4G roll-out in Sabah by year-end

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.