DiGi, Giant, Celcom pengiklan terbesar Januari

DIGI Telecommunications Sdn Bhd (DiGi), syarikat penyedia perkhidmatan telekomunikasi gergasi, mendahului senarai membabitkan perbelanjaan pengiklanan sepanjang Januari tahun ini dengan jumlah RM8 juta, menurut laporan The Nielsen Company.

Rangkaian pasar raya besar Giant menduduki senarai kedua dengan perbelanjaan sebanyak RM6.5 juta diikuti rapat Celcom Axiata Berhad (Celcom) pada tangga ketiga (RM6 juta).

Termasuk dalam senarai 10 syarikat teratas membabitkan perbelanjaan pengiklanan paling banyak ialah Panasonic, Brand's, Kementerian Kesihatan, Malayan Banking Berhad (Maybank), Kementerian Penerangan, Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) dan KFC Holdings (Malaysia) Berhad (KFCH).

Secara keseluruhannya, industri akhbar masih mengungguli senarai teratas membabitkan perbelanjaan iklan bagi tempoh berkenaan dengan pegangan 52.9 peratus, diikuti televisyen (35.7 peratus) dan radio (5.6 peratus).

Green Packet plans tie-up with Indonesian telcos

Green Packet Bhd (0082), a mobile broadband provider, plans to partner mobile operators in Indonesia to roll out its wireless high-speed Internet access service in the region. 

The company, which offers broadband services to homes and offices using the WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) 
  technology, has a licence to operate in Malaysia and Singapore.

But it wants to grow and have more licences to operate the WiMAX in South Asia, which includes India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, its group managing director Puan Chan Cheong said.

Puan wants Green Packet to be a key player in the broadband business in South Asia.

"We are actively seeking WiMAX licences. The three key markets that are attractive for WiMAX's success are Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand and that's where we will focus on for the next three years," Puan told Business Times.
However, Indonesia has issued licences to several telecom companies (telcos) late last year.

"We will partner the operators to offer our broadband service across the country. We are actively engaging with them right now. In fact, some of them are using our consulting services so there would be easier dealings with them," Puan said.

For Vietnam and Thailand, Puan said both governments are expected to issue the WiMAX licences within the next 12 to 18 months.

"We hope to have a chance to participate. The governments have not announced the details but we will most likely bid for the licence with the locals there," Puan said.

Puan also expects the company to have more cash in hand as its business grows. "Right now, we have RM200 million cash. We are looking at a private placement this year to raise some RM150 million. Moving forward, there will be more cash flow from our operations," he said.

Green Packet is optimistic that its broadband business will grow as it enlarges its customer base.

It also expects more money from its software and WiMAX devices, including the supply of WiMAX modems, internationally

TIME Connects tawar akses internet 50 Megabit sesaat

PENGGUNA di Mont Kiara dan kawasan segi tiga emas Kuala Lumpur, meliputi Jalan Bukit Bintang, Imbi, Sultan Ismail dan Raja Chulan, berpeluang menikmati akses internet terlaju di negara ini sehingga 50 Megabit sesaat menerusi penyambungan TIME Connects yang ditawarkan Time dotCom Bhd (TIME).

Ketua Eksekutifnya, Afzal Abdul Rahim, berkata rangkaian fiber optik sepenuhnya yang dibangunkan syarikat itu kini beroperasi di 30,000 kediaman dan pejabat di dua kawasan terbabit dengan 16,000 lagi kediaman dan pejabat akan disambungkan awal tahun depan.

“Tahap kelajuan internet seperti ini belum pernah dinikmati sebelum ini, tetapi ia hari ini satu realiti.

“Bayangkan anda kini boleh muat turun video seberat 500 Megabit dalam masa satu minit empat puluh saat berbanding hampir sejam sebelum ini atau muat turun dua Gigabit tayangan berdefinisi tinggi (HD) kurang daripada tujuh minit dengan jaminan kepuasan menonton tanpa gangguan atau gambar yang terhenti-henti,” katanya pada majlis mengumumkan perkhidmatan penyambungan fiber optik sepenuhnya itu di Kuala Lumpur, semalam.

Afzal berkata, perkhidmatan itu sesuai bagi menyokong kebanyakan aplikasi jalur lebar perniagaan seperti memindahkan data, e-mel, melayari laman web, tontonan video, persidangan video, e-perniagaan dan aplikasi berasaskan internet lain.

