Business

Thursday November 19, 2009

YTL Com taps TM network to help roll out 4G WiMax

By B.K. SIDHU


KUALA LUMPUR: YTL Communications Sdn Bhd (YTL Com) signed a 15-year agreement with Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) to use part of the latter’s core network to roll out its services on its own 4G WiMAX network.

Besides TM, YTL Com recently signed a similar agreement with Fibrerail to use the latter’s network for back haul infrastructure in town areas for its WiMAX network deployment.

Using TM and Fibrerail’s back haul infrastructure eliminates the need for YTL Com to build its own backhaul infrastructure, thus saving the company millions of ringgit, and such a move quickens the whole process of building its network.

YTL Com executive director Datuk Yeoh Seok Hong said Fibrerail’s network would be used to deploy services in the major cities and towns and TM’s in the rural areas. To roll out services by its targeted July timeline, YTL Com needs to add servers at various locations and transmitters to TM’s 200 towers and over 100 of Fibreail’s.

Tan Sri Francis Yeoh (left) at the agreement signing with Datuk Zamzamzairani Mohd Isa.

“The 15-year agreement inked by the two brands will enable YTL Com to leverage on TM’s nationwide Wholesale Ethernet services while riding on the high speed broadband (HSBB) infrastructure, and TM’s other telecommunication facilities to deliver 4G services nationwide by 2010,’’ YTL Corp group managing director Tan Sri Francis Yeoh said at the signing ceremony held in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. YTL Com is an indirect unit of YTL Corp. The agreements signed were a wholesale Ethernet service and master tenancy for infrastructure sharing.

TM group chief executive officer Datuk Zamzamzairani Mohd Isa added that TM was committed to supporting the wireless broadband service operators in the country via its wholesale business arm.

“By making the network infrastructure open to all licensed access seekers such as YTL Com, TM is keeping its promises for open access,’’ Zamzamzairani reiterated at the event.

Francis declined to say how much the company would be paying for the lease of the back haul infrastructure from TM.

TM’s network has the capability to offer 100 megabits per second to 1 gigabit per second. On whether that was adequate for YTL Com to roll out services, Francis said “we believe in the power of fibre optics.’’ Zamzamzairani added that “scalability depends on the electronics (that will be used).’’

  
TM :  [Stock Watch]  [News] 
YTL :  [Stock Watch]  [News]


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