HSBB project on track for Q1 launch: TM

Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) is on track to commercially launch the High-Speed Broadband (HSBB) project by the end of first quarter this year. In a statement in Kuala Lumpur today, TM said infrastructure development work has moved on unabated and has now extended beyond the Inner Klang Valley, into Putrajaya and the southern economic region of Iskandar Malaysia, primarily in Nusajaya. TM said it has completed 100 per cent of the work in the four exchanges of Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Subang Jaya, Shah Alam and Bangsar. "The four locations were the target areas for TM's initial service roll-out and is now rolling out the HSBB network in Nusajaya and Putrajaya.

"As of Dec 31 last year, TM has achieved a 'premises passed' of 152,000," it said. The RM11.3 billion HSBB project, signed in September 2008, is a public-private-partnership agreement between TM and the government to develop the next-generation high-speed broadband infrastructure and services for the nation. By end-2012, approximately 1.3 million premises nationwide will have access to HSBB services. These nationwide areas, identified as Zone 1, include the Inner Klang Valley, Iskandar Malaysia, and key industrial sites nationwide. TM is putting up RM8.9 billion while the government is contributing RM2.4 billion on an incurred claims basis based on project milestones reached by TM.

The telecommunications company said its total capital expenditure related to the HSBB project as of Dec 31, 2009 reached RM1.9 billion -- covering last-mile access, Internet Protocol core deployment and capacity expansion for international links. "Over the next three months, a further 2,000 to 2,500 households in the four initial HSBB launch areas will be involved in the user trial for retail HSBB services," it said. Last December, about 123 households in Bangsar, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Subang Jaya and Shah Alam were already involved in the HSBB retail service trial. HSBB promises faster network access speed (port speed) in excess of the current fastest available Broadband for the General Public speeds of 4Mbps offered by TM’s existing Streamyx service. -- BERNAMA

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