Business

Tuesday June 30, 2009

TM, 13 telcos in talks on high speed broadband kick off in several areas

By B.K. SIDHU


KUALA LUMPUR: Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) is in discussions with 13 telecommunication players to sell wholesale broadband capacity on its high speed broadband (HSBB) network where physical works for the project kicked off in several areas yesterday.

“We are in deep discussions with mobile, telecoms and WiMAX players,’’ said TM’s HSBB programme director Ahmad Azhar Yahya.

He did not name the parties, merely saying ‘‘it’s a mix’’ which included content providers. He also did not elaborate on capacity requirements or the conclusion of talks.

“For the wholesale service, we have to engage and understand their (access seekers) business requirements. The service delivered to them is customised and peculiar to their needs. It takes time to do this,” TM group chief executive officer Datuk Zamzamzairani Mohd Isa added.

From left: TM chairman Tan Sri Md Radzi Mansor, Federal Territory Minister Datuk Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin, Information, Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim and Datuk Zamzamzairani Mohd Isa at the launch of works on the HSBB at Taman Tun Dr Ismail

Besides selling wholesale capacity to other operators, TM will also compete with other players when it comes to its own retail offering, something which some players are unhappy about on fears that TM will favour its own sister unit, TM Retail, in access and access pricing.

The RM11.3bil HSBB project is supposed to offer bandwidth at network speeds of 10Mbps where 1.3 million premises in the country will be covered under the project.

TM has embarked on the project with the Government in a public/private partnership to build the new network, and for the work done, the Government has reimbursed TM RM290mil.

Asked if the details of what TM was claiming would be made public since it involved taxpayer’s money, Information, Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim said “we will not hide anything.’’

TM has begun physical work for the laying of the HSBB access infrastructure in 22 exchange areas with roll-out in Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Bangsar, Subang Jaya and Shah Alam to be completed by year-end.

“Fibre access work related to the HSBB network is now in full swing,” Zamzamzairani said after the launch of the project’s physical work at Taman Tun Dr Ismail yesterday.

For retail users, Zamzamzairani said retail testing involving selected premises in the four areas would begin by year-end and commercial retail availability of the services would be in the first quarter of 2010, adding that “we need to review our retail offering so that the final product is of quality.’’

Wiring up Malaysia is split into three zones.

Zone 1 will be wired under the HSBB project covering commercial areas.

Zone 2 covers other areas that is not covered by Zone 1 and services will be provided by TM, cellular and WiMAX players.

Zone 3 covers areas where there is low economic activity and to wire up the rural areas, especially in Sabah, Sarawak and Pahang, the Government will utilise RM2.4bil from the universal service provision fund.

TM said it wanted to be a party in providing access in Zone 3 and would participate in tender bids called by the regulator. Roll-out in Zone 3 will be over a 16-month period.

Rais, who officiated at the event yesterday, called for expansion of the local content industry as the HSBB would offer huge capacity for greater local content development.

Separately, Zamzamzairani said TM was “on track’’ to meet its single-digit growth in revenue this year.

 
TM :  [Stock Watch]  [News] 


For latest Bursa Malaysia indices, charts and other information click here

  • E-mail this story
  • Print this story