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Lower prices for Internet services?

PETALING JAYA: Competition in the mobile and Internet business is expected to heat up with the entry of YTL Communications Sdn Bhd's Yes service, and some analysts believe that a price war may erupt.

There's a potential (for a price war). With YTL coming into the market, the probability is higher, CLSA Securities Malaysia Sdn Bhd head of research Clare Chin said.

She said the new entrant would also raise competitiveness among telecommunications companies while broadband operators would be worried about their margins.

Expectations surrounding the launch of Yes sent shares in YTL Comms' parent company, YTL Power International Bhd, to their highest level in almost three years in early trade yesterday. The counter ended eight sen, or 3.19%, to RM2.59 but off the intra-day high of RM2.64.

An analyst said the new entrant did not bring in competition automatically. He said telcos would up the ante against each other to woo customers in a saturated market and that was where the competition or price war would kick in.



In crowded markets where penetration (of voice) exceeds 100%, it can be difficult for an operator to distinguish itself from its competitors if it can only offer the same services.

To differentiate, it needs to be able to offer something new and different with better value proposition, the analyst said.

While competition is good for the consumer, it is not so for the local telcos which have spent the last few years battling each other in a price war, where consumers ultimately reaped the benefits in terms of low mobile call and SMS rates.

Every player's nightmare would be a price war, as margins would be pushed lower, hurting revenue, an analyst said.

YTL Comms' Yes 4G wireless broadband service would charge customers nine sen for a minute of call, one SMS or 3MB of data.

And that's before our rebates kick in, YTL Comms said in a teaser yesterday.

According to analysts, at nine sen a minute the service could be the cheapest in the market. However, they prefer to await confirmation from YTL on the price.

Sources said YTL would also be throwing in a rebate as high as 30% for its subscribers.



http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?f...79&sec=business