BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN – Progresif has announced new mobile and home broadband plans on Friday, a week after rival telcos launched their service offerings.
Progresif CEO Hjh Nurul Haniah Hj Md Jaafar unveiled the OnePlan, described as a one-size-fits-all plan for mobile and home broadband packages.
OnePlan gives all mobile users the same starting package of 1GB of data with unlimited talk and text for $10. For subscribers of their new fixed-line broadband service, there is a 100GB data starting point for $40.
Both mobile and home broadband users can add on data — $10 per 5GB on mobile and $10 per 100GB on home broadband.
Existing Progresif Plan customers will automatically be switched to Progresif new Mobile OnePlan on Saturday.
Customers will also able to carry over their unused data to the next month. The telco maintains its no annual license fee policy, and said it will not throttle internet speeds or lock users into a 24-month contract.
Consumers also have the option of bundling their mobile and home broadband service — a basic plan of 1GB of mobile and 100GB of home broadband data starts at $50.
New plan can bundle multiple subscriptions
Progresif has also introduced family subscriptions with its One Family plan to keep families connected whether at home or on the move.
Starting at $30, the One Family mobile plan offers 10GB of shared mobile data for up to five lines.
The One Family Bundle, which combines the family mobile plan and home broadband plan, starts at 100GB of home broadband data for $100.
Free installation is included in the deal as well as free Progresif Media subscription in the near future.
‘Only pay for what you use’
The telco has scrapped its unlimited data option for mobile subscribers.
In her presentation, the CEO said what most people view as an “unlimited plan” comes with limitations and pitfalls that most do not know about.
“The average Brunei mobile subscriber only uses 12GB of data per month, despite having to pay for an unlimited plan. This means that month after month, many are paying for data they don’t end up using.
“More than that, if they have an unlimited plan and do use excessive data, the consumer triggers the fair usage policy that’s hidden in the fine print and have their network speed throttled”, she added.
Hjh Nurul said Progresif’s OnePlan gives consumers complete control of their spending in a flexible and transparent manner.
“We don’t lock you into a 24-month contract, you only pay for the data you use, data you haven’t used gets carried over to the next month, and your line won’t be throttled. We believe this is big progress for the consumer,” she added.
Progresif’s Director of Sales Devin Edwards said, “What we are doing today is not revolutionary. It’s not a change in our strategy. It’s what we have been planning for the last five years so it’s a culmination of everything that we’ve been working towards all along”.
He added, “We are not in the business to try to be louder to drown out the sound of others, we want to be more personal so it felt more like us”.
Progresif to launch media streaming service
Progresif will also be launching a streaming platform for music, movies and TV named Progresif Media later this year.
The app will be subscription-based, providing both free and paid content on-demand.
“We’re not going to compete with Netflix. What Netflix can’t do is that they can’t… [give] opportunities for local performance artists, filmmakers, recording artists a chance… to promote themselves but also to monetise,” Edwards said.
“The platform that we build will also bring a lot of Hollywood and regional content. We are going to bring curated libraries for each foreign worker’s needs in Brunei – Malaysian, Philippines, Indonesian content. We will also continue to curate and develop local producers,” he added.
The CEO added that the telco has pledged to give back one percent of revenue to the community through support of arts and culture, education, environment and entrepreneurship.