Beliau berkata, tiga perkhidmatan ditawarkan iaitu TIME Fibre Broadband khusus untuk pelanggan runcit, manakala TIME Fibre Internet Basic dan TIME Fibre Internet Plus untuk perniagaan.

TIME Fibre Broadband ditawarkan pada harga serendah RM99 sebulan.
TIME Fibre Internet Basic ditawarkan dalam empat pakej dengan caj bulanan antara RM148 hingga RM818 sebulan, manakala TIME Fibre Internet Plus pula ditawarkan dalam tiga pakej dengan caj bulanan daripada RM688 hingga RM1,888, katanya.

Pada majlis sama penyedia rumusan dan penyelesaian telekomunikasi talian tetap itu turut memperkenalkan logo baru syarikat.

Afzal berkata, asas kepada perkhidmatan penyambungan fiber optik sepenuhnya oleh TIME itu adalah lima gerbang koridor raya fiber optik utama merentasi utara-selatan dan timur-barat Semenanjung yang siap sepenuhnya baru-baru ini.

Beliau berkata, buat masa ini perkhidmatan itu ditumpukan sekitar Lembah Klang yang dibahagikan kepada 10 zon dengan fasa berikutnya ialah di kawasan Bangsar-Damansara disusuli Subang-Sunway.

Time dotCom upbeat on high-speed service

By EDY SARIF

edy@thestar.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: Time dotCom Bhd's (TDC) full fibre network service is now available in 30,000 homes and offices in the Golden Triangle and Mont Kiara area, said chief executive officer Afzal Abdul Rahim.

We are now planning to connect another 16,000 premises over the next few months, he said yesterday after unveiling its new corporate identity.

The service would see homes and businesses enjoying broadband at a speed of up to 50 megabits per second, while addressing the bandwidth needs of large enterprises with speed of up to 10 gigabits per second.

Afzal said these levels of Internet speed were made available in the market for the first time.

Afzal Abdul Rahim at the launch of the new corporate identity

Businesses in the area are now positioned to take advantage of new bandwidth-intensive applications, which can help improve efficiency and productivity. Consumers who have been deprived of bandwidth for many years are finally able to experience the true digital lifestyle of multiple-connected devices for the first time, he said.

He added that the group's focus now was to offer the service to high-rise buildings and apartments and currently, it was working at the rate of 20 to 30 buildings per month.

On the group's new corporate identity, Afzal said it represented the essential values in becoming the type of service provider that TDC was one that ultimately pushed its competitiveness and performance to levels higher than the industry norm.

He admitted that the competition in the market was tough but TDC would use its assets and continue to give its services when there was demand.

TDC's100% fibre-based services are readily available for both businesses and consumers in the Golden Triangle and Mont Kiara area with packages starting from RM99 for consumers and RM148 for businesses.

Pos Malaysia launches virtual mall

 

PETALING JAYA: Instead of setting up their own virtual shop, online merchants can now conduct business in Pos Malaysia’s new virtual mall, PostMe.com.my.

Wholly owned by Pos Malaysia, the online shopping portal offers an extensive range of products including apparel, books, cosmetics and health supplements.

The move was initiated by the company to support the government’s vision of moving towards e-commerce and encouraging young entrepreneurs.

PostMe promises hassle-free transactions for both the buyer and merchant as it uses Pos Malaysia’s current services.

For as low as RM60 a month, merchants can enjoy integrated online and offline payment methods, secure delivery from merchant to buyer and a dedicated customer service line.

More advanced packages will also give merchants additional advertising options and tools to monitor their business patterns.

Buyers will enjoy Pos Malaysia’s parcel tracking service and extensive delivery network to over seven million addresses.

“We make it simple for our customers. You click, we deliver,” said Pos Malaysia CEO and group managing director Datuk Syed Faisal Albar when he launched the portal on Monday.

Syed Faisal said Pos Malaysia’s entry into online shopping was natural as it had the capability to combine the comfort and convenience of home shopping with its existing delivery network.

“This means we are able to handle the end-to-end purchases from the moment the customer selects the product to payment and delivery to their doorstep,” he added.

Visit www.postme.com.my for more information.

