Back in September, the Malaysian government announced an RM200 discount program for youths to purchase 3G-enabled smartphones as part of the 2013 Budget Presentation.
Known as the Youth Communication Package (Pakej Komunikasi Belia) which will be in motion starting from 1 January 2013 till 31 December 2013, or until the RM300 million allocations have been fully utilized.
According to LowYat.net, the package will be made available for Malaysians from ages 21 to 30, with monthly income of RM3,000 or below. However, eligible youths are only allowed to choose from pre-approved devices by Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commision (MCMC) which will not cost more than RM500.
UPDATE: According to a tweet by Minister of Information, Communications and Culture, Dato’ Seri Utama Rais Yatim, the Cabinet has greed to allow eligible youths between ages 21 to 30 with a monthly income under RM3,000 to purchase any given smartphone through the RM200 smartphone rebate.
While the terms of the plan still have yet to be known, the offer somehow cancels out one of the most important terms of the Youth Communication Package, where eligible youths are restricted to pre-approved smartphones priced under RM500 through the package.
Although the package is slated to begin this month onward, we are waiting for MCMC to shed more light on this issue soon.
LowYat.net also cited that on has to be an existing subscriber or new registrar for the new broadband plan with any of the telco such as Maxis Berhad, Celcom Axiata Berhad, Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd, U Mobile, YTL Communications and Tune Talk in order to enjoy the privilege.
UPDATE: The MCMC have given a list of smartphones that are eligible for the RM200 rebate under the Youth Communication Package. The following phones are:
1) Alcatel 993D
2) Alcatel OneTouch Glory 2
3) Alcatel OneTouch Inspire 2
4) The Buzz Phone
5) HTC Wildfire
6) Huawei Ideos X3
7) LG Optimus L3
8) Ninetology Black Pearl II
9) Ninetology Palette
10) Nokia 2730
11) Nokia 7230
12) Nokia Asha 305
13) Nokia Asha 308
14) Nokia Asha 311
15) Nokia C2-03
16) Nokia Lumia 610
17) Samsung Galaxy Chat
18) Samsung Galaxy Mini
19) Samsung Galaxy Pocket
20) Samsung Galaxy Y
21) Sony Xperia Tipo
22) ZTE Acqua
23) ZTE V790
In addition, MCMC also noted that the list may be updated from time to time. (source)
Youths who are interested and eligible for this package can register for the scheme at nbi.mcmc.gov.my starting from 1 January 2013.
For more information on the upcoming Youth Communication Package, head to MCMC’s official website.
For more tech-related news and updates, visit our friends at LowYat.net.
