Early birds: Hundreds of youth queuing up at the Yes outlet in Queensbay Mall.
GEORGE TOWN: Hundreds of youngsters lined up in front of the Yes store at Queensbay Mall in Penang hours before it was opened for business.
There was no big sale or a promotion. Instead, it was the store giving away free Yes Buzz 4G Cloud Phone to eligible youths, aged between 21 and 30, under the Government's RM200 smartphone rebate.
Codenamed Yes' Youth Communications Package, the phone comes with a Yes ID and a Malaysia Value-pack 25, which gives 1GB data.
The rebate is being implemented under the Youth Communication Package following Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's announcement when tabling Budget 2013 last year.
A long line had formed outside the outlet by 9.30am, but the phones only arrived at 3.30pm. All 1,000 units were given away by 8pm.
Spotted among the crowd was mechanical engineering student G. Thevakaren, 23.
“I find the subsidy especially helpful as many undergraduates are unable to afford a smartphone,” he said.
Clerk Mohd Fahmi Zakaria, 25, said the Cloud Phone would act as a spare since he already has a Blackberry Torch 9810.
A brand under YTL Communications, Yes was the winner of the Broadband InfoVision Awards 2011 under the Best New Service category and Frost & Sullivan's Most Innovative Service Provider last year.
YTL Communications chief executive officer Wing K. Lee said more than 10,000 smartphones were snapped up nationwide within days after the announcement of the offer.
“This shows that Malaysians are ready for 4G mobile Internet and they are aware that Yes is the first and only nationwide 4G service provider with the widest coverage in Malaysia.
“This is one of our ways to help Malaysians, and we find this a good opportunity to let the users experience the 4G network.
“Our Cloud Phone can also double up as a 4G dongle via a bundled USB cable that enables customers to enjoy speeds up to 10 times faster than 3G on their notebooks or computers.
“We are happy to help bridge the digital divide in Malaysia, and in conjunction with the New Year, Yes-to-Yes calls and SMS are free of charge until Feb 28,” he said, adding that the highest users of Yes Life, Yes voice and the SMS service would win an iPad Mini every week till next month.
Those interested in the RM200 smartphone rebate should register with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission website, www.skmm.gov.my.
For further details about the Yes' Youth Communications Package, Yes Life and Yes Life iPad Mini contest, log on to http://www.yes.my or http://www.yeslife.my/.