Malaysia Broadband News

Transforming cellular companies

2012-01-31T16:56:00.001+08:00

THERE is already a washing machine that can be programmed by its user using the Internet. And maybe, one day your favourite potted plant may tweet you that it needs to be watered.

A report says that beverage companies are already tracking the weather to know the change so that they can serve their customers better and retailers are finding new ways to reach out to new markets.

The extent of which the Internet has infiltrated our daily lives might seem a bit of a joke for some, but the cellular companies are not seeing the funny side of that.

In fact, the data boom is already threatening their once bread-and-butter voice revenues which have stagnated as people use the Internet for much of their communication, bypassing the use of traditional avenues the cellular companies were built on.

Companies are the first to jump on the bandwagon in terms of data, using software and technologies that drive efficiency and profits. Now, the man-in-the-street is doing the same to make their lives a lot easier in an ever-increasing demanding world.

“Emerging academic research suggests that companies that use data and business analysis to guide decision making are more productive and experience higher returns on equity than competitors that don’t,” says McKinsey in a report.

The youths of today want information, entertainment and education at the touch of a button and because of that telecom companies, be it fixed, cellular or wireless, are transforming themselves in the hope that they can retain their customers for a longer period.

This is also the era of behavioural change and big data boom where scalable networks to seamless connectivity is a given. The future, according to experts, is about “volume, variety and velocity and that is the hallmark of the big data era.’’

Thanks to the booming use of smartphones, tablets and other portable devices, the amount of data flowing over cellular and wireless phone networks is growing faster than the providers can keep up with.

That is why our cellular companies are in transformation mode. Each is trying to make sure they are in the forefront of the data growth wave because the growth in the future is in data as voice revenues level off.

Their biggest fear for doing that is the loss of their customers to somesone who can give them what they want. The Internet, which has revolutionised industries all around the world, is causing ripples in another seemingly more modern industry.

Need for change
Over the past two years, Malaysian celcos have been reshaping and re-inventing themselves. Their objective is to keep users on their networks.

Celcom Axiata Bhd has been in transformation over the past two years. In its journey, it sees that by 2015, 50% of its revenues will come from data and the remaining 50% from voice. Data contribute just under 40% of revenue today.

The have set up consumer labs and paid top dollar to experts to know what their users want. It has also flattened its decision-making processes into three three units where its CEO Datuk Seri Shazalli Ramly heads one and the most important of all – the one that zeroes in on the customer.

“Where the industry is going depends on different facets. Companies like us have to make a choice as where to specialise in, where to dominate and what to be good at. We may want to drop things that we do not want and approaching the market as a single mass may no longer be applicable. We will see companies taking unique positions and giving unique offerings,” he says.

The battle lines have been drawn and for Shazalli, Celcom has to be seen as a company where a customer has access to from every possible angle and circumstances.

DiGi.Com Bhd too is on a transformation journey ever since its new CEO Henrik Clausen came on board in May 2010. Its tagline of “Internet for all” is the direction the company is focused on.

Maxis Bhd, the largest cellular company in the country by subcribers, is on a similar journey. Its CEO Sandip Das says: “It is not an option but a need and there may be many life cycles.” Even Das has reorganised the group so that there is strong operating leadership combination with two COOs.

U Mobile Sdn Bhd under Dr Kaizad Heerjee has been making some noise and is gaining traction in the broadband world. It is not easy when there are three big players but operators like U Mobile, Packet One Networks Sdn Bhd (P1), RedTone International Bhd and YTL Communications Bhd have a place in the market space and they are providing Internet connections to their customers and continue to skirmish against the big three. All operating cellular and wireless players are in expansion mode and in the same direction.

Pressure on networks
One of the reasons why networks are congested is today’s smartphones. These high-powered devices are siphoning bandwidth because of the proliferation of applications and videos.

A report said that “the hope is that 4G spectrum will allow smartphones and tablet computer users to stream and download almost anywhere. 4G will further set the scene for an explosion in tablet and smartphone usage as demand for mobile data is expected to rise by more than 500% in five years.”

Another report quoting Cisco research’s Visual Networking Index data says that bandwidth consumption in key countries could grow massively between now and 2015. Citing the UK as an example, it says the average MB per mobile connection per month could see a boost from 268 MB in 2010 to 4,023 MB, an almost 21-fold increase. A similar explosion in usage is seen in other developed countries such as France, Japan and Australia.

Telcos in Malaysia are looking at 4GLTE or the 2.6G spectrum and have began overhauling the entire network to cater for this new era of data. The assignment of the spectrum will take place on Jan 1, 2013.

A report quoting Infonetics says capex is expected to rise an average 6% per year up to 2014 globally.

Here, operators spend anything from RM700mil to RM1bil in capex every year.

Das of Maxis says their capex this year would be RM1bil and that is the same amount Celcom will spend. DiGi’s Clausen says this year’s investment is about RM700mil.

The Government has identified nine players for the Long Term Evolution (LTE) spectrum. The four 3G players – Celcom, DiGi, Maxis and U Mobile – will have access to 10x2 spectrum block and so will the Wimax boys – P1, RedTone, Asiaspace and YTL Comms.

The difference is that P1 and YTL Comms will be based on a different band, known as TDD-LTE, while the rest including newcomer Puncak Semangat Sdn Bhd are on the FDD block. Puncak gets 30Mhz because it is a new player. It does not have a base and needs that bit more spectrum to push ahead.

Puncak is a latecomer in the mobile game but has high ambitions. It is in talks with all the big players hoping to ride on a ready infrastructure instead of having to build from scratch. But that depends on what it brings to the table because the big boys want that big spectrum that Puncak has. But is the latter willing to share that?

Forging partnerships
The challenge moving ahead for players, as consumers get used to the world of data, is the capacity issue. Will there be enough for users to enjoy a decent service?

One solution is forging partnership. No one player can do it alone and going by the limited spectrum award for 2.6G, the players have no choice but to cooperate.

DiGi’s Clausen is blunt when he says that “voice business is levelling out in terms of growth. The future growth will come from data and Internet and we have a big role and responsibility to provide that experience. We cannot do it alone, we need to work with partners, be it in handsets, network capacity, application and content.”

Das seems very inviting when he says “we are open to any party wanting to share network with us.” In fact, Maxis wants to lead the pack to provide access not just to consumers but also players. U Mobile and Maxis are in partnership for RAN sharing and eventually for LTE sharing.

Celcom’s Shazalli says the celco has been working with partners in the past and will do so in the future. Its has one with DiGi and that relationship will go into the LTE era.

The story out there is that both Maxis and Celcom wants to lead the pack. Both are individually trying to cajole players to join them so that they can build a network and have the spectrum to support all their customers. Thus far, Maxis has U Mobile and Celcom has DiGi and it makes sense for the parties to stick together for LTE, but the road forward is still unknown when it comes to sharing the new technology.

RedTone – which already has a relationship with Celcom by virtue of the mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) – has yet to decide which is its favourite. Talk out there suggests it could go with Celcom but then it may favour U Mobile and join Maxis.

It makes sense for P1 and YTL Comms, as both will be on the TDD block, to work together. The question is, will they?

“They may not do it so soon but eventually it makes sense to combine efforts or else they will remain niche players,” said an industry expert.

It is a known fact that LTE is great for data as it allows for networks to carry more data than 3G but there is a need to have fibre optics at the back haul including the cellular base stations. Today, the backhaul network is under an increasing amount of stress and the main factor contributing to that is data-centric services that have a much greater impact on the network than the voice services it was originally intended to handle.

Maxis, Celcom and P1 have forged agreements with Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) to ride on its high speed broadband access for its backhaul or to offer services.