Bernama - MCMC CLARIFIES ON 700MHZ SPECTRUM ALLOCATION

	MCMC CLARIFIES ON 700MHZ SPECTRUM ALLOCATION Sunday 28/11/2010 Cyberjaya , 28 November 2010 - The Malaysian Communications And Multimedia Commission (MCMC) Wish To Clarify On The Various Media And News Reports Surrounding The Issue Of Allocation In The 700MHz Band To YTL Communications Sdn Bhd (YTL). Firstly, no assignment had been issued to YTL for them to offer pay TV broadcasting using the 700MHz band as reported. The operating licence issued to them on 30 August 2010 is for a content applications service provider individual licence (CASP licence) to provide subscription based Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) services using their 2.3GHz WiMax network. The duration of the operating licence is for five years. MCMC would also like to clarify that it is assessing a detailed business plan by YTL for the roll out of digital pay TV and not 4G mobile services as reported. MCMC would like to iterate that no spectrum assignments has been issued to YTL Communications Sdn Bhd in the 700MHz spectrum band for pay TV broadcasting, hence the reports and commentaries on a spectrum issuance are inaccurate. Further, under the Malaysia's National Spectrum Plan, 700MHz spectrum band is allocated for broadcasting service and not for Long-Term Evolution (LTE) or 4G mobile services as speculated in the various media articles and reports. The ownership of all spectrum bands remains at all times with the Government of Malaysia. Notes to Editor: 1 If your organization wishes to include a quote from Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (SKMM) in an article or news item, kindly attribute the quote to our organization (SKMM) rather than an officer of the organization, unless a designated spokesperson from SKMM is specified in the Press Release or reply to Press. About Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (SKMM) The primary role of SKMM is to implement and promote the Government's national policy objectives for the communications and multimedia sector. SKMM is also charged with overseeing the new regulatory framework for the converging industries of telecommunications, broadcasting and on-line activities, in accordance with the national policy objectives set out in the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (CMA), as well as postal services and digital certifications. The CMA provides that SKMM undertakes a policy implementation role, while policy decision-making is vested with the Minister. The Minister may also give policy directions to the Commission. For more information visit http://www.skmm.gov.my SOURCE: MALAYSIAN COMMUNICATIONS AND MULTIMEDIA COMMISSION

Can YTL keep promise to be cheapest mobile phone service and survive?

 

Raison D'etre - Risen Jayaseelan

AS expected, the mobile Internet service from YTL Communications Sdn Bhd, Yes, was launched last Friday with much fanfare. Some consumers are excited and rightly so.

YTL is promising the cheapest communication rates in the country with a simple integrated plan that combines voice, SMS and mobile data. There is also talk that YTL could offer Internet protocol TV soon.

YTL's Yes launch, however, is reminiscent of a couple of other launches of telecommunications-related services in the past by newcomers attempting to break into the scene.

Those following the telco or broadband scene will remember that in the last 10 years or so, there have been many players who have come into the wireless broadband scene.

Alas, despite their ambitious and sometimes colourful ad campaigns, many have not been able to sustain their businesses.

Here are some examples:

EB Capital Bhd launched its wireless broadband service in 2001, got listed in 2005 and went into major financial difficulties by 2008, when it was de-listed. At one point, had more than 1,500 corporate and retail customers for its wireless broadband service and had even done trials on WiMAX.

AtlasOne Sdn Bhd, started by a bunch of former Celcom employees around 2000. It was hailed as the new broadband player in town when it announced that it had garnered a significant amount of funding. At one point, it was said to have raised RM370mil partly from the Islamic Development Bank in Jeddah and partly from Bank Pembangunan Malaysia Bhd. But AtlasOne fizzled out and little has been reported about whether its funders had got their money back.

Time dotCom Bhd (TdC) in 2004 launched its wireless broadband service called Webbit in certain areas of Petaling Jaya. It is believed that TdC had not even managed to move beyond its pilot phase for various reasons, the bulk of them being technical in nature.

MiTV Corp Sdn Bhd, launched in 2005 as the country's second pay-TV operator, had expected to sign up 100,000 subscribers for the first year. It failed to gain a foothold in the pay-TV market and suspended its new subscription activities in late 2006, only to morph its business model into a cellphone service provider in the country

It changed its name to U Mobile Sdn Bhd, and operates the 018 prefix service and is now running trials on a wireless broadband service. Singapore's STT Communications Ltd and Multi-Purpose Holdings Bhd have bought stakes in U Mobile.

Green Packet Bhd, the most significant licensed WiMAX player in Malaysia (considering its widest coverage), has so far reported losses over the last few years due to its high capital expenditure in rolling out its network. It promises profitability, at least from an Ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) calculation, by next year.

