Communication Industry: May 2011

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Published: Monday May 16, 2011 MYT 5:41:00 PM
PETALING JAYA: Packet One Networks (P1) has revealed its voice plans for home broadband users.

One of the plans is the The Voice P10, which offers 60 minutes of free talk time nationwide as well as free calls to five P1 numbers at the cost of RM10 per month. There are no line rental fees and P1 Voice plans offer international call rates to over 10 countries from 10sen per minute.

Both the P1 4G DX and DV home modems come equipped with voice ports, which can be used with any analogue phone.

P1 has three broadband plan options to choose from depending on your usage. The lowest plan starts from RM49 a month and has a usage quota of up to 5GB. There are two more plans at RM99 and RM139 with usage quotas of 20GB and 30GB respectively. All plans can be paired with a Voice plan, the company said.

In conjunction with the launch of the Furiously Stronger, Wider and Faster campaign two weeks ago, P1 will also be running a Furious Voice Contest until June 6.

Ninety-six new subscribers to P1 Voice plans P10, P30 and P50, will stand the chance to win prizes like an iPad, Panasonic dect phone, Fast 5 movie merchandise goodie bags and movie tickets. More contest details can be found on the P1 website.

Subscribers to Voice P30 and P50 also stand to enjoy 50% off of the commitment fee for the first two months. This promotion runs until end of this month
http://techcentral.my/news/story.aspx?file=/2011/5/16/it_news/20110516175135&sec=it_news

More channels for Unifi subscribers

Wednesday May 11, 2011

NEW CHANNELS: (left) TM group's consumer executive vice-president Imri Mokhtar and New Media executive vice-president Jeremy Kung introducing the seven new additions to TM's HyppTV IPTV service.
KUALA LUMPUR: Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) has announced seven new premium channels to its IPTV offering, HyppTV.

The new premium channels, which can be purchased by HyppTV subscribers separately, are Al Jazeera, tvN HD, National Geographics Adventure HD, National Geographics Music, SyFy HD, SS Music and Emas.

News followers can opt for to Al Jazeera while music aficionados can tune in to National Geographics Music and SS Music. Emas offers well-loved local television programmes such as Pi Mai Pi Mai Tang Tu and Sinaran.

For those who prefer international fare, SyFy and tvN HD brings programmes from the United States and South Korea respectively. Documentary lovers will want to tune in to National Geographics Adventure HD.

Subscription prices for these channels range from as low as RM3 to RM9 per month.

TM also unveiled five video-on-demand (VOD) categories that offer local drama, documentaries and cartoons. The new VOD packages are called the Malaysian Package, Nature Package, Dino, Animasi and Galaxy.

The packages are priced at RM8 each and subscribers can view content in these packages for up to 30 days.

TM has also included YouTube and Facebook browsing as part of its interactive applications offerings on HyppTV. These are available for free.

With the inclusion of these new offerings, HyppTV now features 44 channels comprising 15 free channels and 29 premium channels. It also has 14 VOD categories and 11 interactive applications.

HyppTV is included in TM's high speed broadband service, Unifi. According to the telco, there are currently 80,000 Unifi subscribers since its launch in March last year.

http://techcentral.my/news/story.aspx?file=/2011/5/11/it_news/20110511121921&sec=it_news

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

P1 reveals voice plans

More channels for Unifi subscribers

Is There Room for HSBB and Mobile Broadband to Co-Exist?

Saturday May 7, 2011

WHILE competition among high-speed fixed and mobile broadband operators is getting increasingly fierce, industry players believe there is room for both to co-exist given the size of the market. Lending credence to this is the different user behaviour among consumers.

According to Frost & Sullivan, wireless broadband has been fast gaining popularity over fixed broadband with almost two million wireless broadband subscribers compared to 1.65 million fixed broadband subscribers in 2010.

In 2009, fixed broadband dominated over wireless broadband with 1.4 million subscribers to 0.9 million subscribers.

Still, fixed broadband will gain market share in 2011 and 2012 due to the introduction of high-speed broadband and wholesale deals by Maxis and Celcom. Governmental support for high-speed broadband will also help drive the fixed broadband market. The Malaysian fixed broadband market is expected to reach 2.2 million subscribers in 2015.

Here is what they have to say:

Datuk Seri Shazalli Ramly
Chief executive officer
Celcom Axiata Bhd

Each player will have its own clarity on how to position its company in the context of the nation's Internet penetration. We are very clear of wanting to be the top mobile broadband player. To allow mobile access to grow you need the mobile smartphones, you can't split the devices any more. The convergence is happening and we definitely want to be in that space.

We will find the ways and means to build a network that allows nomadic and mobile users to access our network and, by design, help to achieve the numbers (broadband penetration rate) that they want.

