Earlier this afternoon, MalaysianWireless met up with Farid Yunus, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of redONE Mobile.
Farid was previously Celcom Axiata’s chief strategy and business transformation officer, responsible for technology and market strategies and business planning. Early this year, he left Yoodo (a digital Telco operated by Celcom) and returned to redONE as CEO, a position he held for several years since 2012.
Founded in 2012, red ONE Network Sdn Bhd is a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO), powered by Celcom Axiata’s 3G and 4G LTE network. The Virtual Telco has more than 1.2 million active postpaid subscribers.
Below are 7 Questions (hosted on Facebook Video) with Farid Yunus, the CEO of redONE:
1. You were one of the founders of Yoodo. Why did you join redONE?
Farid talks about his reason for leaving Yoodo.
2. Tell us more about redONE, how is it different from another MVNO/Telco? Anything new coming soon?
redONE is the first postpaid MVNO in Malaysia. More than 15,000 individual agents are now selling and promoting redONE. The MVNO will be soft-launching redONE Singapore on 15 May. There are also plans for redONE Thailand, redONE Vietnam and redONE Philipines. “Our vision is to be the largest MVNO in the ASEAN region,”
3. You are the CEO of redONE. What do you do on a daily basis?
“Emails, meeting, shaking hands, people management…..”
4. Where would redONE be in 5 years time, any goals to achieve?
“We want to be in every ASEAN countries within 5 years”…… “Single SIM that can be used in any ASEAN countries”. Farid also talks about listing redONE, likely- Bursa Malaysia or Hong Kong.
5. In your own personal view, what would be the future of MVNOs?
MVNOs are flourishing in Europe, while in Asia, MVNOs are not encouraged by the Telcos, although he said that MVNOs with Celcom Axiata are successful.
6. You have been in the Telco Industry for a very long time. What is your view of the current Telco Industry in Malaysia, what is wrong, what should be fixed?
Farid talks about competition, pricing, network quality and USP fund.
7. What is your view on 5G?
Too much hype, cost a lot of money. Consumers don’t need 100Mbps or 1Gbps on mobile phone. “….The later 5G comes, the better”