Those in the know claim that Celcom and DiGi are also trying to lay fibre for their backhaul after failing to come to terms with fibre-optic operators. The question is would the cost of rolling out new cables be more than riding on existing infrastructure?

The best customer experience
Technology is one thing but equally as important is keeping customers happy.

Questions have been raised if users are getting the best quality of service (QoS) operators say they are providing.

Shazalli says: “Everyone has a different kind of QoS definition. On our part, we want to create the part of quality and match the quality to our customer. It may seem impossible, but there are certain levels we can do. So it is really targeted services.”

He also believes that the QoS currently needs to be fixed.

Clausen adds that there is a need for improvement all the time and it is about looking across all touch points to provide the experience.

“We need to take new steps as customer expectations are increasing all the time and unless we embark on the transformational (journey), we cannot live the ambition of being the best and we intend to prove that (ours is the best service),” he says.

Das says he was making sure Maxis could provide a better experience for its customers. “You may have the coverage but at the same time we need to ensure we have the capacity. Those are the investment we have to make.”

source: The Star

New law requires all restaurants in Malaysian city to provide Wi-Fi

2012-01-03T14:38:00.003+08:00

According to Malaysian editorial, The New Straits Times Press, restaurants in Kuala Lumpur (the largest city in Malaysia) are now required to have Wi-Fi. Enforcement of the new law will begin in April of this year, and is now a “mandatory prerequisite for food operators when they apply for their licence to open a new restaurant or when existing operators renew their licence.”

Back in 2008, a total of 1,500 free Wi-Fi hotspots were enabled via the WirelessKL service. With these new changes, the existing free hotspots are to be discontinued. According to The New Straits Times:

When asked why City Hall did not continue the free WirelessKL service with its service provider, Ahmad Fuad said the council wanted to give other service providers a chance to offer better connectivity and value-added service to city folk.

The law also applies to cafes, pubs, bars and club lounges, so long as they are larger than 120 sq m. While mandating the change sounds extreme, it is likely the quickest way to get every eatery up and running with Wi-Fi. As someone who works on their computer all the time, I find it remarkable that so many coffee shops in NYC still don’t provide free Wi-Fi.

No matter what though, I’d hate to see business owners forced into paying for internet services, especially for fine dining. Do you think a law the best way to increase connectivity in Malaysia?

source: The Next Web

P1 To Be Ready For IPv6 in 2012

2012-01-03T12:17:00.000+08:00

South East Asia’s leading 4G service provider Packet One Networks (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (“P1”) expects to be fully IPv6 ready by end of 2012 in bracing for the depletion of IPv4 Internet addresses. The company has already completed phase two of three phases of the compliance exercise.

Michael Lai, Chief Executive Officer of P1 said, “We are quickly approaching a major milestone in the life of the Internet. Malaysia is preparing for the use of IPv6 addresses in order to keep pace with the change. As a forward-looking organization, P1’s preparations on the compliance exercise began months back. Our backend systems are already fully IPv6 compliant. The third phase is on the last mile delivery and end user devices compliance.

Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) is designed to succeed Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4). Since 1981, IPv4 has been the publicly used version of the Internet Protocol and it is currently the foundation for most Internet communications. There are 4.3 billion numeric IPv4 addresses. IPv6 addresses expand to a multiple leap of more than 340 trillion to support our world's 7 billion population today.

IPv6 is needed to support the fast pace of Internet use growth and the explosion in the use of wireless products, quality services, inbuilt security features, enhanced mobility and the need for more IP addresses to facilitate its wider use.

The Number Resource Organization, a group representing the world's five regional Internet registries that dole out the numeric addresses has stated that the last five of eight blocks of IPv4 addresses were handed out to the registries earlier this year.

“The growth of the Internet has mandated a need for more addresses than are possible with IPv4,” said Lai. “It’s a case of basic binary math. There is not enough numbers with IPv4.”

IPv4 addresses are divided into four 8-bit chunks to make up an Internet address which is a 32-bit number. IPv6 addresses, in comparison, use four 32-bit chunks for a 128-bit number.
Lai continued, “In the very near future, the Internet will not just be used for communication from man to man. It will be man to machine and machine to machine. Just imagine 50 billion machines and 100 billion objects in the world will all require individual IP addresses.”

Lai further explained the impact of the transition on businesses and consumers. “If your business has an IPv4 connection to the Internet you won’t be able to access IPv6 websites and vice versa, unless there is a gateway device set up to handle this. Companies with websites or other Internet services must get new IPv6-based addresses for their servers and network connections to the outside world so they can handle IPv6 traffic. Consumers will eventually have to upgrade their digital subscriber lines (DSL) and cable modems because although the IPv4 network will still work, they'll miss out on Internet services available only over IPv6.”

source: Packet One Network

Sabah: Closing the broadband divide

2011-12-27T10:44:00.000+08:00

With the federal government targeting broadband penetration rates of 75 per cent by the end of 2015, much work remains to be done in Sabah, which, at 33 per cent, has the lowest penetration rate of all Malaysia’s states.

Some progress has been seen in this regard recently, however, with several telecoms companies moving to boost their investments in Eastern Malaysia.

The issue of inequality in ICT infrastructure between East and West Malaysia was recently highlighted by Sabah’s deputy chief minister, Yee Moh Chai, who appealed to the federal government to ensure that Sabah has access to the same broadband services and pricing schemes as Peninsular Malaysia.

Yee, who is also Sabah’s resource development and information technology minister, said recently in comments to the press, “We don’t want to feel as if the federal government has neglected the development of technology and communications in Sabah.” He also added that only the federal government had the necessary authority to expand coverage in the state.

In 2007, the government of Malaysia set a target household broadband penetration rate of 50 per cent by the end of 2010. However, Sabah was assigned a separate target rate of 25 per cent, which the state had since surpassed. Peninsular Malaysia’s rate, however, is currently over 60 per cent.

Meanwhile, the government’s National Broadband Initiative spelt out the importance of implementing broadband services nationally, calling attention to the positive impact broadband access could have on GDP and attracting foreign direct investment, as well as promoting national competitiveness by facilitating the knowledge-based economy and creating knock-on effects in other sectors.

Yet recently, customers in Sabah had voiced dismay over a trend in which broadband telecommunications companies operating in the state had increased charges but not service quality.

Some broadband providers which had previously offered five days of access for RM10 (US$3.2) reduced the number of days to two, meaning that pay-as-you-go customers were now paying more than double the original amount for a week’s internet access.

Sabahans were particularly cost sensitive, as they often paid more and made less than their counterparts on the Peninsula. However, overall costs were generally higher in Malaysia than in other regional peers. Singapore’s broadband system, for example, charges around 10 per cent of the average fee in Malaysia to deliver 2Mbps services.

Last year, during an information, communication and technology (ICT) forum, the federal government promised to investigate reducing broadband access fees nationwide to ensure that more people – especially those in rural areas – could afford broadband service.

Indeed, a more equitable deal for Sabah’s broadband consumers may now be on the horizon. The newly appointed chairman of the Malaysian Communications & Multimedia Commission (MCMC), Mohamed Sharil Tarmizi, met with telecommunications industry CEOs in early November and reportedly told them he wanted to see improvements in the quality of service and coverage for both broadband and cellular service, including narrowing the gap in rural connectivity.

Sharil’s words have apparently been heeded. Maxis, one of Malaysia’s wireless communications providers, said it was now working closely with the federal government to lower the cost of entry to broadband adoption to boost the overall penetration rate in Sabah.

In late November, Maxis reported that it had invested about RM100 million (US$31.4 million) in the past 18 months to boost its network coverage in Eastern Malaysia. Maxis’ joint COO, Mark Dioguardi, said in local press reports that the investment had significantly improved Maxis’ coverage in the two states.

In addition, Dioguardi said Maxis had also doubled down on its commitment to assist urban areas in Sabah achieve economic growth.

