PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s mobile telecommunications (telecoms) market underwent a significant transformation in the first half of the year by moving away from aggressive price wars toward what analysts call the “market repair” phase.
CIMB Research noted in a report that the cut-throat competition to gain customers had evolved into a strategy of “sensible pricing” based on a “more for more” approach.
Instead of slashing prices to lure subscribers, the industry’s major players – CelcomDigi Bhd
, Maxis Bhd and U Mobile Sdn Bhd – have begun offering better value through increased data quotas in exchange for higher monthly fees, the research house found.
CelcomDigi kicked off the trend in January by increasing its entry-level prepaid plan data by 25%, while raising the price by 20%.
Hotlink (Maxis) followed suit, offering new postpaid plans with 25% to 33% more data for a 7% to 8% fee increase, and later enhancing its entry-level prepaid unlimited plan with higher speeds and quotas for 20% more.
U Mobile joined the fray, upping its entry-level postpaid data by four times for an 18% higher fee.
The research house believes the impact from these moves is expected to be positive for the companies’ bottom lines, as by carefully structuring these upgrades, telecommunications companies (telcos) are supporting a higher average revenue per user.
While the “grandfather rule” allows existing subscribers to stay on older, cheaper plans, CIMB Research expects the financial benefits to become visible starting in the second half of 2026, as users naturally migrate to these newer, high-value plans to satisfy growing data needs.
Based on the market repair strategies, CIMB Research maintains an “overweight” call on the telecoms sector.
It is bullish on Maxis and CelcomDigi.
It has a “buy” call on Maxis with a target price (TP) of RM4.35 a share, adding that the company is currently trading at a 16% discount to its five-year historical mean. Maxis offers an attractive financial year 2026 (FY26) dividend yield of 5.33%.
The research house also has a “buy” call on CelcomDigi with a TP of RM3.65 a share, noting that the telco is trading at a significant 33% discount to its five-year mean.
The company is projected to see stronger earnings growth in FY26 to FY27, bolstered by higher merger synergies and an FY26 dividend yield of 5.47%
CIMB Research added that the sensible pricing environment suggests a healthier, more profitable period for Malaysia’s mobile groups.