I feel there is a blurring codependency taking place at the moment not by design but by behaviour.

Mark Dioguardi
Executive vice-president,
network and technology Maxis Bhd

We are now moving into machineto- machine communication and the mass market is looking for reliable and consistent connection.

Since last year, we have been making steady investments to upgrade our systems to provide the widest 3G coverage, geographically and capacity to allow more people to access Maxis.

Good things are happening in Malaysia. If you put Singapore aside, Malaysia is quite aggressive in terms of the fibre-to-home broadband. There have been a lot of progress. It's an Utopian view.

Datuk Seri Zamzamzairani Mohd Isa
Group CEO Telekom Malaysia Bhd

We have to compete. And customer will have a choice. Each provider will serve the needs. There will be newer technologies that will provide competition. It will only benefit the customer. We will have to do our best to fight our corner in the retail side.

We are fixed on fibre but looking at the needs of our customer, we would like to complement it holistically. We are providing WiFi today. When we started last year, we have 2,000 hotspots and now we have 13,000. We will be rolling out WiFi hotspots in more locations that are suitable for customers that need the service.

That is in wireless form.

Michael Lai
Chief Executive Officer
Packet One Networks (PI)

We started from zero and we have diligently invested a lot of money to build our network. Our network is built for data and broadband and we have covered 45% of populated areas in the country. The demand for our services are growing and we are now looking to launch our huddles in one to two months time.

For the future, we are working on a co-existence strategy, taking advantage of our Wimax to test LTE (long term evolution). The migration to LTE for us will not be a costly affair since ZTE claims it would involve only a software upgrade. We started the 4G journey ahead of many others and we want to keep the lead.

Afzal Abdul Rahim
Chief Executive Officer
Time dotCom Bhd

We are focused and we intend to push the boundaries. Since February 2010, we have been providing the fastest Internet speed in Malaysia at 50Mbps and we will bring this service to 170,000 Malaysian homes in 2011.

We also hope to continue playing a major role in being the invisible infrastructure provider to Malaysia's leading operators in transporting their traffic and broadband services on our 100% nationwide fibre optic network.

As a small but nimble player, it is our responsibility to ensure that Malaysians get the internet experience they deserve.

http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/5/7/business/8617444&sec=business

Speed rules in broadband

Saturday May 7, 2011
By LEONG HUNG YEE
hungyee@thestar.com.my

AFTER a much publicised kick-off, high speed broadband (HSBB) access in various forms is starting to take shape in Malaysia. Of late, there has been a flurry of activity as service providers rush to provide fixed-line broadband by riding on Telekom Malaysia Bhd's (TM) infrastructure.

UK-based Informa Telecoms & Media senior analyst Tony Brown tells StarBizWeek that TM's UniFi service, which got off to a relatively slow start in terms of subscriber growth, is really starting to pick up and growth prospects look good.

“Now that Maxis Bhd is selling HSBB services and Celcom Axiata Bhd is also likely to start doing so by year-end, we are going to see a big shift of subscribers moving away from DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) services towards the HSBB network,” he says.

The RM11.3bil HSBB project, signed in September 2008, is a public-private partnership agreement between TM and the Government to develop next-generation HSBB infrastructure and services for the nation.

TM is forking out RM8.9bil while the Government is co-investing RM2.4bil on an incurred claims basis based on project milestones reached by TM.

By end-2012 in accordance with the completion of the first phase of the national HSBB project roll-out as agreed with the Government about 1.3 million premises will have access to the HSBB services.

According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), government plays a special role in many developing countries in creating demand for next-generation broadband services.

“Building up fixed broadband infrastructure typically involves large-scale investments over long-time horizons and the private sector benefits from more certain prospects in its attempts to finance and roll out such infrastructure.

The foresight to develop an ultra-fast broadband infrastructure is not only limited to Malaysia. Countries as diverse as Australia, Brazil, China and India have launched broadband initiatives respectively.

Elsewhere in the region, there are also a slew of activities happening with regard to HSBB. Some countries have already rolled out their HSBB while some are currently in the midst of developing the infrastructure.

“K-broadband”

Analysts say closing the broadband gap has become a priority for many governments.

South Korea has announced its plans to build a super broadband infrastructure with upload and download speeds of 1Gbps by 2013 through a fibre-optic cable. The project is reported to cost about US$24.5bil, and will largely be funded by the private sector.

The country, which prides itself as being one of the world's most wired countries, already has the best download speeds around the globe. “You will not fail to be impressed by the speed of the country's online connections,” says an analyst. The country is in fact in the process of developing an even faster broadband speed.

According to speedtest.net, South Korea's average download speed of 30.64Mbps currently ranks the first in the world. The results were obtained by analysing test data between March 30 and May 2. By comparison, Malaysia ranks 102 with an average download speed of 2.61Mbps.

