By John Tanner
All five of Malaysia’s mobile operators have launched special “p-hailing” data plans as part of a new government initiative targeted specifically at gig-economy delivery drivers and riders.
On Tuesday, the government kicked off its Pakej P-Hailing Rahmah initiative, which aims to provide p-riders with cheaper and more valuable data packages to boost the country’s popular p-hailing economy.
P-hailing is the local term for app-based services that deliver food, drinks and parcels using motorcycles and cars. At the launch ceremony, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said over 200,000 p-hailing drivers and riders would benefit from the initiative.
Under the initiative, CelcomDigi, Maxis, TM’s Unifi Mobile, U Mobile and YTL Communications’ Yes 5G are collaborating with 16 Malaysian p-hailing service providers, including Grab, Shopee and FoodPanda, to offer affordable data plans that will give p-riders the critical connectivity they need to make deliveries.
The plans vary between operators, but they encompass postpaid and prepaid plans, some of which include device bundles. The cheapest plan is priced at RM33 (US$7.00), with data caps starting at 40GB. P-riders have until April 23 to sign up for whichever plan best suits their needs.
According to Bernama news agency, the plans have received mixed reviews. One p-rider said RM33 was a good deal compared to the RM90 he pays now for the same service. Another said it would be more useful to have a RM28 package with unlimited 5G data.