“Maxis aims to provide Sabahans with critical broadband connectivity through more network infrastructure investments and competitive localised customer offerings,” Dioguardi told reporters.

Other companies offering broadband services in Sabah included Celcom, DiGi, Telekom Malaysia, Y-Max, U-Mobile, Redtone-CNX, Asiapace and Packet One.
Additional improvements might be on the way. In October, YTL Communications announced it was assembling a business plan to secure licences to roll out Yes, its 4G mobile broadband network, which included internet-with-voice service, in both Sabah and Sarawak.

Such a service could not be launched quickly enough for those in Sabah hoping to follow the wider country’s lead in boosting its internet penetration rate and developing new, high-tech and value-added businesses.

source: The Borneo Post

National broadband penetration rate reaches 81 per cent

2011-12-13T12:10:00.001+08:00

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 12 (Bernama) -- The national fixed line and wireless broadband penetration rate had reached 81 per cent of populated areas, the Dewan Negara was told today.

Deputy Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Joseph Salang Gandum said up to the third quarter of this year, the total internet subscriptions numbered 5.59 million and the number of internet users was approximately 17.5 million.

"The internet service coverage has also been increased from time to time by the service providers and through the implementation of broadband initiatives by the government.

"Among the initiatives are the construction of telecommunication tower, wireless village, community broadband centre and broadband services at rural libraries," he said in reply to Senator Chew Lee Giok during question time.

The deputy minister also said the broadband penetration rate in Malaysia should not be compared to Singapore and Hong Kong.

"This is because the population density in Malaysia differs from the two countries... so is the size and the geographical features of Malaysia," he said.

Nevertheless, he said the government was concerned with the service performance and the quality of internet service in the country and had underlined the mandatory standards for broadband access service that should be adhered to by the service providers.

source: mysinchew

Malaysia's LTE spectrum distribution draws criticism

2011-12-13T12:03:00.001+08:00

KUALA LUMPUR--The Malaysian government has awarded long term evolution (LTE) licenses to nine telco companies, albeit under specific conditions. However, the move has prompted an industry analyst to question whether the market will be able to support that many players, while a market player also questions the validity of some of the spectrum allocations.

According to the Star Online, all nine telco players were allocated blocks of 2.6GHz spectrum but in smaller blocks than originally announced. They comprise four cellular players--Celcom Axiata, DiGi.Com, Maxis and U Mobile--and three WiMax players--Packet One, REDtone International and YTL Communications--which will each get 20MHz, comprising two blocks of 10Mhz FD-LTE, spectrum for their LTE deployments. Asiaspace, which has yet to offer any commercial WiMax, got the nod for a 10MHz block, the Star Online noted.

New market entrant Puncak Semangat, which is owned by local billionaire Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary, surprisingly landed the lion's share of the spectrum having been allocated 30MHz (TD-LTE) of spectrum.

Cellular players need paired TD-LTE spectrum to operate while WiMax players only require unpaired TD-LTE spectrum.

Business newspaper Edge Financial Daily quoted an unnamed source to say: "That the decision was made to bring in new entrants and allow room for market forces, and in that light, the spectrum allocations are equitable, though, not entirely equal."

All nine operators are awarded the spectrum based on the condition that they re-submit their respective detailed business plans to, and be approved by, local industry regulator, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), by Dec. 15.

Each licensee will have to pay 5 million ringgit (US$1.6 million) irrevocable guarantee for every 10MHz of spectrum, said Edge Financial, adding that the conditional spectrum assignments will only be granted if their respective business plans meet MCMC's criteria.

Too many players for local market
An industry analyst ZDNet Asia spoke to noted that nine mobile broadband players were simply too many in a market with a population of just over 28 million.

Nicole McCormick, Ovum senior analyst, said this will make it hard for operators to achieve profitability and past mobile consolidation in Malaysia shows this.

"Heavy discounting by operators will likely emerge as nine mobile broadband players contend for market share," McCormick said. "[But] on the consumer side [there will be] cheap prices and plenty of choice."

Asked if awarding 30MHz of LTE spectrum to a nascent player such as Puncak Semangat was a good idea, the Ovum analyst said such practices went against global trends. She noted that in several Asian markets such as Vietnam, India, Indonesia and the Philippines, the trend was moving toward consolidation, rather than the licensing of new players.

McCormick added that she expects consolidation to happen in the next few years as four of the cellular players may become three.

"On the WiMax side, it will be difficult for even two nationwide players--as Malaysia has the most aggressive WiMax play in Asia--to compete alongside three to four TD-LTE players," she said.

Quizzed on whether 20MHz blocks of spectrum were enough for most of the players, McCormick noted that to get more than 100Mbps over-the-air and make full use of LTE's capabilities, cellular operators would require two blocks of 20MHz of contiguous spectrum.

Question over validity of some licensees
A senior executive employed at one of the nine operators which received the license, told ZDNet Asia that the telco was prepared for the spectrum result. "We've already planned for what we've been allocated," he said on the condition of anonymity. "Having more spectrum is always good, but we are prepared to go with what we have."

The executive, however, was critical over the validity of some licensees which were awarded the spectrum.

"The question is how many of these players are going to re-sell their spectrum allocation [at a later date] should they not be able to roll out LTE, given that some of them haven't been successful [with their WiMax rollout] in the first place.

"And what are the mechanisms by which MCMC will use to monitor their business plans this time?" he questioned. "At the end of the day, the allocation of government resources should not be used as a get-quick rich program."

He added that spectrum is a national resource that should only be given to those which has a proven track record and can deliver value to the country.

MCMC first called for the LTE business plans to be submitted in January this year but had stalled the decision process, causing industry observers to criticize the Malaysian government for the delay.

source: ZDNet

Malaysia To Have SEA's First 4G Experience Centre and Test Lab

2011-11-17T11:09:00.001+08:00

The cutting-edge 4G technology is getting a timely boost with the setting up of a Southeast Asia's first 4G LTE TDD* Technology Experience Centre and Test Lab in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This breakthrough is the result of the collaboration between Packet One Networks (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd ("P1"), P1's consulting arm Packet One International Pte Ltd ("P1i"), and ZTE Corporation ("ZTE"). It also gains support from China Mobile Communications Co. Ltd Research Institute ("China Mobile").

The 4G Experience Centre and Test Lab will be established in early 2012 at P1's headquarters known as Packet Hub. Operators and vendors who want a taste of blazing wireless speeds of 120 Mbps and beyond are welcome to utilize the facility. Malaysia is the choice location for the set-up because P1 is based in Kuala Lumpur and has, for over the last three years, been operating one of the largest 4G WiMAX networks in the world. P1 is very advanced in its preparations to progress from 4G WiMAX to a dual 4G WiMAX/LTE TDD network.

Michael Lai, CEO of P1 said, "The impact of 4G technology on our lives will be phenomenal. P1's customers today utilize a whopping average of 17.5GB of data per month, an increase of two and a half times the amount of data utilization since our commercial launch in 2008. What's even more mind-boggling, data utilization is growing by the day with the proliferation of high-definition screens and nifty handheld devices. Telco operators have no choice but to be ready for this mega trend of fibre optics in the air and the great paradigm shift from voice to data business model. P1 is ready and hence the 4G Experience Centre and Test Lab will hopefully fast-track 4G LTE TDD technology deployments in this region."

Managing Director of P1i Dr. Tang Pen San commented that in the last three years since P1's commercial deployment, its headquarters has received over 70 telco operators and vendors from 60 countries to understand how a 4G network is being deployed and managed. "P1i's role is to assist aspiring 4G operators to a smoother adoption of this cutting edge technology," Dr. Tang added.

