10 Years of 013

I received a call a few days ago from a friend who was working in UK, I've lost touch with him for nine years.

My first reaction when I got the call was "How did you get this number?". His reaction to that was, "I'm surprised you're still using this number! Almost all our other friends had their numbers changed!".

This got me thinking about 1997. That was the year I had my first mobile phone, and being very lowly paid then, I opted for Emartel 013.

Being one of the few who was using 013 wasn't easy. During the era of before inter-operator cooperation, sending sms to friends on other services were impossible. That caused a lot of resentment among my circle of friends (who were mostly on 012 or 016) who had to bear higher charges of calling me.

On top of that, Emartel wasn't doing well, so coverage wasn't very good. That changed when Telekom took over, renamed it TMTouch and later merged it with Celcom. Suddenly, I was the guy with the best coverage, hehe. Those days, using 012 had a certain snob factor to it, so I couldn't resist rubbing it in when friends on 012 couldn't get coverage whenever they're back in Sarawak, my home state.

As time goes by, almost all of my friends moved to 012 prepaid, with a few sticking to 016. My circle of 013 friends and colleagues never increased. In addition, with the introduction of new pricing schemes, from a financial point of view it became increasingly illogical to stick to 013. But still I continued to use the service.

Things finally made sense when Celcom introduced the Minutes Plan. Overnight my phone bill plunged by 40%.

Even today friends tease me about my loyalty to 013. I guess it was more laziness and the inconvenience of informing people of the change that held me back rather than loyalty.

But next year, the government is planning to introduce number portability to the industry. For the first time, one can change service providers without having to change the phone number, so I can be 013 but actually using Maxis, for example.

So, would I change?

The answer is maybe. If I do change, it probably won't be 012 - even after all these years, I can't shake off my perception of 012's snob factor :)

I have been rather taken in by 016 lately, for a few reasons -- the endearing Yellow Coverage Fellow, their amazing ability to take on Maxis and win market share from it, and my admiration for their work culture.