One has to be nimbled when competing against the three biggest mobile operators in Malaysia, especially when competing with less total spectrum and being a relatively-new market entrant.
In addition, YTL Communications entered the market with no 3G assets. There are advantages and disadvantages, when competing with larger firms with both 3G and 4G assets. In a sense, YTL services are more “digital,” in a couple of respects. First, YTL’s “Yes” network was the first in Malaysia that was “all IP,” with no legacy protocols.
The downside is that, with no 3G coverage, when the Yes network fails, it fails “hard,” as a digital link does, and not “soft” with a default to 3G.
So YTL Communications has had to experiment with ways to take market share from much-bigger competitors.
Yes has tried at least two dramatically-different mass market positions. It was a premium brand, with a premium price, when it launched its WiMAX network in 2010.
Its Long Term Evolution network, on the other hand, pitches performance with low prices. And, according to OpenSignal, Yes, the YTL branded service is the only mobile service provider to win top honors in a market where Maxis leads, on that score.
While the largest mobile service providers operate both 3G and 4G networks, YTL operates 4G only, including both a WiMAX and an LTE network.
Yes also has won awards recently. Specifically, according to OpenSignal, YTL operates the mobile network with the fastest downstream speeds and the widest 4G coverage.
The transition to 5G remains a bit unclear as to timing and strategy. Celcom has tested 5G, and might therefore be considering an earlier launch of 5G, though most believe that will not even start to become a future reality until after 2020.
Wing Lee, YTL Communications CEO
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