Wired broadband, however, is just at the beginning in South Korea; the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) has plans to ramp up its wireless broadband to 10Mbps.

Indeed, it would be interesting to see how things shape up in South Korea once the fibre-optic infrastructure is rolled out.

“At the rate South Korea is going, it is quite possible that the nation will give us a glimpse of our own wired future,” he says. The Korean project, largely funded by the private sector, is key to growing the country's status as a middle-income nation after years of economic despair. Home-grown online gaming and entertainment have also boomed in South Korea as a result of its investment in broadband infrastructure.

Experience Down Under

Informa Telecoms & Media's Brown says the HSBB rollout in Malaysia is one of the most interesting “National Broadband Network” (NBN) type deployments thus far as it targets a very specific part of the nation; it only covers 20% of total homes with its 1.3 million homes passed target.

“However, this very specific targeting has enabled TM and the Government to bring the project in for just US$3.78bil which is way below what is being spent by the Australian government in its own NBN deployment,” he says.

The Australian government plans to invest as much as A$43bil over eight years to build a high-speed Internet network to connect 90% of the nation's homes and create jobs.

The Australian government has also created a new company, NBN Co Ltd, to build and operate the broadband network in urban, regional and rural areas. The government will own at least 51% of a company that will make initial investments of A$4.7bil to build and operate the network.

NBN Co says the capital expenditure for the project is estimated at A$35.9bil, of which the Australian government's contribution will be A$27.5bil in equity in the project.

The NBN will involve the laying of fibre-optic cabling to 93% of Australian homes, schools and businesses, providing broadband speeds of up to 100 Mbps, or up to 100 times faster than what many Australians are experiencing.

Construction for laying the fibre-optic backbone links in Australia has started and construction on the second release sites will begin in the first half of 2011.

Good start for Malaysia

Brown says the Australian NBN is in the early stages of rollout and the government still needs to complete its deal with Telstra before the network rollout can really move forward in a substantial fashion. Indeed, the Malaysian HSBB will very likely be completed even before NBN gets off the gate.

“Therefore, from a pricing and achievement perspective, it is reasonable to say that the HSBB network has gone pretty much as well as can be expected for such a big logistical project,” says Brown.

“There have been some technical issues and it has taken them (TM) a bit longer than they might have liked to start signing wholesale deals. But in comparison with Australia, there is no doubt that Malaysia's deployment has been more efficient,” he adds.

Brown says the key thing for the HSBB is that they are not trying to take on too large a project all at once. The decision to roll out to only 20% of the country in the first stage has kept the project to a “manageable size and prevented problems faced in Australia”.

The other market in the region deploying an NBN is, of course, Singapore where the entire country will have fibre-to-home access by early 2013.

“However, it is not really useful to make costing comparisons between Singapore and other regional markets given the small geographic size of the Singapore market which makes FTTH/B rollout there very cost-effective, and most certainly so compared to Malaysia or Australia,” says Brown.

Singapore model

The Singaporean government has been promoting the usage of broadband Internet access as part of its Intelligent Nation 2015 (iN2015) masterplan. Interestingly, Singapore like South Korea, also has impressive existing infrastructure and is one of the most wired countries.

Last year, Internet service providers in Singapore started rolling out the Next Generation Nationwide Broadband Network (NGNBN) service plans. The NGNBN supports high speeds of up to 1Gbps as it uses an optical-fibre network.

According to Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), by 2012, homes and offices nationwide will be connected to Singapore's ultra high-speed and pervasive NGNBN. In two years, some 60% of homes and offices can have access to this new, pervasive, all-fibre network.

The Singapore government had in 2008 selected the proposal from OpenNet Consortium to design, build and operate the passive infrastructure for the NGNBN. The OpenNet consortium comprises Axia NetMedia Corp (30%), Singapore Telecommunications Ltd (30%), Singapore Press Holdings Ltd (25%) and SP Telecommunications Pte Ltd (15%).

The NGNBN will be capable of delivering speeds of up to 1Gbps and beyond. It was reported that OpenNet will invest S$1bil-S$2bil to design, build and maintain the network infrastructure, while the government will support its rollout with a funding of S$750mil.

OpenNet began the fibre rollout in 2009. The rollout is on schedule and is expected to achieve the target of 95% total coverage by mid-2012.

Based on estimates, there are over half a billion broadband subscribers worldwide (including all fixed access technologies) as at end last year. While Japan continues to lead the world in terms of the number of FTTx (fibre to the home or curb) subscribers; South Korea has the highest penetration in the world and is the first to reach over 50% penetration of households using FTTx.

