Over 2K YTL base stations are being deployed

WiMAX operator, YTL Communications Sdn Bhd said in a statement recently that it is currently deploying 1900 WiMAX 2.3GHz base stations nationwide with another 500 more base stations from Samsung that will soon be deployed as well.

Under the latest announcement, Samsung will also supply 2000 units of smaller base stations, or picocells, for In-building network coverage. The latest agreement with Samsung is made to increase the number of base stations for its nationwide network buildout.

Samsung serves as a supplier to 23 major WiMAX operators across 19 countries globally, such as Clearwire in the US, Yota in Russia and UQ Communications in Japan.

YTL Comms to purchase 1 million WiMAX single-chips

YTL Communications Sdn Bhd today announced a purchase commitment of one million units of WiMAX single-chips including GCT’s GDM7205 WiMAX single chips and GDM7215 WiMAX/WiFi dual-mode single chips from GCT Semiconductor.

YTL says it will soft launch the service in July 2010 with a nationwide availability scheduled in December 2010.

USD$1 million mYprize Global Developer Challenge

The YTL mYprize Global Developer Challenge is now launched and up to USD$1 million is for grab. Official story here.
Fact Sheet:

The Competition:
‘mYprize’ challenges developers from across the world to create unique applications, content or devices that highlight the benefits of YTL Communications’ 4G Network in Malaysia. To motivate developers worldwide to submit their prototypes, YTL Communications is offering USD$1 million in prizes to those with the most exciting and creative solutions that serve customer needs.

The Competition Period:
The Competition Entry Period commences on January 8, 2010 and ends on May 1, 2010. No additional submissions will be accepted after the close of the Competition Period.

Who Can Participate?
Participants are welcomed either as individuals or as teams made up of several persons who are 18 years of age or older. In the case of teams, one person must be designated as the team leader and will be solely responsible for registering and receiving communications from and communicating with YTL Communications.

Entry Process:
To enter the Competition, participants will go to www.myprize.my and follow the stated instructions. This site will contain all Competition related information. There is no fee to enter this competition. Participants must agree to ‘mYprize’ Terms and Conditions.

Judging:
Applications will be judged in multiple rounds.

• Rounds 1 & 2-YTL Communications’ ‘mYprize’ Global Developer Challenge allows registered users to vote for their favorite applications/devices/ideas based on the information submitted by entrants. Each registered user may cast one vote during the open voting period. In addition, YTL Communications will select a panel of expert judges to evaluate submissions. Both community and expert judge input will be used to select finalists. Categories for evaluation include areas such as viability of the business and demonstration of the benefits of a high speed, low latency 4G mobile Internet.

• Final Round- Finalists will be invited to demonstrate their products in person to a panel of expert and community judges. Submissions that receive the highest scores based on set criteria will be deemed winners in respective categories.

Winner Notification:
Winners will be announced in September, 2010. By accepting a prize, winners will consent to work with YTL Communications to promote their applications in mutually agreed upon programs and venues.

Prizes:

YTL makes very good joke

It is really funny when YTL claims that it will have nationwide WiMAX coverage by 2010 when they are only allowed to operate in PENINSULAR MALAYSIA. Also why they are talking about nationwide roll out when it has been 2 years and not even a single base station is open up for commercial use?

Watch this video too- NATIONWIDE ROLL OUT



This WiMAX operator also claims that 3G technology is coming to an end in one the handout given to the media(together with press release), however YTL Communications newly appointed CEO, Wing K. Lee denied that in the press conference.

Tan Sri Francis Yeoh, head of the YTL Group said that in the future Malaysian will be able to use 4G while along the North-South highway without any drop of signal. I wonder how can this be achieved by YTL when the telcos themself can't do that with 2G. The second generation technology (2G) using GSM900Mhz/1800Mhz is better than fourth generation technology(4G) on 2.3Ghz when it comes to coverage. Good Luck Tan Sri!

Some new developments include their new testing lab for WiMAX devices, upcoming content & device challenge(up to USD1 million to be won) and hundred of sites that has been acquired for base station. Also the company has plans to educate consumers on broadband services, which will benefit those living in rural areas who don't find the need for Internet access.