Dr. Wang ShouChen, President of the ZTE LTE TDD product line commented in the same event, "As the leader of LTE TDD technology and one of the major LTE TDD solution providers, ZTE is excited and proud to be part of this collaboration. We have established a strong partnership with P1 in last two years. This 4G Experience Centre and Test Lab allow us to extend this partnership and bring it to a higher level. The Centre helps to better promote the migration towards LTE TDD technology and demonstrate the values come with this transition."

Huang Yuhong, Deputy General Manager of China Mobile Research Institute when attending the LTE TDD/FDD** International Summit held here commented, "LTE TDD is flexible in resource and spectrum configuration, therefore better meets the demand of mobile data traffic. LTE TDD benefits from the global roaming and global scale created by the convergence of LTE TDD and FDD. The commercialization of LTE TDD takes off in 2011, with early adopters including incumbent mobile operators, greenfield operators, and WiMAX operators. The 4G LTE TDD Experience Centre and Test Lab will provide a base for testing and investigating interoperability among LTE TDD, LTE FDD and WiMAX. It will promote the LTE deployment and WiMAX transition in Asia and Africa and build a global success."

Lai said, "For any technology mass adoption, the eco-system must be in place. In this case, the DNA or Device, Network and Application have to evolve in tandem and coherently. The 4G Experience Centre and Test Lab is a clear and steady roadmap to encourage over 530 WiMAX operators in 150 countries towards a smooth and natural migration to LTE TDD technology. After all, WiMAX and LTE TDD are from the same Internet-Protocol family of technology. This will be achieved through sharing our experience and advice on multi-mode deployment, interworking with 2G, 3G and WiFi, WiMAX, LTE TDD/FDD network planning and optimization in the 2.3 GHz and 2.6 GHz bands."

The Centre will initially utilize P1's 2.6GHz spectrum for LTE TDD technology showcase and interoperability testing of the latest 4G devices. By the first half 2012, the network will also utilize P1's 2.3GHz spectrum.

*Long Term Evolution Time Division Duplex
** Frequency Division Duplex
NB: LTE TDD and TD LTE essentially mean the same

source: P1

Telenor Talks with Malaysia´s Government about Ownership of DiGi.com

2011-11-15T10:53:00.001+08:00

Norway's Telenor ASA is in talks with Malaysia's government about raising its stake in local telecommunications firm DiGi.Com Bhd , Telenor's Asia chief said in an interview with the Business Times newspaper published on November 11 2011.

Telenor used to own 61 percent of DiGi but sold a 10.2 percent stake to Time DotCom Bhd in 2007 for 1.61 billion ringgit ($510.9 million), to comply with the government's foreign shareholding rule. Telenor now owns 49 percent of DiGi.

"In all the meetings with the government, we are asking: When will the telecommunications industry be liberalised or when will they take up the threshold for foreign ownership?" Telenor Asia chief executive officer Sigve Brekke said in the interview.

"We always urged the government to reconsider the ceiling for foreign ownership, and if that ever happens, we would then be considering if we should increase our stake," said Brekke.

source: scandasia

TM On Track To Achieve Target Of 1.1 Million Premises For UniFi Service

2011-11-15T10:49:00.001+08:00

Target of 1.1 million premises for its high-speed broadband UniFI service by year-end.

Its executive vice president (consumer), Imri Mokhtar, said to-date the subscriber base has reached one million premises and the company was confident of achieving its target.

"We are ready to fulfil our commitment to the government to wire up 1.1 million premises by year-end," he said at the launch of loyalty programme, TM Rewards, here today.

Imri said TM expected to sign up 300,000 members for its TM Rewards programme by year-end.

"Under the loyalty programme, the members are expected to enjoy rebates and redeem reward points with attractive prizes," he said.

source: BERNAMA

New digital cable TV operator Nilamas to unveil all tomorrow

2011-11-15T10:43:00.001+08:00

PETALING JAYA: Nilamas Corp Bhd is set to showcase a team that will take on giant Astro All Asia Networks plc in the battle for eyeballs in the local pay-TV market.

The market will be demanding answers from Nilamas as to how it can take on Astro when other players in the past have failed to do so.

Astro may also not be the only player that Nilamas has to slug it out with, as content is now even pushed through by traditional telecom companies, which also are owners of fibre optic and wireless networks, and Internet protocol television (IPTV) players. These include Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM), RedTone International Bhd and Maxis Bhd, which expects to launch its IPTV offering soon.

Tomorrow, Nilamas is expected to unveil at an event the details of its plan to offer an interactive digital cable-TV service, providing entertainment and interactive educational services to the Malaysian market.

At the same event, the company is expected to launch its brand and announce the name of the new entity, said to be Asian Broadcasting Network (M) Sdn Bhd, that is projected to drive the digital cable TV business.

Sources added that Sreedhar Subramaniam had been appointed chief executive officer and director of the digital cable TV network. They said he and his team had to make sure the targeted service launch date of second quarter 2012 would be kept. Sreedhar was formerly CEO and co-founder of Malaysian Insider and prior to that, he was chief operating officer at NTV7.
Thus far Nilamas had hired about 20 people and that included some technical experts from India, the sources said.

Along with Sreedhar, it is believed that Anne Edwards has also been appointed producer for economic news and Michael Chan senior vice-president for sales. Chan was formerly with Maxis and prior to that, ntv7 and Astro.

Nilamas has secured all the requisite licences from the Government to offer digital cable TV service. Under its various licences, it is allowed to offer broadcasting services for a fee. The licences are valid for five years.
The set-up cost for the cable network offering is expected to be RM2bil over five years, according to sources, and Nilamas may be looking at a 40:60 equity-debt combination to finance its venture.

The broadcasting centre will be in Puchong, Selangor, and its directors and shareholders are Tan Sri Mohd Anwar Mohd Nor, Tan Sri Mohamad Noor Abdul Rahim and Datuk Nik Mohd Amin.

It intends to offer a variety of content, both entertainment and educational, and will create its own content besides buying from abroad.
The question is how will the company be able to offer content that is exclusive to Astro?

Nilamas has been talking to many content providers and it would only begin signing contracts for content purchases after launching its brand.

The company intends to use fibre optics for its backhaul which will be leased from network operators such as TM, Time dotCom Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Bhd, Fiberail and Fibercom.

Nilamas may consider rolling out its own last-mile fibre optic cables to reach homes.

source: The Star

TM to save up to MYR1 billion on HSBB rollout?

2011-11-03T12:06:00.000+08:00

The High Speed Broadband (HSBB) project currently being undertaken by Malaysia’s fixed line incumbent Telekom Malaysia™ may cost the telco at least MYR1 billion (USD321.8 million) less than originally expected, the Star Online reports. The local news source cites unnamed sources as claiming that TM’s strict procurement policy has allowed it to reduce costs, with one source reportedly noting: ‘It is a form of savings as TM will not need to invest as much as it had earlier anticipated and that also means it does not have to borrow that much as well.’ While TM has declined to comment on the specifics of any potential savings related to the fibre network rollout, it was quoted as saying that the public-private partnership agreement provided for ‘cost-savings sharing with the Government and there was mutual incentive (by the Government and TM) to achieve efficiencies and this seems to have worked.’

As noted in TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, the contract for the fibre infrastructure deployment was officially awarded to TM in August 2008, and signed the following month, at which date, despite previous indications that the government would invest MYR5.4 billion in the project it was revealed that the state had lowered its contribution. Under the final terms of the agreement the Malaysian government will invest MYR2.4 billion over ten years in the project, with TM covering the remaining costs; the total cost of the project is expected to reach MYR11.31 billion. Following trials in December 2009, on 24 March 2010 TM officially inaugurated theHSBB network, and with services offered under the ‘UniFi’ banner, the initial product range comprised triple-play bundles which included fixed line voice, high speed internet at downlink rates of up to 20Mbps, and IPTV, and by mid-2011 more than 100,000 subscribers had signed up for UniFi services.

source: Telegeography

U Mobile pledges to avoid future service disruption

2011-11-03T11:59:00.000+08:00

PETALING JAYA: While U Mobile Sdn Bhd's major service disruption on Monday raises concerns about the stability of its network, chief executive officer Dr Kaizad Heerjee has assured that plans are in p lace to avoid future recurrences.