According to international research firm Parks Associates, the demand for high-bandwidth applications will jump in the next few years as the number of households worldwide with broadband will reach close to 650 million by 2013. Asia-Pacific is the largest market, accounting for over 160 million subscribers, and is expected to have over 49% of the global market share by 2013.

http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/5/7/business/8616272&sec=business

1Bestarinet should have Giga not Mega

Friday May 13, 2011
Friday Reflections - By B.K. Sidhu

WE can begin to leave SchoolNet behind us as a new tender to wire up schools with Internet broadband access is out.

This new project, known as 1Bestarinet, is supposed to wire up 9,924 schools in the country. The birth of 1Bestarinet dates back to the national key economic area telecoms lab days.

The tender bid was out on May 5 and a must-attend briefing was held on May 10. The closing date for the tender is May 31 this gives potential bidders three weeks to work on their proposals.

Some of those who want to be considered view the three weeks as too short for such a huge project that spans 10 years and can cost anything up to RM300,000 per year.

“Unless you had prior knowledge of this tender, it would be impossible for some parties to submit a tender as it covers a lot of areas and three weeks is just not enough,'' one said.

Nearly a dozen companies have collected the tender documents. They include players such as Celcom Axiata, Jaring, HighTech Padu, Maxis Bhd, REDTone International, Time dotCom, Telekom Malaysia and YTL Communications.

This tender is called by the Ministry of Education and it is clearly stipulated that it is open to local companies and preference will be given to bumiputra tender bids that are registered with the Finance Ministry under some codes stipulated.

To recap, SchoolNet was born in 2004 to wire up schools using wireless or fibre technology. Several companies won the bids to provide Internet access to the schools and while the effort was put in, there is really not much to gloat about. The effort is fruitless if it does not achieve its objective and we can blame the lack of specifications to lack of integration, unpreparedness of teachers and find all the flaws but a key component that did not make it shine was the access speed and capacity.

Then comes 1Bestarinet.

There are two major components access and learning management system (LMS) module. Many did not expect the LMS to be included but it is there and details need to be furnished with the tender bid.

For urban areas the access speed is 2Mbps to 10Mbps, and for rural and remote schools 1Mbps to 4Mbps. All sorts of technologies can be used, be it fibre or wireless technology including Vsat.

The interesting part is that even before the tender came out some parties have been burning the midnight oil to get prepared. One company managed to get a LMS module in place and it is dangling its carrot to work with others. Two others the ones with the biggest fibre networks are likely to put in a joint bid and have been on it for a while now.

But those who only got wind of it days before the tender opened, they will be scrambling to meet the deadline.

The contention is on timing why only three weeks when it is such a big project? Three weeks happens to be the minimum time required for a tender to remain opened.

One of the flaws of SchoolNet was scalability. That apparently is also the issue with 1Bestarinet even though some claim that those making a submission should consider cloud computing as an option.

While the 1Bestarinet project is great, did it take into consideration the murid's perspective?

We are talking about a group of people who will be tomorrow's leaders and they are the ones living in the era of social media, super fast Internet speed, smartphones, TouTube and so on, and for all that they need big capacity and super speed.

So 2Mbps or even 10Mbps is really not enough in a classroom of 30 to 40 students, the networks are going to be congested in no time. So should we pour money into networks that are only good for a year, two or three?

What we need to look at is the bare minimum of 1Gbps; there should be no compromises on speed and capacity. Taking U-turns can be a costly affair and it can delay us from reaching our destination.

Perhaps we ought to review our offering, make the change and give more time to those who are interested in the tender bid so that we can attract the best. While at it we should not consider players that don't keep their promises.

Deputy news editor B.K. Sidhu wishes all teachers a Happy Teacher's Day and thanks them for taking care of our children.

http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/5/13/business/8675705

Maxis, Asiaspace in talks to roll out LTE services

Tuesday May 10, 2011
By B.K. SIDHU
bksidhu@thestar.com.my

PETALING JAYA: Maxis Bhd is said to be in talks with Asiaspace Sdn Bhd to work out ways how both parties can collaborate and share infrastructure for the roll out of LTE (long term evolution) services.

Sources said the plans might involve Maxis building and operating the LTE network while Asiaspace will bring to the table the telecommunications spectrum so that the overall reach and capacity would be wider and bigger.

Maxis will use its network to offer LTE enabled services and Asiaspace would be able to offer services to its users by riding on Maxis LTE network, sources said.

Those familiar with the deal said that talks began several months ago and a preliminary agreement had been reached.

However, both parties would explore the feasibility of such a collaboration before an agreement was inked.

Sources said there might be a clause in the agreement that might give Maxis the first right of refusal to buy some stake in Asiaspace, provided the shareholders of the latter wanted to reduce their stake in the company.

Asiaspace sits on the 2.3G spectrum which is meant for the deployment of WiMax services but it can also be used for LTE deployment. Maxis also has several spectrum blocks that it uses for the range of its current services.