YTL's roll out plans are very promising, yet it remains as word for now. I hope they have settled the RM1.9million fine imposed by Goverment. Thumbs up SKMM! I hope in the next round, you will pull back these licenses that has failed to meet the target.

Check these out too:

• Official MW story regarding their recent announcement on 4G Innovation Network
• YTL website's new look
• YTL's Youtube Channel (good work!)
  

Roll out your WiMAX network or let other ISP do it!

Please read "WiMAX licence holders warned to use or lose it" before reading my opinion below.

How many times will the Government give warning to the WiMAX players in this country?

Packet One has been executing well for what it has promised so far(P1 WiMAX coverage stands at 25.4%) while one player called YTL e-Solutions gave Malaysians a wonderful dream about nationwide WiMAX coverage but at the moment they have the worst coverage or none at all among the four WiMAX players.

Why do we have so many jokers in this industry? There should be at least 25% WiMAX by the end of last year(2008), and then it was postponed to some where in March 2009 and now the end of the year. Dear SKMM, you are very good at making jokes for sure!

The old Communication Minister(Dato' Shaziman bin Abu Mansor ) said that he will take action against under-performing WiMAX operators in April 2009, and this was 2 months back!

And now the new Communication Minister(not to miss out Culture as well) Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim says that he will take action by the end of year.

This message goes out to the 3 WiMAX operators(YTL e-Solutions, Asiaspace and Redtone) who has failed the Malaysians, Don't worry, this industry is a joke and it will always be a joke till we resolve the root problem which is to wait for the next election. Till then, have fun!

Mobile Telecom Predictions for 2009

I know this post is extremely late and there has been lots of email since January about this. I apologize for that as I never had the time to write my predictions for 2009.

Here's a very short list on what to look out for in the local telecom industry this year:

Aggressive 3G services

I know that everyone has been saying that it is a year for 3G since it was launched like back in 2005(Celcom in May, Maxis in July and U Mobile in March, 2008). The reality is, 3G has a goal when it was introduced and I don't see that goal being achieved in Malaysia, yet.

3G was created to to offer high speed broadband services on the mobile phone. But till now, I don't see many people out there who are using 3G services and applications on their 3G phone. The only thing that the mobile operators could pride them self on 3G is the wireless broadband services that they are offering, an alternative broadband service to your fixed broadband service.

I am not going to talk about this further, but I hope to see more 3G service for mobile phones this year, such as services that make use of video call, maps/navigation services on phone, enhanced location based services, better online mobile payment, shopping services, music streaming, social networking and thousands of other services when you look at i-mode.

I know that most of these services are available, but I hope to see it coming from our very own telcos and more than 500 content developers in Malaysia out there.

World Economy: Impact on the Local Telecom Industry

I predict that the current world economy situation will have no impact on our local telecom industry. I don't see any reason why people will not SMS or talk less on their phone. That being said, however, people might not change phone as frequent as they did during the previous years.

In general, they should be no impact on our local mobile operators unless they have any business relationship with US-based companies.

WiMAX Heats Up

I have high hopes on P1 to drive the WiMAX and broadband adoption in Malaysia. You will see more WiMAX coverage areas as P1 expands their wireless coverage. On top of this, P1 will be launching their USB modem(MIMO supported) by Q3 this year(about June) and their new fixed WiMAX modem with VoIP support, replacing the current DS 300 model.

P1 does not seem to only focus on providing broadband service but also on content as well. Expect to see more content and services from Ruumz, an online social networking site created by Green Packet, the parent company of P1.

As for the other WiMAX players, personally, I don't expect and don't see much development from them although I must say that I do have a little hope for Asia Space since they are working on Digital Media Broadcasting (DMB) services. It is really interesting to see them trialling the service but I doubt that they could take it further since it involves a lot of investment while they are trying hard to expand their WiMAX coverage.

Asia Space DMB Receiver

It will also be great to see YTL e-Solutions to meet their own deadline this year but personally, I doubt it.

