The review excludes advertising for Maxis' other services - such as its post-paid mobile telephony, IDD and internet - which remain with BBDO.
The agency had the Hotlink account for a year.
A well-placed industry source said Maxis only intended for BBDO to handle Hotlink for an interim period since each brand was marketed differently.
Lilac Ong, Maxis Communications head of pre-paid marketing (consumer business division), said the two brands had separate brand names to differentiate one from the other.
Ong, who is overseeing the pitch, declined to comment further. It is understood that Maxis intends to continue marketing Hotlink to the youth.
Hotlink, which first launched in October 1999, competes directly against a pre-paid card from DiGi, which was the first telco to launch a pre-paid mobile service and pitch it at the youth market. The winning agency will need final approval from Maxis' procurement department. Maxis' mobile division contributed RM 625 million (US$165 million) in net profits this year and reaped a large increase in subscriptions, particularly from pre-paid mobile services.
