KUALA LUMPUR: Despite the intensive competition, mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) Tune Talk Sdn Bhd has recruited nearly 500,000 pre-paid mobile phone subscribers since its launch in August, making it one of the fastest-growing telco in the country.

Its chief executive officer Jason Lo said that the company was on track to meet its 12-month target of one million subscribers with the help of the unconventional marketing and communication strategy that includes a web-based approach.

The rather fast growth on Tune Talk's subscriber base seems to reinforce the view that MNVO does stand a chance to give a good fight to the incumbents for mobile phone users as well as revenue.

The emergence of MVNO is said to have exacted pressure on pricing and taking away market share from the existing telcos.

Lo previously revealed that it gains some 4,000 customers per day and that the monthly average revenue per user (ARPU), a standard gauge of telcos' operational performance, was about RM40 to RM45.

He said the target for the company was RM100,000 per day, or RM3 million a month in terms of top-ups.

Tune Talk have partnership with Celcom, which holds a 38.1% equity stake in the former. Celom has an option of acquiring an additional 16% stake in Tune Talk three years from the commercial launch or when subscriber base reaches 1.5 million.

Tune Talk, launched on Aug 19, offers a flat rate of 22 sen per minute for voice calls to all networks and five sen per SMS. It also offers incentives such as e-vouchers for flights on AirAsia, and insurance policies for subscribers.

It also recently launched its own mobile phone, Tune Talk Phone, in a bid to gain more subscribers from low to middle income group.

"The Tune Talk Phone is targeted at those aged 12-30 years comprising tourists, workers and students from low to middle income group. There is no contract imposes, neither there is a limit on number of units purchased," said Lo.

Tune Talk rides on Celcom's nationwide 2.5G network coverage and will soon widen its presence in the region.

"In the future Tune Talk subscribers could look at enjoying a better roaming proposition as well as local call rates when travelling within Asean countries when we have MVNO arrangements in Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand among others," he said.