheapest prepaid rate,” he explained.
Tune Talk offers the lowest prepaid flat call rate in the country at 16 sen per minute to any domestic operator.
fr:biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/5/7/business/6207809&sec=business
Telcos can afford to cut roaming charges
BOTH Singapore and Malaysia want to reduce roaming rates for mobile phone users by the year-end. The commitment was made in Singapore on Tuesday.
That would mean travellers to Singapore will pay less to call back home or even receive calls using their mobile number while in the republic. It would be the same for travellers from the republic coming to Malaysia.
The last time this topic came up was in October 2008 when a study for rate cuts in Asean was talked about but not much progress was reported after that. Hopefully, roamers will not have to wait two years before the topic is revisited.
Judging from the reports coming from Singapore, the celcos there are willing to sit down and talk about it, so hopefully some consensus can be reached.
The suggested rate cut for voice and SMS is up to 30% and 50% respectively between the countries.
SMS cost 5 sen within Malaysia but jumps to RM1 when sent from Singapore.
Similarly, voice calls locally are from 5 sen per minute within Malaysia but soars to RM2 per minute when coming from Singapore.
Tourist arrivals into Malaysia from the republic hit 12.7 million in 2007 and even if someone makes two calls a day while in this country, you can imagine the volume of traffic generated.
But analysts crunching the numbers are saying that any cut in roaming charges between the two countries are not likely to dent the bottomlines of any celco as the cut is too small to make an impact. What this tells is that the margins for roaming charges are huge.
In Europe, the mobile network operators are said to be making profits of more than 200% for mobile calls made by users while they are in another European Union (EU) country, and 300% to 400% for calls received.
To be fair, operators here do periodically offer roaming discounts and some even have rate caps. Despite that, roaming charges ought to be reduced by more than half.
Consumers in Europe are going to enjoy mobile roaming charges cap by July 1. The big four – Vodafone, Telefonica 02, T-Mobile and Orange – got together to try to circumvent the three-year-old legislation but failed. The laws were implemented to protect consumers against excessive prices there.
A report said the maximum permitted charge for making a mobile call while travelling will fall to 32p a minute and the rate for receiving calls will drop to 12.5p a minute.
For data calls, users will be cut off once they reach around £41.20 of data roaming charges per month, unless there is an explicit agreement with the customer to bypass that.
Even the authorities in Australia and New Zealand are looking to cut rates for the Trans-Tasman area. This is given the big volume of roaming traffic between the countries, as about one million visitors travel annually between the two countries.
Roaming is not cheap and it can make your heart stop when you get a huge bill after a fabulous holiday. The bill shock has forced many to leave their phones at home or look for cheaper alternatives such as call-back cards to make phone calls while travelling.
Think of it this way. If EU can push its weight around so many countries and operators to cut rates despite the court action by the four, surely, the regulators in Malaysia and Singapore can make the operators come to some consensus.
But do not allow operators to drag their feet or roamers may never see a cut. Roamers have enriched celcos enough, so now is the time for operators to show they will charge fair and competitive prices and give a fair deal for roaming. The cut would make a great New Year’s gift.
If roaming for calls and SMS is not reduced, then roamers may have to wait forever for data roaming charges to come down as their data bills are just going to continue skyrocketing. That is another issue waiting to be addressed.
# Deputy news editor B.K. Sidhu is glad that her hometown Malim Nawar has finally made headlines the last few days and hopes an overhead bridge for the railway tracks there can be built to restore the charm of the once bustling mining town.
fr:biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/6/18/business/6488367&sec=business
Tune Hotels.com to open its first hotel in UK
KUALA LUMPUR: Tune Hotels.com is opening its first hotel in the United Kingdom at Westminster, London, in August, offering five-star beds at one-star prices.
It is the first of 15 locations scheduled to open across the Greater London area by 2017, creating an additional 1,500 rooms and representing a total investment of £150mil for the capital’s hospitality sector.
In a statement here yesterday, Tune Hotels.com said the brand is globally aiming for 100 hotels in its portfolio by 2015.
Advance online bookings are encouraged in order to enjoy exceptionally low prices from £35 per night with promotional rooms regularly available from £9.
In addition, Tune Hotels.com will release a further 200 room night stays, priced at one penny each at 12.01 am on July 13.
fr:biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/7/13/business/6654462&sec=business