Too little, too late from Maxis?

Maxis thought it held monopoly in the broadband market until new kids like U Mobile and YES started offering 15Gb + unlimited calls for 70 and 16Gb for 88. Even Digi offer 9Gb + unlimited calls for 128. Maxis recently jacked up its freebies for the MaxisOne 128 package to 8Gb + unlimited calls. Even that doesn't come close to these newer players who have levelled up with their infrastructures. If Maxis users ported out under protest it is understandable.

Subscribers want value for money and Maxis packages are the priciest. Brand recognition means nothing when rivals begin to provide better coverage and shorter latencies. Unless Maxis react fast to lower the commitment fees, and take a huge loss, it will lose more in the coming years. Not only will porting out continue, new subscribers learning of better offers will subscribe elsewhere. 

Soon sales of discounted smartphones or giving the cheaper ones away free will no longer attract customers who hate to be tied down to a 24 months contract and a mandatory 500 opt out penalty. Price rules and the war of giving the better deals with no strings attached has begun.

Look out for 5Gb + unlimited free calls to all networks for just 50-60 in a year's time. Those with the largest subscriber base will survive.