Both companies are also candidates that are supposed to be assigned the 2.6G spectrum meant for LTE and the assignment is scheduled on Jan 1, 2013. The Government had said nine companies would be allocated a 20MHz spectrum each on the 2.6G block.

The 20MHz block is seen to be too little for players to offer the next generation services which will be focused on heavy data and video.Collaboration and sharing of infrastructure is the “in thing'' in the telecoms industry as it helps the industry reduce duplication of infrastructure and at the same time maximise on bandwidth which has become a rare commodity.

Asiaspace began offering broadband services to users in select areas under the Amax brand sometime ago. However, since September last year it has suspended its services and blamed the rising cost of backhaul as one of the reasons that it had to suspend its services.

The company was said to have invested over RM40mil to deploy the network and it also needed funds to move head.

Its bandwidth was virtually un-used since the company suspended its broadband services and it needed to get back into the business as it risked losing the spectrum, sources added.

Currently Maxis also has a tie-up with Telekom Malaysia Bhd to ride on the latter's high speed broadband services in its bid to offer a full range of home services.

Apart from the Maxis/TM collaboration, TM is also separately working towards collaborating with Celcom Axiata Bhd for network sharing. Celcom also has a network sharing agreement with DiGi.Com Bhd.

Maxis has undertaken trails for LTE with Huawei in its bid to migrate to the fourth generation of wireless technology which promises to improve the throughput and capacity of wireless phone networks.

http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/5/10/business/8648240

TM sets RM3.4b capital expenditure

Wednesday May 11, 2011

RM2b provisioned for HSBB service expansion

KUALA LUMPUR: Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) has earmarked a total of RM3.4bil for its capital expenditure (capex) this year. Of that amount, RM2bil will be used by the national telecommunications provider for the expansion of its high-speed broadband (HSBB) services in the country, while the remainder will be used for its business as usual capex.

“We are on track to meeting our HSBB project target of 1.1 million premises passed covering 78 exchange areas by year-end,” TM chairman Datuk Dr Halim Shafie told the press after the company's AGM.

Halim said the company was targeting to achieve 1.3 million premises passed and 95 exchange areas by the end of next year.

Launched in March 2010, TM's HSBB service, brand named UniFi, is currently available at 66 exchange areas with more than 800,000 premises passed. The total number of UniFi customers nationwide at present stands at 80,000, an increase from 33,000 at the end of 2010.

Datuk Seri Zamzamzairani Mohd Isa (left), Datuk Dr Halim Shafie and group CFO Datuk Bazlan Osman (right) at the press conference.

“We are confident that our UniFi service will continue to see sustainable and impressive growth because there is genuine demand for the HSBB service,” said TM group managing director/CEO Datuk Seri Zamzamzairani Mohd Isa.

He explained that the rapid growth of UniFi hinged not only on the company's aggressive promotional campaigns for the HSBB service, but the word-of-mouth by existing subscribers was also fuelling the growth of the service.

ECM Libra, in its recent note, conceded that TM would likely see more material contribution from its UniFi service next year. The local research house had projected an increase of 35% in the company's earnings per share (EPS) for the financial year (FY) ending Dec 31, 2013, premised on improvement in margins and higher revenue growth driven by the maturity of its HSBB network.

TM posted an impressive performance in FY10, when its net profit rose 85% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM1.25bil, on revenue of RM8.79bil, which represented an increase of around 2% y-o-y. ECM Libra said data revenue would continue to drive TM's earnings, which was expected to grow at low double-digits this year. It believed the company's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) margins would be lower this year compared with the preceding year due to the costs of maintaining its two separate networks, while capex would likely peak this year.

Meanwhile, TM also said yesterday it had obtained shareholders' approvals for its proposed final gross dividend of 13.1 sen less tax at 25%, amounting to RM351.5mil, and proposed capital distribution of RM1.04bil cash, or 29 sen per share, for the financial year (FY) ended Dec 31, 2010. The payment was expected to be done by next month.

Last September, TM distributed an interim dividend of 13 sen less tax 25% that amounted to RM348.8mil. Together with the just-approved final dividend and capital distribution, TM's total payout to shareholders for FY10 stood at RM1.74bil.

Analysts commended TM's consistent ability to fulfil its dividend obligation, adding that the company's strong presence in both the retail and wholesale broadband markets, had made the counter even more attractive to investors. TM yesterday gained 10 sen to close at RM4.12, marking a year-to-date gain of 17%.

http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/5/11/business/8656428

Poor Service a Bane to Telecom Sector

Saturday May 7, 2011
By LEONG HUNG YEE
hungyee@thestar.com.my

“TAKE it or leave it”. Sounds harsh? Believe it or not, that pretty much sums up the service level of certain local service providers in the country's telecommunications sector. Generally, while telcos and Internet service providers are striving to provide better user experience, poor service largely remains a huge headache for consumers. In fact, many consumers wonder if the rating scorecard they are occasionally asked to fill up by their respective telco providers actually is an exercise in futility, given the lack of improvement in the service quality.