“We acknowledge that U Mobile has let down our customers as they expect better service from us. We have to redouble our efforts to rebuild their confidence in U Mobile ,'' he told StarBiz.

He declined to say ho w much more investments was needed or how much revenue the company had lost during the disruption as the priority was to keep its users on the network.

“Our technical team is monitoring the network closely and working on stabilising the service,'' a notice on the U Mobile website said yesterday.

To compensate its over one million users, U Mobile will offer free SMS for a 24-hour period on Nov 10, Dec 10 and Jan 10. In addition, data users will get free 500MB monthly for three months starting Nov 10. “It was an unexpected glitch that came about, and in a way, it triggered the technical systems to fall over. So basically, it took a while to recover,' ' Kaizad said.

He pointed out that “no mobile operator can guarantee there will be no outages as networks are not 100% foolproof.

However, what we need to do is to enhance our network contingency and back-up plan.”

For that, he said, investments would be made so that di sruptions would not recur.

“What we are building is the highest speed data network in Malaysia and, for that, we have been upgrading our network for a while now. The technical side is always a challenge but we have learnt from the episode and recovered quickly. We hope we will be able to rebuild customer trust and that is why I took the bold move to send a personal message to them (via Facebook and U Tube). We hope the customer appreciates that we mean it,'' Kaizad said.

He said the “small token (of free SMS and data services) can in no way compensate for the downtime they experienced but our goal is to rebuild customer confidence in U Mobile.''

The disruption occurred just before noon on Monday and, two hours later, the network was restored. However, the surge in traffic forced it down again and it took more than five hours for total restoration. Since late last year, U Mobile had introduced its new strategi c partner China's ZTE Corp. Earlier, the company worked with Huawei and Ericsson.

Asked about the switch and whether it had anything to do with lower pricing, Kaizad said: “No. We found a strategic partner in ZTE, so pricing is not the only decision. But it is the long-term commitment that ZTE offered. We are also cooperating on products and services, network features and functionality.'' U Mobile has 1,500 base stations and, according to its website, its 2G coverage spans 98% of populated areas in the country.

Singapore Technologies Telemedia (STT) has a 33% stake in U Mobile; Tan Sri Vincent Tan's U Television Sdn Bhd has 62% and Multi-Purpose Holdings Bhd 5%. STT owns StarHub, a telco in Singapore. “We have very solid partners and each brings different capabilities and experiences to U Mobile. STT has a lot of experience in operations and management of mobile business via its StarHub unit, while the Berjaya Group (in which Tan is the controlling shareholder) has its expertise in distribution channels as well as good understanding of the local market. All this brings value to U Mobile,'' he said.

There had also been areas of cooperation between StarHub and U Mobile, he said, adding that “we have brought a lot of innovation to the market place and we are also the only celco that offers free roaming service to Singapore.

The same goes for StarHub users when they come here. It is a unique offering that has never been offered by any of the celcos.''

U Mobile has a partnership for domestic roaming with Celcom Axiata Bhd and recently inked a deal to use Maxis Bhd 3G network.

source: The Star

What is LTE? (Video)

2011-11-02T11:22:00.000+08:00

3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a standard for wireless communication of high-speed data. It is based upon GSM/EDGE and Universal Mobile Telecommunications System/High Speed Packet Access (UMTS/HSPA) network technologies. The standard is maintained as a project of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), operating under a name trademarked by one of the associations within the partnership, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI).

The goal of LTE is to increase the capacity and speed of wireless data networks utilizing cutting-edge hardware and Digital Signal Processing (DSP) techniques that have recently been developed. Its wireless interface is incompatible with 2G and 3G networks, and so it must be operated on separate wireless spectrum.

Features of LTE include an all-IP flat network architecture, end-to-end QoS including provisions for low-latency communications, peak download rates nearing 300 Mbps and upload rates of 75 Mbps, capacity exceeding 200 active users per cell, the ability to manage fast-moving mobiles, and support for multi-cast and broadcast streams.

Source: Wikipedia

From left: HSPA+ (same like what umobile advertise, up to 42mbps), LTE (Next generation wireless network, so called true 4G), WiMAX (same like what P14G & Yes4G offer now)

YTL Comms is the frontrunner for the RM1.5bil 1Bestarinet to wire up schools

2011-10-31T09:45:00.000+08:00

PETALING JAYA: YTL Communications Sdn Bhd (YTL Comms) is the frontrunner for the RM1.5bil 1Bestarinet project that involves wiring up schools in the country, sources said.

YTL Comms may have edged out 18 other players, including a joint bid by Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) and Time dotCom Bhd (TDC) for the 1Bestarinet tender. The project involves providing Internet access and a virtual learning (VLM) platform for 9,924 schools in the country from January.

Sources said on Tuesday at about 1pm the YTL Comms' name appeared as the winner of the contract on the Education Ministry's website but two hours later the announcement was taken off the website for reasons unknown.

A proof of concept is required before YTL Comms can embark on the first phase by rolling out access to at least 7,000 schools by Jan 1, 2012. Sources said the success rate of the proof of concept would be the determinant to the company bagging the contract or else another party will be chosen.

The contract is for a five-year period, with an option to extend for another five plus five years, totalling 15 years, and this would include installation, maintenance and provision of a VLM.

Some have expressed surprise that YTL was the frontrunner.

Said an industry player: “If indeed they are the winner, it is shocking as they are an unproven service provider. They also do not have fibre so how are they going to offer the services?”

The industry player also pointed out that the tender specifications for 1Bestarinet seemed vague and cautioned that he hoped the project would not suffer the same problems faced by a similar project in the past called Schoolnet.

1Bestarinet came about as a result of the Performance Management and Delivery Unit national key economic area lab series as there is a need to provide Internet access to all schools in the country since the earlier project to wire up schools, Schoolnet, did not meet the objectives set.

For 1Bestarinet, the Internet speed has to be constant and cannot be based on “best effort.'' For urban areas, the access speed is 2Mbps to 10Mbps, and for rural and remote schools 1Mbps to 4Mbps.

All sorts of technologies can be used, be it fibre or wireless technologies including Vsat, wireless, WiFi, but the link to the school should be via fibre. The winner will only be paid based on how much access is provided, the source said.

Schoolnet was introduced in 2004 to wire up schools using wireless or fibre technology but it had major constraints and did not live up to expectations in terms of speed and capacity, and also due to the lack of specifications and integration.

In May, the Education Ministry called for a tender bid for the wiring up of all schools under the 1Bestarinet project.

In the tender's posting it was clearly stipulated that the tender was open to all local companies with preference given to bumiputra tender bids registered with the Finance Ministry under some codes stipulated.

This 1Bestarinet tender bid was opened on May 5, saw 80 companies collecting the tender documents but at its closing on May 31, only 19 companies submitted their bids.

Ironically, YTL Comms, TM and TDC had initially wanted to put in a joint bid but at the last minute the parties could not agree on terms and YTL Comms put in its own bid while TM and TDC submitted a joint bid.

StarBiz reported on Aug 31 that six companies were shortlisted. They were YTL Comms, TM/TDC, Celcom Axiata Bhd, Jaring Communications,Maxis Bhd, and Multimedia Synergy Corp.

Though the Government is looking at RM4.5bil as the absolute sum for the 15-year contract, those in the know claimed the bids received ranged from RM2bil to RM6bil.

