Kuala Lumpur (8 October 2014) –U Mobile Sdn Bhd, Malaysia’s most dynamic and innovative telco, is collaborating with YouTube and Tonton to offer a game-changing service: an add-on that offers U Mobile customers FREE data for non-stop video streaming of YouTube (youtube.com.my ) and Tonton (www.tonton.com.my) content. The add-on will allow U Mobile users to go truly mobile with their love of videos by enabling them to stream their favourite YouTube and Tonton videos for free between 2:00am – 10:00am from 8 October 2014 till 31 December 2014.
This strategic partnership is in line with U Mobile’s commitment to provide the best-in-class mobile experience to its customers through innovative products and services whilst delving deeper into consumer insights and trends relevant to the industry.
Customer-Centric Product Offering
Recent studies have shown that the video streaming trend on mobile devices has doubled since 2013, with experts forecasting that the trend is expected to advance full-speed ahead, contributed by factors such as faster network connectivity, greater data bandwidth, and availability of smart mobile devices in the market. Locally, it is recorded that 42% of Malaysian netizens today watch their video content via the Internet through video platforms such as YouTube and Tonton.
Understanding the demand and media habits of its target audience, U Mobile is introducing a new non-stop video streaming add-on for its prepaid, postpaid and broadband customers, where they can stream their favourite video content on YouTube and Tonton on-the-go for FREE from 2:00am to 10:00am without consuming their data allocation. All U Mobile customers who subscribe to internet plans can automatically enjoy this special offering and will be notified via SMS during the promotion period starting from 8 October to 31 December 2014.
U Mobile customers can continue enjoying this special video streaming add-on at just RM3 a month from January 2015 onwards, making it a hassle-free and value-for-money experience to catch up on favourite video content for all. The offering looks to target youths in favor of late-night video streaming and young executives in transit on their way to work, enabling them to stream YouTube and Tonton without hastily exhausting their mobile data and breaking their mobile expenses budget.
“Mobile data is slowly becoming a need for today’s consumers, especially urbanites as smart devices play a vital role in connectivity, entertainment as well as our daily routine. Addressing the current consumer trend of streaming video content on mobile devices, we are proud to introduce this video streaming add-on, which is testament to U Mobile’s efforts in constantly catering towards consumers’ ever-changing lifestyles and needs through our innovative product offerings,” said Jasmine Lee, Chief Marketing Officer of U Mobile Sdn Bhd.
“We are glad to be partnering with YouTube as well as Tonton to bring this exciting product to the market. We certainly look forward to more fruitful collaborations with both companies, as well as other internet-based platforms in the near future to strengthen our foothold as a strong and innovative data-centric player in the market,” she added.
A Strategic Collaboration
The company’s collaboration with YouTube and Tonton represents the telco’s initiative to reach out to its target audiences, which are mainly youths and young executives – similar to the viewer demographics of both video platforms. Many of the viewers tuning in to YouTube and Tonton fall within the age group of 18 to 35 years old, with both platforms being the go-to channels for online entertainment, such as catching up on consumers’ favourite movies or music content.
As such, U Mobile is seizing the opportunity to work alongside both video platforms to bring an affordable video streaming experience to more customers. The telco leverages on consumers’ preference, familiarity and trust towards the established video channels, as well as the telco’s network capabilities in delivering high speed mobile internet services for seamless connectivity, as well as music and video streaming.
In addition, the partnership with U Mobile also offers opportunities to both YouTube and Tonton in reaching out to a specific group of viewers or audiences as the partnership enables both entities to tap into the telco’s existing and prospective customers, as the offering will directly increase viewership and traffic for both platforms within the timeframe.
“With viewing habits becoming increasingly mobile, we want to make sure we can help people watch YouTube whenever and wherever they want it. By working with U Mobile to provide new ways of accessing videos on their service, we hope to help Malaysians get more out of YouTube at more affordable prices,” said Matthew Zaheen, Head of Marketing, Google Malaysia.
“As we are celebrating Tonton’s 4th Anniversary, we are very excited to be part of this partnership as it enables our over 4 million registered users and potential users a brilliant opportunity to enjoy video streaming on mobile devices, without concerns over data usage. We have seen the traffic doubled on Tonton via mobile devices since January 2013 and it now accounts for up to 60% of overall daily traffic. With Tonton, U Mobile users can enjoy a wide array of entertainment including catch up TV programmes from TV3, ntv7, 8TV and TV9,
Hollywood box office movies, Korean dramas, Tonton Original Series “Hanya Satu” and many more,” said Lam Swee Kim, Group General Manager of Media Prima Digital.
Part of the Greater Business Expansion Plan
The introduction of U Mobile’s free data for non-stop video streaming with YouTube and Tonton is in line with the company’s recently announced Vision 2 Million campaign – U Mobile’s pledge to grow its subscriber base with 2 million new customers by the end of the year. Through this exciting offering, the telco is giving more reasons to consumers to join U Mobile and enjoy its benefits, thus expanding its subscriber base and market presence.
Offering great value proposition and the best mobile internet experience in town, U Mobile is set to bring a competitive edge to the market as it strives to be the leading full-fledged telco in the market. U Mobile commits to continuously provide the thrill in dynamic and value-for-money products offerings as they aspire to become the leading full-fledged telco in the market.