When asked to comment on this, Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) group CEO Datuk Seri Zamzamzairani Mohd Isa says: “For me, because I am the CEO, I will never be satisfied with the service level ever. The idea is to have constant improvement. That's what we need to do.”

According to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), poor service makes up the bulk or 35% of consumers complaints, followed by content (16.7%), bill and charging (13.9%) and SMS (10.1%). The poor service coverage formed 3.5% of complaints recorded by the regulator and no service coverage 4.3%.

The high percentage of complaints due to poor service may not be a reflection of the real situation given that they only involve cases recorded by MCMC.

“There is a significant gap between expected and perceived service quality by service providers. There are many reasons for this. In some cases, it's the technical issue,” an analyst says.

Another analyst says there is no doubt that service quality in some areas is great but not in others. As such, more improvement needs to be done to solve consumer woes as opposed to collecting complaints and doing little about them.

“Perhaps the number is not reflective because people find it troublesome to file a complaint as they end up on the phone for at least 10 minutes, being entertained by some advertisement or music, before they can actually speak to someone,” says the analyst. “That in itself could form part of a complaint!” he quips.

Naturally, industry players acknowledge the fact that there's a gaping room for improvement in customer service levels and, as a result, continue to invest to provide customers with a better experience.

But in terms of service level, have they (service providers) “arrived”? “No”, says Celcom Axiata Bhd chief executive officer Datuk Seri Shazalli Ramly. “We need to build the foundation that will shift from voice to data first. That's what everybody is doing and must do. And that's what we are doing now. The foundation for better services is being built even as we speak. Before this, people thought they can use the voice foundation. It doesn't work anymore. It does not evolve as much as data,” Shazalli says, adding that Celcom has invested tremendously to improve its service level.

V for vandalism

“On the front, you've got to conduct training for the customers service, the systems, network and others. We are putting money into improving customers service,” Shazalli says, adding that there are glitches in the company's network due to rampant vandalism over the past year, causing it to lose RM40mil worth of equipment.

“There's rampant vandalism in the country. It is not just affecting us but the industry. Celcom has recorded more than 2,000 cases of vandalism, whereby 1,010 cases involved dropped calls and intermittent disruptions,” Shazalli says.

Of the 2,000 cases, 1,000 of those took more than a week a restore, he adds.

“And this is a national crisis for us. We rarely have dropped calls in areas like Sunway and then, boom, someone decided to steal something. This is one challenge. The minute the fibre is cut, the whole sector is disrupted and it's happening everyday with an average of 3 cases a day. They (vandals) think there is copper in there,” Shazalli says.

He says the other problem that Celcom is facing now is the restoration. “Two thousand cases means 2,000 people have to go on the ground to fix that problem. Those are the same engineers who built and maintain the network. Restoration takes more than seven days and that's not acceptable by the public. They want a maximum blackout of two hours!”

Maxis Bhd executive vice-president, network and technology Mark Dioguardi says its network is also affected by vandalism to a certain extent.

“We spent a lot of time on preventive and security measures. It happens every time and everywhere. It's affecting the industry,” he says, adding that Maxis has been hard at work to “repair things quickly”.

Dioguardi says vandalism is a huge challenge for the company, particularly in recent months. However, he admits that consumers may also experience service interruption due to scheduled service maintenance and upgrading of software, but such routine work is usually carried out in the wee hours of the morning where less people will be affected.

Operational challenges

Zamzamzairani says TM is constantly improving Unifi's service level but for the time being, there is no data on the nature of the complaints.

“We don't have the numbers yet. UniFi is a new service and we are tracking.”

“Putting in UniFi is not the same. You have to put fibre at home so the installation will take a bit longer and it's tougher to do,” he says.

Zamzamzairani acknowledges problems such as missed appointments by contractors and customers complaints, among others.

“Missed appointment for example. We promised we will come but never show up. I agree ... there are pockets. We listen to them and we are taking action. The key is constant improvement. More than anyone I would like to work on it. We just have to keep working on it to make sure it's happening,” he says.

Shazalli says customers touch points are one of the factors that set one telco apart from the other. “Where do you go when you have data problem? We need customers touch points to solve problems related to pure data only or you have to go to the phone store and talk to the dealer ... a lot of that is happening. Going forward, you will see phone shop and data services shop merge into one as we speak.”

“If you do the checklist from one to 10, we are about six. It's still a long way to go. Six being all the foundations that we have in place. That's another four more points to get a perfect 10.''

At what cost?

