Kumpulan Perangsang enters telco biz

Kumpulan Perangsang Selangor Bhd is set to participate in the telecommunication business through Ceres Telecom Sdn Bhd, a
prepaid mobile virtual network operator in Malaysia.

Kumpulan
Perangsang, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Perangsang Telco Sdn
Bhd, has entered into an investment and shareholders agreement in Ceres
Telecom.

With the signing of the agreement today, Perangsang
Telco will take a 30 per cent equity interest in Ceres Telecom, with 65
per cent being taken up by Dubai-based telecommunication group FRiENDi
and the remaining five per cent held by Samena Telecom Ltd.

Kumpulan
Perangsang Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Suhaimi
Kamaralzaman said the proposed investment provided the group with an
opportunity to participate in the future expansion of the prepaid
mobile business in Malaysia.

"This is apart from providing an immediate entry into the local
telecommunications industry.

"Pursuant
to FRiENDi's expansion into the Malaysian telecommunication sector,
Perangsang Telco was offered an opportunity to invest in Ceres Telecom,
a newly-incorporated local entity operating the prepaid mobile operator
services," he added.

Suhaimi said for this venture, Perangsang Telco had invested RM24 million in Ceres Telecom, and FRiENDi RM16 million.

"However,
FRiENDi's investment is over and above equity, as the company is
bringing in Information Technology, Intellectual Property as well as a
strategic partner, Virgin," he added.

Ceres Telecom Chief
Executive Officer Jonathan Marchbank who was also present at the
signing described the Malaysian market as the melting-pot of mobile
opportunity.

Marchbank, the former Chief Operating Officer of
Virgin Mobile in the United States said that there were a few prepaid
mobile operators in Malaysia but none had really emerged as a true
segment leader in the wholesale channels.

"Wholesale channels
represent a new avenue to provide incremental customer differentiation,
improved network utilisation and revenue growth," he said.

He
said the presence of Ceres Telecom in Malaysia was to capture the
segmented mobile prepaid telecommunication market and not compete head
on with bigger telcos like Celcom.

"Customers can expect Ceres to start providing its service by year-end," he added.

The
FRiENDi Group is a mobile network operator in South Asia, Oman, Jordan
and Saudi Arabia as well as the African region. -- Bernama