Star Business (12 May 2011)

KUALA LUMPUR: Maxis Bhd, the country's largest mobile operator, expects hundreds of thousands of subscribers to buy its new services that would help them protect and back up the information they have in their phone.

The company officially launched Maxis Secure yesterday, comprising a bundle of five services, namely: Anti-Theft, Complete Phone Back Up, Anti-Virus, Internet Security and Remote Surveillance.

"We have soft launched some of the services under the Maxis Secure umbrella three months ago, and the response then was already encouraging. So far, 150,000 customers have signed up for the services," said T. Kugan, vice-president of product, devices and innovation.

The launch is one of the ways for Maxis to increase its revenue, as it encourages existing customers to spend more on their phone bill.

In 2010, Maxis customers on average spent RM51 a month. In 2009, the average spending was RM56 a month. Although average spending fell, it was mitigated by increasing customer base. Each of the new services will cost somewhere between RM2 and RM20 a month.