While service level may be an issue consumers are forced to endure, they also need to contend with the steep pricing for fibre broadband service.

Some opine that the pricing for TM's UniFi packages appear high and the same goes for Maxis' Home Services a fixed-line broadband Internet service.

Understandably, both TM and Maxis have brushed aside market talk that there is a so-called cartel in pricing for their fibre broadband services.

“Absolutely not! If you look at the region, it is very competitive,” says Maxis' Dioguardi, adding that the deal Maxis has with TM is “good enough to sign” and there is no such condition that it has to price its packages similarly to TM.

Maxis is offering a standard package with a speed of 4Mbps and a quota of 30 GB for RM128. UniFi's entry level package is priced at RM149 per month and it comes with high-speed broadband, IPTV (Internet protocol TV), free voice calls and some other offerings.

TM's Zamzamzairani says there's “no way” the two players can form a price cartel as on the retail side, they are competitors.

“It is a value proposition on the packages offered to our subscribers. Our retail side are competing all-out to get customers,” he adds.

Your right as a consumer

Not be known to many consumers, there actually exists a service level agreement which spells out the commitment of service providers which binds them to meet the minimum performance promised, as per the agreement. If there are perceived breaches, consumers can file a complaint with the MCMC.

A quick check on MCMC's website revealed that the task is rather simple. MCMC provides an online complaint communication channel for consumers to lodge complaints on any issues related to the communications and multimedia sector. It has also listed the other communication options for consumers to get in touch with the regulator.

Clearly, a great deal more needs to be done by local service providers. The end result, of course, is a win-win for consumers and telecom players.

http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=3939847873441920399

The Long Wait for HSBB

Saturday May 7, 2011
A QUESTION OF BUSINESS By P. GUNASEGARAM
p.guna@thestar.com.my

We must not kid ourselves that the journey towards this is going to be an easy one

The figures may be impressive at first glance but closer examination indicates that not all's well with Telekom Malaysia's plans to implement high speed broadband (HSBB) across the country and even in urban areas in and around Kuala Lumpur (see our cover story this week).

In its first year, TM's broadband service, Unifi, garnered 60,000 subscribers (as at March 24), not particularly impressive. But TM claims that 800,000 premises in 61 exchange areas can access the service that is impressive. The target is 1.3 million premises by 2012.

Question: Why have just a mere 7.5% who could have Unifi services subscribed to it? At this rate, broadband penetration rates for Malaysia, already very low, will continue to be so for many more years to come.

Next question: Doesn't TM have actual subscription targets for Unifi and if it does, what are they? It's easy to claim coverage, but difficult to verify. It's the number of people who use the service that counts. If there is no take-up, service availability is of no consequence.

Bear in mind that TM has 1.7 million broadband customers and just 60,000 Unifi users (as at March 24). At the current rate of take-up of Unifi, it will take 30 years before TM can convert all its current broadband users to Unifi! That's alarming.

Sometimes anecdotal evidence helps where statistics seem to be claiming too much. Residents of Damansara Heights in Kuala Lumpur would be more than aware that their roads have undergone constant digging for some months now (at least four months).

The reason is that a major telecommunications company is laying fibre in the ground and soon the houses in that area will have HSBB access. Question is how soon? If it takes six months to a year to fibre up an area as small as Damansara Heights, how long will it take for the whole of Kuala Lumpur?

Next, folks will remember that TM started its Unifi service in March 2009 in four areas in the Klang Valley - Shah Alam, Subang Jaya, Taman Tun Dr Ismail and Bangsar.

But residents at the relatively new housing area of Setia Eco Park in Shah Alam will testify that there is no Unifi service there until today. How come when Shah Alam was supposed to have Unifi service more than a year ago? It just does not figure.

We should be clear about certain things when it comes to HSBB. First, we are way behind time and have lost many years and lag very far behind major countries in the world. Even in urban areas, we have not been able to provide adequate services comparable to major cities.

Second, we need to accelerate the take-up rate for HSBB by providing services in all urban areas at least at a very rapid rate and at affordable prices. Third, we need to put plans in place for the next generation systems now and plans for implementation.

HSBB is major infrastructure sorely needed to push our knowledge base, communications, competitiveness and productivity up. As a relatively small country we need to maximise resources and avoid duplication the way we did when we granted a slew of licences for telecommunications companies and saw a proliferation of fibre optic networks with no ability to deliver the last mile to homes and offices.

The development of such infrastructure should not be left to a single company, and one too which is not particularly noted for either its innovation or excellence in planning, formulation and execution.

The Government should seriously consider putting all resources for this important backbone of communication into a single new company to be headed by an independent and competent management team with ownership by the Government and all major users, especially the telecommunications companies.

The devil will be in the details but that is something that has to be worked out. Otherwise, the cost will be too great in the long term. Remember, we are way behind as it is.