No doubt, many players are driven to the industry by the attractive Ebitda margins achieved by the entrenched players, such DiGi.Com, Celcom and Maxis. But those starting afresh face major challenges and this is why many have failed.

First, you are up against some serious competition the incumbents are not about to give up a customer easily and these players have to some extent, sunken costs that put them in a better position to fight on price.

Then there are the huge costs involved in rolling services, on multiple fronts actually. Firstly, there is the network itself, which includes not only the equipment costs but also having pay real estate owners a rental for using their area to put up base stations and other equipment.

Then you have to continuously ensure your service is up and running and of a certain quality. It can cost a lot of money to deploy a sufficient number of technically competent staff.

Then there are the other fixed costs such as paying for billing systems, the call centres to handle customer queries and complaints and in some instances, having to pay what is called a device subsidy.

This is where players absorb some of the cost of devices sold that use their network so as to entice customers.
One of the world's leading WiMAX players, US-based Clearwire, is still reporting losses.

Still, perhaps a time will come when WiMAX players will achieve healthy Ebitda margins. And perhaps then they will enjoy the kind of investor interest that DiGi.Com and Maxis have today, due to their massive cash flows. Time will tell.

Deputy news editor Risen Jayaseelan says that despite the lack of visibility of profits of WiMAX players, the entry of new service providers can only mean good news to consumers, who should enjoy better rates for their telecommuncation needs.

Celcom raih anugerah emas

Shazalli Ramly

KUALA LUMPUR 29 Nov. - Celcom Axiata Bhd. (Celcom) telah berjaya merangkul dua anugerah emas iaitu Pusat Hubungan Terbaik dan Meja Bantuan Terbaik di Peringkat Akhir Majlis Anugerah Pusat Hubungan Dunia yang berlangsung di Las Vegas, Amerika Syarikat.
Dalam majlis yang diadakan baru-baru ini, Celcom yang mewakili rantau Asia Pasifik turut menerima anugerah perak Pusat Hubungan Sokongan Profesional Terbaik dalam majlis yang dianggap sebagai mempunyai taraf seperti Sukan Olimpik kepada para penyedia pusat hubungan di dunia.
Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif, Datuk Seri Shazalli Ramly berkata, Celcom telah melakukan pelbagai pembaharuan dalam usaha memberi perkhidmatan terbaik kepada pelanggan sepanjang tahun ini.
"Kami berbangga kerana menjadi syarikat pertama di Malaysia menerima anugerah emas tersebut dan ini akan memberi motivasi yang tinggi kepada Celcom untuk terus menyediakan perkhidmatan pelanggan terbaik," katanya dalam kenyataannya di sini.
Beliau berkata, anugerah kali ini disertai lebih 120 pengendali pusat perhubungan dan mereka yang pakar dalam industri tersebut dari seluruh dunia.
Antara yang turut bersaing merebut anugerah tersebut adalah China Mobile dari China, Japan's NTT-ME dan Softbank BB Corporation (Jepun), Qatar Telecom (Qatar), Portugal's Teleperformance (Portugal), Global Bilgi dan Yapi Kredi Bank (Turki), Canada's Accenture dan Virgin Mobile, New York Life serta Whirlpool Corporation (Amerika Syarikat).

 

 

 

Tuesday November 23, 2010

Oh no! Hackers hit firm’s Yes portal

By SUBASHINI SELVARATNAM
intech@thestar.com.my

PETALING JAYA: YTL Communications claims their web portal has been attacked, causing problems for subscribers to the company’s newly-launched Yes 4G broadband service.

YTL Comms chief executive officer Wing K. Lee said the attack swamped the portal with hundreds of thousands of requests for subscriptions, which prevented legitimate subscribers from accessing the system.

“We were getting as many as 300,000 hits per second,” he said.
As a result, he added, YTL Comms had to take lengthy steps over the weekend to filter individual blocks of IP addresses in order to circumvent the fake requests.

Wing said more than 15,000 subscribers had been enjoying the Yes service since Friday, adding that only a small percentage of customers were affected by the attack on the portal.

The company said it listed its Yes Care phone-support number on the portal on Sunday afternoon as an additional channel to handle customer queries. It also said that the number was publicised via social media networks.

Cherry Siow, 27, an operations executive, said she had pre-registered her Yes account before the Friday launch in Kuala Lumpur.

