Green Packet upbeat on China Mobile partnership

KUALA LUMPUR: Green Packet Bhd is expecting the recently signed collaboration between its unit Packet One Networks (M) Sdn Bhd and giant China Mobile to positively impact its bottom line eventually.

“While at the moment, the collaboration is purely a technological one, eventually it will allow P1 to expand its products and service offerings. That will translate into an increase in subscriber intake, which will help to enhance our financial position,” said Green Packet managing director and chief executive CC Puan.

When asked if China Mobile would eventually take a stake in either P1 or Green Packet, Puan said it is still too early to say.

“We will take things slowly. It is only the beginning,” he said. Green Packet already has a foreign stakeholder in P1 in the form of South Korea’s largest mobile provider SK Telecom.

At the moment, the agreement between P1 and China Mobile is one of technology cooperation to spearhead the TD-LTE technology movement in both Malaysia and Southeast Asia.

Under the agreement, P1 and the China Mobile Research Institute will promote TD-LTE as the global standard and for early adoption in Southeast Asia specifically, as well aiding to jumpstart its deployment in Malaysia.
(From left) Packet One Networks (M) Sdn Bhd (P1) group MD CC Puan, China Mobile Research Institute deputy general manager Huang Yuhong, Deputy Minister of Information, Communications and Culture Datuk Joseph Salang, The People's Republic of China embassy charge d'affaires Chen Dehai, P1 CEO Michael lai and ZTE Corp president Zheng Bang, after signing a collaboration agreement between P1 and China Mobile in Kuala Luumpur yesterday.

“We will not only be able to leverage on China Mobile’s expertise, but we will also see economies of scale as a result of its more than 600 million subscriber base that will help the development on the TD-LTE ecosystem,” said P1 chief executive Michael Lai at the event.

Lai added that given China Mobile’s size, it would also allow P1 leverage in the form of being able to obtain devices when the usage of LTE (long-term evolution) in general picks up.

“It will also help to drive down the cost of handsets in general and that will help to increase adoption of the technology,” said Lai.

On the flipside, Lai said China Mobile will be able to take away from P1 the latter’s expertise in rolling out WiMAX services and the development of the devices from parent Green Packet.

Puan also noted that P1 is ready to offer LTE-based services to its customers, but is still awaiting the final say from the authorities.

Commercial LTE is seen as the next step for the telecommunications sector as it tries to cope with the demand explosion for data. Last year, industry regulator Malaysian Commission and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) had asked nine operators to submit detailed business plans about how they would utilise the spectrum.

All of the operators have done so and are now awaiting the outcome of MCMC, with most hoping that an answer will be given during the upcoming third quarter.

When asked about the delay in the announcement, Deputy Minister of Information, Communications and Culture Datuk Joseph Salang said, “There is no real rush yet to distribute the spectrum as LTE is still not yet a mature technology.”