At RM4.5bil, it works out to RM1.5bil for every five years or RM300mil for each year.

source: The Star

YTL Comms set to make forays into Sabah, Sarawak

2011-10-25T15:09:00.001+08:00

PETALING JAYA: YTL Communications Sdn Bhd (YTL Comms) will put together a business plan to secure licences to roll out its 4G mobile Internet-with-voice service, Yes in Sabah and Sarawak.

Chief executive officer Wing K. Lee said it had received acknowledgement from the Government for the required licence to start operation in the two states and had been requested to submit its business plan.

“It is a multi-step process. We will put together our business plan for the licence. Hopefully we can introduce our service in Sabah and Sarawak,” he told StarBiz.

Lee clarified that although it had received acknowledgment from the Government it had not been assigned any apparatus assignment.

Wing: ‘It’s a multi-step process.’

According to Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), apparatus assignment is the right to use or operate telecommunications apparatus in a specific frequency.

YTL Comms, which launched its Yes service last November has close to 300,000 subscribers to date and has introduced various services to the market.

Lee said on top of Sabah and Sarawak, YTL Comm was also expanding its footprint to Johor this week and was on track to introduce its Android-based applications.

“By year-end all 2,500 base stations should be deployed. We started with 1,200 base stations when we introduced our service in November. Today, we have some 2,000 base stations covering the whole Peninsular Malaysia,” he said, adding that it had all its base stations in Johor deployed.

Lee said YTL Comms was all set to launch it services in the southern state and had also engaged agents to enable consumers to sign up for their services.

YTL Comms will have 100 agents and partners (including in Malacca) by this weekend launch and 300 by end-2011.

Lee said YTL Comms had allocated RM3.3bil for the deployment of its base stations and had so far spent more than US$200mil.

Subsequently, it will introduce its services to the east coast Kota Baru, Kuantan and Terengganu. “They will skipped 3G and go to 4G when we launch our service there,” Lee said.

On the 2.6G spectrum, Lee said YTL Comms had resubmitted its business plan to the MCMC to secure a block of the 2.6G long-term evolution (LTE) spectrum or 4G spectrum as instructed earlier.

Last month, the regulator had met up with telecommunication companies on a one-on-one basis and that the companies were told to revise their plans and submit them.

The nine telcos that are slated to get a 20Mhz block of the 2.6G spectrum are the four 3G players (Celcom Axiata Bhd, DiGi.Com Bhd,Maxis Bhd, U Mobile Sdn Bhd) and the five WiMAX players (Asiaspace Sdn Bhd, Packet One Network (M) Sdn Bhd, REDtone Int Bhd, YTL Communications and Puncak Semangat Sdn Bhd).

source: The Star

Maxis, U Mobile in 3G RAN sharing pact

2011-10-24T10:56:00.004+08:00

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 21, 2011): Maxis Broadband Sdn Bhd and U Mobile Sdn Bhd today entered into a landmark multi-billion ringgit agreement to share Maxis’ 3G radio access networks (RAN), making the partnership the first active 3G RAN sharing arrangement to be deployed in Malaysia.

The agreement will be for an initial period of 10 years, they said in a joint statement.

They said the agreement also encompasses LTE sharing when the spectrum becomes available and the technology is rolled out which will deliver even better benefits to customers.

This collaboration marks a milestone in the telecommunications industry in Malaysia as it shares the active telecommunications systems and operating frequency spectrum and goes beyond the existing physical (passive) infrastructure sharing practised for a long time by operators in the industry.

The collaboration will give Maxis a significant new revenue source and enhance utilisation of its network in currently underutilised areas.

At the signing ceremony, Maxis chief executive officer Sandip Das said active sharing results in greater cost savings which in turn translate to increased direct revenue for both companies.

"As a strong advocate of network sharing, this will add to our existing carbon footprint reduction initiatives. To date, over 54% of our base stations sites are shared with other operators," he said.

He said the partnership will also accelerate broadband penetration in the country, paving the way towards achieving Digital Malaysia aspirations.

The agreement will enable U Mobile to accelerate the speed of its 3G network rollout by 4-5 times and at the same time achieve significant cost savings through network sharing with Maxis.

The shared locations will exclude urban market centres, such as the Klang Valley, Penang, Johor Baru and Ipoh, where U Mobile is committed to continue providing high-speed mobile broadband services.

U Mobile chief executive officer Dr Kaizad Heerjee said the mutually beneficial partnership with Maxis will accelerate the expansion of U Mobile's current 3G footprint to more than 4,000 3G sites in Malaysia by early 2013.

"The extensive savings generated from this agreement will enable U Mobile to bring even more product and service innovation for our customers while at the same time assisting the government initiative of 'Broadband for All'", he added. – Bernama

source: The Sun

P1-TM broadband deal to have access to 1.3mil homes

2011-10-14T11:28:00.000+08:00

KUALA LUMPUR: Packet One Networks Sdn Bhd (P1) has signed an agreement with Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) to use the national telecommunication company's high-speed broadband (HSBB) network in a product offering that it plans to roll out in the first quarter next year.

The agreement, which is for the provision of transmission and access services, will give P1 access to 1.3 million homes covered by the HSBB.

HSBB is available to over 1,044,000 premises and TM has set a target of extending this to 1.3 million by end-2012.

TM group chief executive officer Datuk Seri Zamzamzairani Mohd Isa told a briefing that the group's own HSBB offering, UniFi, had reached over 170,000 installations.

He also said TM's foreign shareholding had increased to 17% from less than 10%. “This reflects investor confidence in our business and the positive take-up of UniFi,” he said.

Meanwhile, P1 chief executive officer Michael Lai said the 10-year agreement would allow the company to offer its 4G services, coupled with fibre optics, making it the first in the region to do so.

He said the product might include Internet-protocol television and video-on-demand services.

He added that as HSBB fetched a higher average revenue per user and was in high demand, it was expected to contribute positively to P1's bottomline.

Since the HSBB network became available last year, TM has also signed wholesale agreements with Celcom and Maxis.

“We are keeping our promise of open access to all Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission-licensed service providers, as we've said at the beginning of the HSBB project under the public-private partnership agreement (with the Government) in 2008.

“With this collaboration, the telecommunications industry ensures consumers and businesses throughout the country will get to participate in the new wave of digital transformation sweeping across the country,” Zamzamzairani said.

source: The Star

YTL communications wins Best New Service award with Yes 4G

2011-10-04T11:59:00.002+08:00

KUALA LUMPUR: YTL Communications Sdn Bhd (YTL Communications), a global frontrunner in mobile 4G, won the ‘Best New Service’ award at the recent Global 2011 InfoVision Awards ceremony.

It bagged the award at the prestigious event, for its innovative ‘Yes 4G’ service, Malaysia’s fastest mobile internet with voice.

YTL Communications said in a statement yesterday, with almost a year into its operations, the award came as a clear acknowledgement that Malaysia had been at the forefront of the world with regards to the adoption of next-generation wireless technologies.

With the win, the company joined an elite list of operators from around the world, including British Telecoms, Australia’s Telstra and Hong Kong’s PCCW, who had received the same honour in the history of InfoVision Award.

YTL Communications chief executive officer Wing K Lee said, “The award is another validation of the vision and dedication that went hand-in-hand in the creation of Yes 4G and our drive to bring positive change to Malaysia.”

Yes, a brand under YTL Communications, offers the fastest mobile internet with voice service, and the first mobile operator to bring mobile internet and voice together in one plan.

YTL Communication is a subsidiary and the communications utility of YTL Power International Bhd and part the YTL Corporation Bhd Group. — Bernama

source: The Borneo Post

P1 launches new ONE 69 Plan with money-back guarantee!

