PETALING JAYA: An audit has determined that the Yes Altitude Smartphones provided to students for home-based learning are safe to use, says YTL Communications.
It said that China Mobile, its manufacturing partner, and battery manufacturer UTime Limited had completed an audit of the production and quality control data from the production run of the Yes Altitude smartphones.
“They have confirmed that Yes Altitude smartphones are fully in compliance with all pertinent international health and safety certifications… and are safe for use,” YTL said in a statement on Tuesday (June 22).
This came after two alleged incidents of the smartphones catching fire went viral on social media.
YTL said preliminary investigations of both incidents showed that the screens were undamaged, indicating that the phones did not explode.
“In the first incident, the issue appears to be confined to the battery.
“The phone’s integrity is not compromised and the screen is undamaged. In fact, the smartphone is still fully functional with a new battery,” it said.
In the other incident, YTL said they were informed that after two hours of online classes, the phone was charged using a third party rapid charger with an older third party cable.
The socket located was located relatively high on the wall and the phone was placed it inside a shirt pocket hung on the wall when charging.
“Sections of the charging cable used at the time of the incident suffered considerable burns, with wiring exposed.
“The heat concentrated on the charging cable and the top part of the phone around the charging port, suggesting a strong power surge that came in through the charging port. The screen of the phone remained in good condition, indicating the phone did not explode,” read the statement.
The company reminded phone users to only use the original chargers supplied and Sirim-certified charging cables that are in good condition.
The phone was jointly developed by Yes and China Mobile for educational use, with the model provided by YTL Foundation free to over 100,000 B40 families under the Learn From Home Initiative since the movement control order (MCO) began in 2020.
Under the Jaringan Prihatin programme, Yes has offered two device bundle plans with no deposits, no upfront or monthly payments and no contracts to eligible recipients. Each plan comes with a free Yes Android phone with either 15GB (for individuals) or 30GB (for families) monthly data for 12 months.
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