Apart from unveiling its newly revamped identity, Buzzme also took the opportunity to announce its intention to expand into other countries within Southeast Asia. While that doesn’t sound anything out of ordinary, the prepaid MVNO’s actual objective is actually rather interesting.
Specifically, Buzzme is planning to rollout what the telco referred to as One World, One SIM Card which would allow customers to use their Buzzme plan and purchase Buzzme add-ons such as data at local rates when they travel to these countries. Not only that they will be charged at local rates, customers would also receive a local number without the need to swap out their Buzzme Malaysia SIM card.
While Buzzme is planning to launch its One World, One SIM Card strategy in Q4 2016, we believe that the full impact can only be felt in few years’ time though as Buzzme has only started laying down the foundation this year through Buzzme Thailand which will be launched next month. From there, the telco has planned to enter Indonesia in Q4 2016 before making its way to Philippines and Myanmar in 2017.
However, Singapore is not part of the Buzzme’s plan though as the market is deemed to be too small, according to its CEO, Loke Yee Siong. As interesting as this strategy might sounds like, we would definitely want to see it action first before passing any judgement.