2011-09-15T17:31:00.002+08:00

Packet One Network(Malaysia) Sdn.Bhd. ("P1"), Malaysia's first and leading 4G wireless broadband service provider is keeping its promise of delivering the best value broadband packages in the market by offering its customers their money back if they can find a better value broadband plan than its new ONE 69 Plan.

"We are so sure that our new ONE 69 Plan is the absolute best value in the market at the time of launch that we'll give our customers their money back if they can find a better broadband bundle plan in Malaysia!" said Michael Lai, CEO of P1.

P1 is the only broadband service provider to offer a money back guarantee.
The P1 4G ONE 69 Plan is an additional plan to the three existing ONE Plan offerings. P1 launched the ONE Plan earlier in July, but today added this extra plan to ensure all Malaysians can afford quality 4G broadband at home and on-the-go.

According to Lai, the ONE Plan is one of a kind giving customers excellent 3 in 1 value. Two modems - a powerful P1 4G home modem with WiFi and a nifty P1 4G on-the-go modem – and voice.

Subscribers to the ONE 69 plan will only pay RM49 as a special introductory offer for the first three months. The ONE 69 Plan offers speeds of 1Mbps for both modems and a shared quota of 3GB. It also includes 100 minutes of free voice calls to local fixed and mobile numbers and IDD calls to 10 popular destinations including Singapore, China and Hong Kong.

The ONE Plan was created following a P1 research by Frost & Sullivan which showed that 93% of broadband users in Malaysia compromised their broadband experience by using their mobile dongles at home and, as a result, were frustrated with their broadband services.

Lai explained, "Mobile dongles are optimized for outdoor use, not indoor use. For indoor use, you need a device with a larger antenna and connected to a higher voltage power source to ensure stronger signal strength. The comparatively weaker mobile dongle with smaller antenna and powered via the laptop would not be able to perform as well as a home modem, especially through layers of walls indoors."

Customers are also compromising their broadband experience when using the dongle at home because usage quotas on mobile broadband plans are meant only for light surfing, emails and keeping up to date with social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter, not for heavy use.

Using a mobile dongle at home also means you miss out on sharing your Internet with others. The HOME modem provides WiFi for your whole house so that up to ten different devices can log on and use the same Internet account. That includes any device which is WiFi-enabled such as the iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, Android phones, smart phones and PS3 to name a few.

"Using the right modem in the right environment is very important to get a better broadband experience. Using your mobile dongle at home is 'POTONG STIM™!" Lai said.

To promote its new One Plan, P1's latest campaign lives up to its cheeky brand image with the tagline of 'Lagi Potong Stim.' Starting from today, P1 will be running an integrated campaign across national newspapers, magazines, and radio. Social media and ground events will feature heavily in the campaign.

Consumers interested in the ONE Plan can find out more at www.P1.com.my/oneplan or by calling 1300 03 8883. They can also visit any P1 reseller nationwide.

source: Greenpacket

DiGi sets new precedence with ‘4G’ technologies

2011-09-07T10:43:00.005+08:00

KUCHING: DiGi.com (DiGi) is setting a new industry precedence in driving demand for the Internet through investments in expanding the reach of 3G coverage, which will be multiplied manyfold with the arrival of long-term evolution (LTE/4G), the next-generation mobile technology.

With the advent of 4G technology and smartphones, the LTE network which is capable of delivering download speeds of up to 172Mbps will play an integral part of future business.

Industry indicators suggested that consumers were now hungry for high-end applications and smartphones, rather than just making a call or SMS.

“The industry trend for the past two years has seen a tremendous rise in Internet applications, stimulated by better surfing experience (improved speed with enhanced 3G coverage) and availability of more choices of smart devices at affordable prices, amongst others,” DiGi chief executive officer Henrik Clausen told The Borneo Post in an interview recently.

While the industry is embarking on the improved technology, DiGi is playing its part by swapping all its old network equipment to be LTE-ready.

“We are already in the midst of modernising out network. With the new network, the current platform will be able to support 2G, 3G and 4G technologies, making our whole operations more cost efficient,” he revealed.

The 4G technology would allow for substantially higher speed, stability and Internet access to more Malaysians through wider coverage.

This was extremely relevant now as more Malaysians adopted the usage of smartphones stimulated by the popularity of social media applications, affordable smartphones and smart bundling.

“In tandem, early adopters are becoming more savvy, demanding for sophisticated applications and richer content. All these mean there is demand for more bandwidth,” Clausen added.

Industry regulator, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) in November 2010 issued temporary licenses to nine players for the use of spectrum in the 2.6GHz bandwidth. Since then, all operators were asked to submit detailed business plans in January to MCMC, outlining their use of the spectrum.

To date, the regulator has yet to make a decision on the final list of spectrum licencees.

“LTE is a critical part of DiGi’s plan and we have implemented the necessary building blocks to start rolling out an LTE-ready network this year, with plans to be the first to have an LTE-ready network nationwide by the end of 2012. We expect the network to have fully swapped LTE-capability by the end of next year,” said Clausen.

“Hopefully the allocation of spectrum is going to be solved in the next couple of months. We are currently waiting for two things – the access to spectrum and timetables that allow us to launch the service. We are very keen to get a response from MCMC in the near future,” he added.

With the Telenor Group as its major shareholder, DiGi has the added advantage as the parent company has rolled out 4G services in the Scandinavian countries. The lessons learnt from those exercises would come in handy when 4G is introduced in Malaysia.

“We’ve spent the last 15 months preparing our business for the next phase of data explosion. We are taking bigger steps to address the maturing market since we started our transformation in four key areas of network modernisation – modernising our IT network and processes, enhancing distribution and bringing our the best in our people,” Henrik explained.

With the LTE technology, the market would also see new players arising and network equipment manufacturers such as ZTE, Ericsson, NSN (Nokia Siemens Networks) and Huawei would be hard pressed to provide competitive rates for their products, that in return would enable operators to offer affordable mobile services to local consumers.

“If you look at the sector, there is no doubt that Malaysia is a very important growth engine for foreign players and there is no reason why investment levels should go down. Industry indicators show that there are still solid investments flowing into the telco sector – proof as you can see commitment from U Mobile,YTL and so on,” Henrik pointed out.

“Initiatives that focus on customer service, better services through investment in launching a brand new network that enables faster deployment of LTE from the operators will emerge as priorities.

“We have the ambition of being the enabler of connectivity for Malaysians. Building a brand new LTE-ready network, bringing the latest and most varied smartphones to customers at affordable prices coupled with smart bundles are just examples of our commitment..

“In the long run the landscape will rapidly transform and players will be hard pressed to keep ahead of the dynamic changes as users demand greater efficiencies and sophisticated services that are yet to be rolled out,” Henrik concluded..

source: The Borneo Post

Johor Bahru now “42Mbps city”

2011-08-19T10:04:00.003+08:00

Kuala Lumpur, 18th August 2011 – U Mobile Sdn Bhd, Malaysia’s most dynamic and innovative telco service provider today announced the availability of its 42Mbps coverage in Johor Bahru, giving internet users within the state the fastest internet speed with the largest volume at the lowest rate available.

Currently there are over two hundred U Mobile sites in Johor Bahru offering fast speed mobile internet which are available in most of the commercial and residential areas, including Taman Molek 1, 2 and 3, Taman Gembira, the Free Trade Zone, Taman Delima, Desa Harmoni, Bukit Kempas, Stulang Laut, Jalan Ibrahim Sultan and many more. Customers of U Mobile in these areas will experience fast internet that are three to five times speedier compared to existing offerings that are currently available in the market.

