KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 9): Celcom Axiata Bhd, which invested RM1 billion in the 3G infrastructure this year, has set aside another RM1 billion next year.
Its chief financial officer Chari TVT said on Friday the network was long-term evolution (LTE) capable for upgrading. LTE is a standard for wireless communication of high-speed data for mobile phones and data terminals.
“Currently, 86% of mobile phones in Malaysia still depends on the 2G network. Over in Japan, they had just phased out the 2G network this year. Malaysia is roughly five years behind Japan, therefore we can expect to phase out 2G TECHNOLOGY [] in about five years,” said Chari.
When asked about plans by Broadcast Australia to ink a deal on Monday to be Celcom’s technical partner to bid for the RM2 billion digital terrestrial television broadcasting (DTTB) project, Chari said the details of the deal would be announced on Monday.
However, he said Celcom would ultimately be providing infrastructure for the DTTB network and rent it out for stable income in the future.
“We have 98% of the infrastructure in place for the DTTB network,” said Chari.
On Celcom Axiata’s financial performance for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2011, Chari said it posted all-time record high profit and revenue.
Its profit after tax and minority interests for the third quarter rose 10% on-year to RM531million from RM509 million driven by revenue which grew by 6% to RM1.826 billion from RM1.768 billion.
Chari said he expected the group to achieve its key performance indicators and reach its targeted RM7.9 billion in revenue for the full year.
Moving forward, Celcom would continue to modernise its network, and accelerate its technology transformation by investing into network fiberisation, 4G LTE, and alternative access technologies while focusing on IT transformation.
Data makes up about 38% of Celcom’s revenue, but that figure is expected to reach 50% by 2015, he said.
He attributed the rapid growth of Celcom’s data business to the quickly expanding but highly competitive market.
“Smartphone penetration for our network has gone from 10% to 18% within a year,” said Chari who expected smartphone uptake to continue at a rapid pace as smart-phone prices continue to decline.
Its chief financial officer Chari TVT said on Friday the network was long-term evolution (LTE) capable for upgrading. LTE is a standard for wireless communication of high-speed data for mobile phones and data terminals.
“Currently, 86% of mobile phones in Malaysia still depends on the 2G network. Over in Japan, they had just phased out the 2G network this year. Malaysia is roughly five years behind Japan, therefore we can expect to phase out 2G TECHNOLOGY [] in about five years,” said Chari.
When asked about plans by Broadcast Australia to ink a deal on Monday to be Celcom’s technical partner to bid for the RM2 billion digital terrestrial television broadcasting (DTTB) project, Chari said the details of the deal would be announced on Monday.
However, he said Celcom would ultimately be providing infrastructure for the DTTB network and rent it out for stable income in the future.
“We have 98% of the infrastructure in place for the DTTB network,” said Chari.
On Celcom Axiata’s financial performance for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2011, Chari said it posted all-time record high profit and revenue.
Its profit after tax and minority interests for the third quarter rose 10% on-year to RM531million from RM509 million driven by revenue which grew by 6% to RM1.826 billion from RM1.768 billion.
Chari said he expected the group to achieve its key performance indicators and reach its targeted RM7.9 billion in revenue for the full year.
Moving forward, Celcom would continue to modernise its network, and accelerate its technology transformation by investing into network fiberisation, 4G LTE, and alternative access technologies while focusing on IT transformation.
Data makes up about 38% of Celcom’s revenue, but that figure is expected to reach 50% by 2015, he said.
He attributed the rapid growth of Celcom’s data business to the quickly expanding but highly competitive market.
“Smartphone penetration for our network has gone from 10% to 18% within a year,” said Chari who expected smartphone uptake to continue at a rapid pace as smart-phone prices continue to decline.
