This article first appeared in Digital Edge, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on January 12, 2026 - January 18, 2026

As Malaysia’s digital landscape evolves, the smart home industry has increasingly moved away from luxury products to essential items for modern living. Recognising this trend, Telekom Malaysia Bhd’s (TM) convergence brand Unifi has expanded beyond its connectivity ecosystem to offer comprehensive solutions in this space.

The Unifi Smart Home solution, which is a part of the broader Unifi UniVerse, brings together the best of broadband, mobile, content via Unifi TV and smart home technologies under one roof. Unifi chief business and consumer officer Anand Vijayan envisions a future where smart living has a place in every home.

“The Unifi Smart Home solution was developed to make smart living simple, safe and accessible. There has also been rising demand for smarter, safer homes, so we introduced Unifi Home Shield, Malaysia’s first all-in-one home monitoring system,” he says.

One of the primary hurdles in the adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) devices has been complexity. For many consumers, the prospect of installing, configuring and maintaining multiple connected devices is daunting.

Unifi identified this friction point and positioned Unifi Home Shield as a hassle-free, fully managed, end-to-end security service. Anand says the core idea is to take complexity out of customers’ hands.

“The key challenges in building this product were to simplify the onboarding of users nationwide, addressing various requirements depending on the type and size of residences and delivering a smooth end-to-end customer experience,” he says.

To achieve this, Unifi undertook extensive product field testing and developed a dedicated Unifi Smart Home app to integrate disparate hardware into a single interface. It also invested in intensive training for installers nationwide to ensure the physical setup is as seamless as the digital experience.

The platform is built to be inclusive and supports not just tech-savvy urbanites but also the elderly and families in semi-urban areas. By utilising simplified interfaces, guided installation processes and visual-led controls, Unifi ensures adoption is easy for all households.

“Features such as human detection, motion alerts and remote monitoring are specifically tuned to enhance safety and elderly care, addressing real-world family concerns,” says Anand.

Anand acknowledges that despite the clear benefits, barriers such as cost, technical literacy and privacy concerns remain significant challenges in driving wider smart home adoption in the country. Unifi’s strategy is to dismantle these barriers systematically through a combination of accessible pricing, education and robust governance.

“We address these through a combination of tiered and accessible pricing, lifetime device warranty, bundled value with broadband and strong data governance to ensure customer trust,” he says.

Financially, the barrier to entry has been lowered with Unifi’s tiered pricing strategy, starting from as low as RM15 a month as an add-on to RM89 a month for bundled plans. By bundling the service with broadband rather than requiring large upfront payment for devices and installation, the service provider makes the technology accessible to the average household.

“Customers also enjoy greater value across Unifi’s broadband range, from 100Mbps to 2Gbps. For the same monthly broadband subscription fee, they receive the complete Unifi UniVerse experience, including the Unifi Home Shield smart security ecosystem integrated into their home connectivity plan,” says Anand, adding that for some plans, the solution comes at no additional cost.

Unifi Home Shield also comes with a lifetime device warranty, 24/7 support and secure cloud storage on a single app interface.

Beyond cost, the company focuses on practical, purpose-driven use cases — specifically home security and family safety — to help Malaysians see the everyday value of the technology.

“Visible cameras and sensors help reduce the likelihood of break-ins and improve neighbourhood safety. Real-time monitoring of children, elderly family members and even parcel deliveries enhances safety, improves responsiveness and supports overall care efficiency,” says Anand.

In an era when data breaches are a valid public concern, Unifi places a heavy emphasis on privacy and cybersecurity. Anand stresses that these elements are paramount to the products’ success.

To ensure reliability, Unifi works with reputable global smart device manufacturers that meet stringent quality and security requirements. All devices undergo rigorous evaluation to ensure seamless integration with the platform.

However, the software layer is where Unifi implements its strongest safeguards.

“All data and footage are encrypted, governed by Malaysian standards, and regularly updated for security. Video and data recordings are securely hosted on TM’s own Cloud Alpha Edge platform, ensuring privacy, reliability and top-tier data protection,” he says.

Unifi ensures data sovereignty by hosting data on TM’s local platform. This offers an added layer of reassurance in terms of jurisdiction and compliance. Coupled with transparent practices and responsible data usage, these measures are designed to foster the necessary trust in the secure smart home experience.

Looking at the bigger picture, Anand positions Unifi’s consumer efforts as complementary to Malaysia’s national digital agenda. While TM One, the group’s enterprise and government arm, works with local councils on smart city ecosystems, Unifi focuses on the household unit.

“Smart home solutions are a smaller subset of smart city ecosystems. Essentially consent, [while] enabling better emergency response and public service integration, is key,” he says.

In line with TM’s aspiration to become a digital powerhouse by 2030, these initiatives support the Malaysia Smart City Framework (MSCF) under the Ministry of Housing and Local Government. Smart homes act as the initial touchpoint for digital adoption, supporting MSCF’s dimensions such as smart living, smart governance and smart security.

“While our priority today is to deliver practical benefits to individual households, Unifi Home Shield is designed with the future in mind. With the right safeguards and customer consent, smart home insights can one day support wider community needs such as improving neighbourhood safety, supporting emergency response or helping cities manage resources more efficiently,” says Anand.

The technological backbone of Unifi Home Shield is increasingly reliant on artificial intelligence (AI) and the expanding 5G network. Anand explains that AI transforms a simple recording device into an intuitive smart assistant.

“AI powers features such as human detection, smart alerts and automation recommendations. For example, AI-powered security features can detect motion more accurately, learning routines to deliver meaningful alerts rather than noise,” he says.

This intelligence makes automation genuinely useful, with lights and sensors adapting to usage patterns for convenience. “We are exploring additional capabilities, but that will be announced when it is ready.”

Concurrently, the proliferation of 5G connectivity is set to enhance the user experience. Higher bandwidth and lower latency will strengthen real-time monitoring and enable high-definition video feeds.

“With improved connectivity, outdoor cameras and sensors can deliver instant alerts and clearer live feeds, keeping families informed and connected even when away from home,” says Anand.

Unifi has set ambitious targets for its smart home division. The focus is on expanding adoption among its base of over three million Unifi households, increasing the number of active connected devices and strengthening engagement on the platform.

“We aim to drive steady year-on-year growth in both user base and device usage as more Malaysians embrace the digital lifestyle,” says Anand, adding that one of the ways Unifi tracks its contribution is through smart home adoption, by making connected living more accessible to Malaysians.

The company is also looking beyond the residential market as it evaluates opportunities to extend these solutions to micro, small and medium enterprises. Pilot programmes are already underway to provide security and automation for businesses, with expansion guided by market demand and readiness.

This complements the enterprise-grade solutions offered by TM One, such as Vision AI, which provides large organisations with facial recognition and predictive analysis capabilities.

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