To enjoy its 42Mbps services, U Mobile is offering a package plan to internet users within the city which include the fastest download speed of up to 42Mbps at an affordable rate starting from RM68 month with the largest data volume of up to 20GB per month. All this comes with a 7-day money-back guarantee for its postpaid customers. Speaking about the expansion, Dr. Kaizad Heerjee, CEO of U Mobile Sdn Bhd said, “We’re making steady progress nationwide with the implementation of our 42Mbps services. In Johor Bahru, we began with only a few selected areas and now I’m proud to say that we have covered most of the city area and are bringing the most cutting edge communication services to the residence in Johor Bahru. As for the rest of the major cities in the region, they will be able to enjoy the 42Mbps coverage within this year.

Our strategic partnership with ZTE as announced earlier this year for a three-pronged development strategy will see consistent and steady upgrades from 42Mpbs to 84Mbps and eventually 100Mbps across Malaysia. We are on track, on target and are progressing well within the planned time frame. I believe that we are leading in this space and will continue to innovate and grow to meet the demands of today’s changing consumer demands,” he added.

For the remainder of the year, U Mobile will continue to grow and expand its 42Mbps offering across the nation including the Klang Valley, Penang, Seremban and Port Dickson while continuing to offer a selection of innovative and exciting offerings with surprising affordability in keeping up with the demand of today’s technology-savvy generation of consumers.

To celebrate the announcement, U Mobile recently held a roadshow in Johor Bahru to launch the availability of its 42Mbps offering within the state. For more information, please visit http://www.u.com.my/

source: UMobile

Green Packet in talks with TM to offer HSBB

2011-08-16T15:02:00.002+08:00

PETALING JAYA (Aug 16, 2011): Green Packet Bhd is in talks with Telekom Malaysia to offer high speed broadband (HSBB) services to Green Packet subscribers, says its group managing director and CEO CC Puan.

Speaking to reporters yesterday after announcing its second quarter results, Puan said it hopes to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) by year-end on the offering of HSBB services to its P1 4G subscribers.

The company aims to grow its subscribers base to 450,000 by year-end from the current 338,000 of which 30% are dongle (mobile broadband) users, and it is looking at growing theis number to 40% by end-2011.

For the second quarter ended June 30, 2011, the group posted a narrow EBITDA loss of RM13.6 million from a year earlier on a 42% jump in revenue to RM127.8 million."We are on track to reach EBITDA positive by the end of this year," said Puan.

For Packet One Networks (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (P1), revenue grew 31% and there was a 33,000 increase in its subscriber base to 338,000. It also recorded a 3% increase in its post-paid average revenue per user (ARPU) quarter-on-quarter to RM75.

According to him, the group will begin deploying sites in Sabah before year-end as part of its focus on site rollout and coverage expansion which includes Sabah and Sarawak.

He said the coverage expansion is part of its RM250 million capital expenditure set aside for the next 12 months.

"We target to reach 1,600 sites by year-end, and currently have more than 900 sites in progress and 1,083 in place. This forward planning will result in a much higher site completion rate in the second half of the year," he said.

source: The Sun Daily

4G roll-out in Sabah by year-end

2011-08-16T14:38:00.006+08:00

KUALA LUMPUR: Green Packet Bhd plans to roll out its 4G broadband services in east Malaysia by the end of this year in tandem with its growing subscriber base.

“We are still talking with the various authorities and in the midst of setting up our back-end infrastructure, but it is confirmed our services will be deployed in Sabah first,” said group managing director and chief executive officer Puan Chan Cheong after announcing the group’s quarterly results yesterday.

For its second quarter ended June 30, the group recorded a net loss of RM37.06mil on the back of 42% higher revenue of RM127.8mil.

Despite the losses, Puan said the group was confident of achieving a positive EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) target by the end of the year.

“Our EBITDA losses decreased by 31% year-on-year to RM13.6mil, and our solution and alternative services operations recorded a positive EBITDA of RM5.1mil and RM400,000 respectively. Our P1 4G services which is still in its gestation period recorded a EBITDA loss of RM19.1mil,” he said.

The group had adjusted its strategy since the beginning of the year in line with both its time division-long term evolution (TD-LTE) strategy and the partnership with South Korean SK Telecom to support the expansion of its 4G WiMAX/TD LTE network. The TD-LTE technology provides higher data rates with larger capacity and reduced service delay.

Its solution’s revenue grew by 171% year-on-year driven by strong modem sales and software licences.“We have shipped 68% more customer premise devices than we expected for the first half of the year and software sales were 19% above target for the same period,” he said.

The group has allocated about RM679mil in capital expenditure (capex) and is planning to spend an average of RM250mil capex annually for the next five years.

“Financially we are in a sound position to plan for more capex to support the group’s further expansion,” he said. The group’s cash position stands at about RM93mil and it has RM232mil in financing facilities.

On the possible allocation of additional spectrum, Packet One Networks (M) Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Michael Lai said the group had submitted a detailed business plan to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission.

“We have been preparing to move towards the future of 4G WiMAX technology,” he said.

source: The Star

P1 Signs Partnership Agreement With Eight SBCs

2011-08-16T14:33:00.004+08:00

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 12 (Bernama)‐‐ Packet One Networks Sdn Bhd (P1) has signed an agreement with eight state‐backed companies (SBC) to further boost its 4G service proposition in the country.

In a statement Friday, P1 said the eight SBC companies all came under the umbrella of the Persatuan Penyelia Infrastruktur Telekomunikasi (PPIT).

"We now have one agreement with the SBCs, a consolidated partnership and one seamless execution to further enhance the operational efficiency in our 4G expansion network," said P1's Chief Executive Office, Michael Lai.

In the past, P1 has worked with individual states to secure telecommunication tower leases, but this agreement standardised its commitment to working with all states as well as boosting its 4G network rollout.

The eight SBCs involved in the partnership are Desabina Industries Sdn Bhd (Terengganu), D'Harmoni Telco Infra Sdn Bhd (Johor), Infra Quest Sdn Bhd (Kelantan), Konsortium Jaringan Selangor (Selangor), Rangkaian Minang (NS) Sdn Bhd (Negeri Sembilan), Perak Integrated Network Services Sdn Bhd (Perak), Yiked Bina Sdn Bhd (Kedah), Perlis Comm Sdn Bhd (Perlis).

source: Bernama

Maxis deploys Alcatel-Lucent 100G core transmission network

2011-08-12T15:54:00.005+08:00

To provide high-speed connectivity and automatic restoration capabilities to enterprises

Integrated communications service provider Maxis Berhad has deployed Alcatel-Lucent's 100 gigabit per second (100G) optical coherent network solution to cope with increased data traffic, simplify its network and reduce costs.

Maxis claims its optical backbone network is the first 100G single carrier with optical coherent technology system commercially deployed in Asia-Pacific.

With Alcatel-Lucent's 100G optical coherent network solution, Maxis also expects to provide high-speed connectivity and automatic restoration capabilities to enterprises for their data centres and services such as cloud computing and machine-to-machine communications (M2M).

Furthermore, the new optical network will enable Maxis to provision services faster and shorten the time to market for new services requiring higher capacities and reliability.

Maxis CTO Mark Dioguardi said the deployment of this optical network solution transforms core transmission network; much like upgrading from a normal trunk road to a super highway, allowing users to enjoy faster and seamless high capacity connectivity within Peninsular Malaysia.

"We were also the first service provider to surpass 5,000 3G sites across East and West Malaysia, enabling the delivery of high-speed wireless broadband and mobile data capabilities to over 80% of the Malaysian population. Additionally, Maxis was the first to conduct trials for Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology successfully," Dioguardi said.

Alcatel-Lucent Asia-Pacific Activities president Rajeev Singh-Molares said their 100G optical solution gives Maxis a new architecture that will drastically reduce its cost of reliably transporting high volumes of traffic while providing a powerful platform to launch and support innovative new services.

source: cbronline.com