IPTV Services

Well, it is true that IPTV has nothing to do with mobile telecom. The reason I am talking about this is because it could drive the adoption of broadband services in this country. I like what Malaysian based-Syqic has to offer and their partnership with Hypp.TV. I believe that that they are working on a mobile IPTV application. Although they don't have high hopes on it, I hope to see them launching it with a mobile operator later this year.

Other local technology companies working on IPTV services includes MOL, TM , TIME, REDtone, WorldIP.TV and more.

Hope on MVNOs

I have not seen any serious impact from the current MVNOs players yet. When I last spoke to Jason Lo, the CEO of Tune Talk, he said that Tune Talk will be launching the services later this year. I am still trying to get more details about Celcom's investment on Tune Talk.

Another MVNO player appears to have some new developments too. Sumitomo Corporation of Japan has invested RM30 million in Merchantrade Asia Sdn Bhd. And why would a Japanese company do so, especially during the recession period?

As of January 2009, Merchantrade appears to have over 94,000 active subscribers and this is something positive. Hope to hear more about them this year.

Don't know whether if you still remember Happy, looks like Happy makes you sad afterall.

HSBB to Become Reality

As scheduled, TM should be rolling out the High Speed Broadband (HSBB) for wholesale on second quarter and for retail in the fourth quarter this year.

Speed should be starting from 10Mbps to 100 Mbps for residential customers and up to 1Gbps for businesses for high economic impact areas delivered via fibre optic infrastructure.

More Choices on Mobile Broadband

There has been many talks about 3G/LTE technology competing with WiMAX. I predict there will be more competition in the mobile broadband market once P1 launches their USB Modem. At the moment, only Asia Space offers a WiMAX USB modem, but it has limited coverage areas.

If the signs are right, I see that Celcom Broadband will be focusing more on their 3G broadband offering this year while Maxis Broadband could be coming up with more content and services. Competition between the 3G players will also heat up with DiGi 3G coming into the picture, however, DiGi needs to be aggressive in expanding their 3G coverage this year.

I don't have any predictions for U Mobile as for now. I believe there will be not much impact from U Mobile on the local mobile industry this year, unless if they are able to offer more broadband packages, expand their 3G coverage areas and also launch their much awaited DVB-H services.

NetBook is the Killer Mobile Device

I expect to see more Netbook offerings this year to complement the mobile broadband services. The attractive offerings should be coming from the mobile operators and also the WiMAX operators. If things goes as plan, there should be WiMAX-powered notebook/netbook devices sometime this year.

The Dell Inspiron Mini 9 with Maxis Broadband is a good bundle but I hope to see something more attractive with complete wireless broadband service(Maxis Broadband is included for the first 6 months only). Also expect to see some attractive netbook offerings from Celcom within the next few weeks.


P/s: If you think I have missed something, kindly post a comment.

New Year in 3 weeks time and so does the WiMAX Deadline

All of us will be celebrating the year 2009 with happiness and joy within 3 weeks time, but I don't know whether the country's four WiMAX operators will be doing the same. Here's some of the few things that could take place before or after 2009:

• MCMC might impose a "fine" to these WiMAX operators, but these "fines" will be nothing if compared to the value of the WiMAX license.
• MCMC might just do NOTHING
• MCMC might announce that the WiMAX roll out deadline has been extended to the end of 2009 or;
• MCMC will pull back some of the licenses and give it to the other so called "capable companies" by MCMC

I see either one of the first three things to happen as judging from the history of KTAK and MCMC, so to the four WiMAX operators out there -Don't Worry About It !!

Since there are only three weeks left, lets take a look at what these 4 WiMAX operators has done so far :

P1

Packet One (P1) launched their WiMAX service on August 19, 2008 making its name into the Malaysia Book of Records. They launched four packages with pricing they claimed "competitive". Recently it eliminated the upfront fees and reduced the monthly charges of certain packages.

The company plans to launch a USB dongle in Q1 next year followed by a WiMAX Mobile Internet Device and a PDA.

With its aggressive roll out, P1 is so far the best performer among all the other WiMAX operators out there. It launched WirelessKL and WirelessSunway which uses WiMAX as the backbone. Not only that, P1 is currently involved in the WirelessPenang project. On top of all these, it got the world's attention when Intel invested on their WiMAX business.

