P1-TM broadband deal to have access to 1.3mil homes

by **hlk** Fri 14 Oct 2011, 08:07

KUALA LUMPUR: Packet One Networks Sdn Bhd (P1) has signed an agreement with Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) to use the national telecommunication company's high-speed broadband (HSBB) network in a product offering that it plans to roll out in the first quarter next year.

The agreement, which is for the provision of transmission and access services, will give P1 access to 1.3 million homes covered by the HSBB.

HSBB is available to over 1,044,000 premises and TM has set a target of extending this to 1.3 million by end-2012.

TM group chief executive officer Datuk Seri Zamzamzairani Mohd Isa told a briefing that the group's own HSBB offering, UniFi, had reached over 170,000 installations.
Lai (left) exchanging documents with Zamzamzairani. With them is Deputy Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Joseph Salang Gandum.

He also said TM's foreign shareholding had increased to 17% from less than 10%. “This reflects investor confidence in our business and the positive take-up of UniFi,” he said.

Meanwhile, P1 chief executive officer Michael Lai said the 10-year agreement would allow the company to offer its 4G services, coupled with fibre optics, making it the first in the region to do so.

He said the product might include Internet-protocol television and video-on-demand services.

He added that as HSBB fetched a higher average revenue per user and was in high demand, it was expected to contribute positively to P1's bottomline.

Since the HSBB network became available last year, TM has also signed wholesale agreements with Celcom and Maxis.

“We are keeping our promise of open access to all Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission-licensed service providers, as we've said at the beginning of the HSBB project under the public-private partnership agreement (with the Government) in 2008.

“With this collaboration, the telecommunications industry ensures consumers and businesses throughout the country will get to participate in the new wave of digital transformation sweeping across the country,” Zamzamzairani said.