“After I had received a notification that my account was activated, I tried to log in but was unable to. The website showed that my Yes ID didn’t exist.”
On Monday, Yes Care sent her an e-mail response, saying that the Yes service was “currently experiencing some minor technical glitches, whereby there would be difficulty in accessing the Yes portal intermittently.”

Another subscriber, Ong Soo Thiah, 28, a software quality assurance engineer at Seagate Sdn Bhd, also complained that he had been unable to log in to his account since Friday. He, too, had pre-registered for the service.

“I complained to Yes Care via its Twitter account and have yet to receive an answer. I think this (level of service) is unacceptable, “ he said in an e-mail interview with The Star.

Seline Lau, 27, a marketing executive at a cosmetics company, was one of the subscribers who had her account activated over the weekend.

She went to the Yes store at Lot 10 on Saturday. “It took about 15 minutes to get the paperwork done at the counter. Activation takes about two hours and by the time I reached home, I could surf,” she said.

Lower prices for Internet services?

 

Lower prices for Internet services?

By LEONG HUNG YEE
hungyee@thestar.com.my

PETALING JAYA: Competition in the mobile and Internet business is expected to heat up with the entry of YTL Communications Sdn Bhd's Yes service, and some analysts believe that a price war may erupt.
There's a potential (for a price war).

With YTL coming into the market, the probability is higher, CLSA Securities Malaysia Sdn Bhd head of research Clare Chin said.

She said the new entrant would also raise competitiveness among telecommunications companies while broadband operators would be worried about their margins.

Expectations surrounding the launch of Yes sent shares in YTL Comms' parent company, YTL Power International Bhd, to their highest level in almost three years in early trade yesterday.

The counter ended eight sen, or 3.19%, to RM2.59 but off the intra-day high of RM2.64.

An analyst said the new entrant did not bring in competition automatically. He said telcos would up the ante against each other to woo customers in a saturated market and that was where the competition or price war would kick in.

In crowded markets where penetration (of voice) exceeds 100%, it can be difficult for an operator to distinguish itself from its competitors if it can only offer the same services.

To differentiate, it needs to be able to offer something new and different with better value proposition, the analyst said.

While competition is good for the consumer, it is not so for the local telcos which have spent the last few years battling each other in a price war, where consumers ultimately reaped the benefits in terms of low mobile call and SMS rates.

Every player's nightmare would be a price war, as margins would be pushed lower, hurting revenue, an analyst said.

YTL Comms' Yes 4G wireless broadband service would charge customers nine sen for a minute of call, one SMS or 3MB of data.

And that's before our rebates kick in, YTL Comms said in a teaser yesterday.

According to analysts, at nine sen a minute the service could be the cheapest in the market. However, they prefer to await confirmation from YTL on the price.

Sources said YTL would also be throwing in a rebate as high as 30% for its subscribers.

The more you use, the more rebate you'll get. For example, if you hit a threshold of 3GB, the price will drop and if you hit another threshold at 5GB, the price will continue to drop, the source said.

A simple calculation shows that nine sen per 3MB works out to about RM90 for 3GB, giving users roughly about 2,000 emails.

CLSA Securities' Chin did not discount consumers migrating to the latest network since cellular voice had already reached saturation.

She said consumers may want to choose a service provider that could offer them a better value proposition.
Investors are getting too excited, too early, Chin said, adding that today's event was just a launch and the hybrid TV would only be launched by end-2011.

Analysts said the triple play, which offers television, Internet and telephone in a single connection, would be the next wave that could change the traditional consumption pattern among Malaysian users of telecommunications services.

Apart from coming up with new products and services to steal customers from rivals, they would also have to entice their existing customers to spend more.

Yes is expected to cover up to 65% of the peninsula from day one. The other areas would be covered later.
The company has spent some RM2.5bil for the Yes 4G infrastructure.

The 4G network will be SIM-less with the 018 prefix.

In a report, OSK Research said that YTL Comms would need to capture at least 300,000 subscribers based on the assumption of average revenue per user of RM100 a month, given the steep initial investment outlay and operating expenditure.

Although the prices of WiMAX equipment and devices have fallen by over a third in the last two years, we believe YTL Comms would probably have to provide a steep upfront subsidy to lure subscribers given the stiff market competition as well as high mobile penetration rate, it said.

YTL Comms is also launching its flagship store at Lot 10 in Kuala Lumpur today after the official launch of the new service.