Yet with such achievements, it is only targeting 10,000 customes by year end from 40,000 which it planned earlier in August 2008.

P1 has limited WiMAX coverage in the Klang Valley and Johor Bahru, however it managed to rollout the service in more areas as compared to the other WiMAX operators.

AsiaSpace

AsiaSpace's Amax was also launched in August 2008. It currently offers 2 packages for consumer and 1 package for business users. All its packages comes with a 3 months upfront fee and a 12 months contract.

Asiaspace is the first WiMAX operator to launch a USB WiMAX dongle. According to the CEO, a total of 669 people have signed up for amax just two days after its launch.

Although the services is available and has some limited coverage in the Klang Valley, not many people out there who has heard of amax.

On the website, the company claims "The amax network will cover the entire Klang Valley by end 2008"(link) but with 3 weeks before 2009 and limited coverage that it has currently, how would this company keep the promise?

YTL e-Solutions

In June, YTL signed an agreement with XOHM, a unit of Sprint Nextel in the US. During the signing, Tan Sri Dr. Francis Yeoh, Executive Chairman and MD of YTLE said "We will roll out as soon as possible. Our time to market will become faster due to this partnership. We will of course comply with all the necessary regulatory requirements set out by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC)."-source

Until now, I don't really know whether this company has launched the WiMAX service or not but I found this article saying that the WiMAX service will be depoyed in 2 hotels and a Cafe in Bukit Bintang. Recently, I was told that the WiMAX service was being experimented there.

2 weeks back, YTL said that it will go for a nationwide launch next year and not launch it phase by phase. It also partnered with Cisco who 4 years ago said that the business case for WiMax was "not compelling" which later in 2007 it bought a WiMAX startup company called Navini Networks.

As for now, YTL is the only company to not follow the 2008 WiMAX deadline by publicly announcing their full launch that will be in Q4 2009.

Redtone

Not much developtments from REDtone but it said that it launched the WiMAX service in Sabah for corporate users in August 2008.

It also said that it partnered with Motorola and their offering starts at RM588 a month for 1Mbps

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

"Generally, three (of the companies) have done a good job while one is slightly behind,” said Energy, Water and Communications Minister Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor

“If they can’t give a good reason why they can’t give the business plan as what they have proposed, we would like to take the licence and give to those people who are really interested and serious in that particular industry,” he added. -source

The Minister knows which company is not doing a good job and so does the WiMAX company itself.

2 years ago, the Minister keeps his word and smaller companies get a go at WiMAX, and now we see the results.

Maybe it is time for that player to step aside and give way to someone else who are more capable in handling these national resources(WiMAX spectrum).

YTLE won't be meeting WiMAX deadline

Looks like YTL e-Solutions (YTLE) won't be meeting the deadline by the end of this year to launch the WiMAX service commercially and make it available to 25% of the human population in Peninsular Malaysia.

2 months back, SKMM was already taking about one WiMAX player who is not meeting their expectation. Could that be YTLE?

According to Tan Sri Dr. Francis Yeoh, Executive Chairman and MD of YTLE, they have "experimented" WiMAX last August in Bukit Bintang(for selected corporate customers). Can this be counted as a commercially launch?

There is a commercial pricing and packages from P1, Asiaspace and a business package from REDtone.

I am still waiting for YTL's packages(and pricing) if they claim that they have already launch WiMAX in August 2008.

Read this, "YTLE confident to launch WiMAX service nationwide next year".

As Tan Sri Dr. Francis Yeoh said "We are engineers and we can make it happen", for a nationwide WiMAX coverage in Peninsular Malaysia.

Older Post:

• YTL e-Solutions joins WiSOA

YTL e-Solutions joins WiSOA

YTL e-Solutions, one of the 2.3Ghz WiMAX operator in Malaysia, has joined the London-based WiMAX Spectrum Owners Alliance (WiSOA).

The company plans to lead participate in WiSOA to enable the future commercial development of roaming for WiMAX.

It said WiSOA planned to enable roaming among WiMAX networks and from WiMAX networks into WiFi, cellular, 2G and 3G networks.

Read more here