Managing editor P Gunasegaram says that critical situations call for bold solutions.

http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/5/7/business/8634202

Broadening Access

Saturday May 7, 2011
By B.K. SIDHU
bksidhu@thestar.com.my

Just about a year since its launch of Unifi, how well is TM faring?

CANNOT stop griping, if you don't have it. Love it, if you do. That aptly sums up the reaction to Telekom Malaysia Bhd's (TM) retail highspeed broadband service (HSBB) called Unifi, launched over a year ago.

Those who reside in the hub of Klang Valley but do not have access to Unifi do not understand why there are still areas without decent HSBB access. On the other hand, if you were to talk to those who have already hopped onto HSBB's super-fast service, their reactions and feedback are surely an envy.

Meanwhile, the much-improved mobile access and smartphones, and the phenomenal popularity of bandwidth intensive applications such as online video, IP-based telephone services to downloads of music/video files are resulting in rapid lifestyle changes.

Mark Dioguardi says Maxis will continue to invest.
Against this backdrop, when Unifi was launched in March 2010, it was a highly-anticipated and glitzy event. Expectations were high largely due to the pent-up demand among data-hungry users.

Upon closer examination though, it may appear as if the numbers don't quite stack up against the total cost of the HSBB's project of RM11.3bil which will span over 10 years. As it stands today, TM, which co-owns and operates the HSBB, has drawn 80,000 users for the service. However, this is only 10% of the 800,000 premises where the services are currently available. This means that the HSBB has catered for 800,000 users in either offices or homes but only 80,000 have subscribed to it.

In its defence, TM is insistent that growth at current levels is commendable. “How can you tell if we are slow or fast within a year? (You should) Benchmark us with others, especially the European players ... you will see that their growth numbers are only 2%-3% for similar rollouts over the first year. Ours is almost 10%,'' says TM group CEO Datuk Seri Zamzamzairani Mohd Isa in an interview.

The Government has forked out RM2.4bil of the total cost of the project, whose main objective is to propel the nation towards a knowledge wealthy one and cater for the massive and ever rising bandwidth demand. The contribution towards economic growth cannot be emphasised enough as well. Based on estimates, for every 10% increase in broadband penetration, GDP could be boosted by an average 1.3%.

Unifi (on it's own) may not be able to meet the demands of all consumers, but together with Streamyx service, TM may be able to do so and the two services could amass a sizeable subscriber population. As at the end of last year the broadband household penetration rates in the country reached 55%. TM contributed to over 50% of that and expects to remain the major contributor in the future, says Zam.

Low speed on implementation?

An analyst who tracks the telco sector opines that TM may be moving too slowly in their pursuit of subscribers, especially given that it has so much capacity ready for retail take-up.

Nomura Research analyst Sachin Gupta from Singapore believes that “it is all about winning customers and Unifi has so many homes passed but the (subscriber numbers) are nothing (great).''

Afzal Abdul Rahim says the second network may not be a viable proposition.

As at the end of last year and six months into its roll out, Unifi had 33,000 users. Net additions over the past four months have been impressive at more than 10,000 subscribers per month. Of the 80,000 users, 70% of users migrated from TM Steamyx to Unifi while the remaining 30% are new customers.

“You must remember that this is a 10-year project and it is to provide premises passed so that the country can have an infrastructure sooner rather than later. It is based on a supply driven model, and the focus is on roll-out. We are doing quite well and trying to get as many take-ups as we can,'' Zam says.

Apart from the 95 areas covered under the public/private partnership between the government and TM for the total 1.3 million premises rollout, TM will expand to other areas where there is demand for Unifi.

“This will also affect our demand and take up projections and all in all we expect the future of HSBB to be bright,'' says Zam.

The targets are intact. By year end, he expects Unifi to have 150,000 subscribers with 1.1 million premises passed. By the end of 2012, it expects to extend its services to 1.3 million premises. Currently, Unifi is available in 63 areas and by year end, this is expected to rise to 78 and by the end of 2012 to 95.

Even so, the perception that the roll out is slower than it ought to be persists.

“People have not warmed up to UniFi and the high speeds it provides due to a combination of reasons. Firstly, the market is a price sensitive one and with that, current users of DSL (direct subscriber line) broadband have not seen the need to pay more for the high speeds. This points to another issue and that is potential subscribers are not able to see the ways in which they can fully utilize the larger pipe. Therefore, access to content that leverages on high speed broadband needs to be strengthened.'' says IDC Malaysia associate market analyst John Cheah.

Tipping Point

Tony Brown, a senior analyst at a UK-based research company Informa Telecoms & Media, says that, “we have seen that fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) take up rate on a regional basis is usually governed by FTTH operators offering prices that are at par with existing DSL and only a few subscribers are actually willing to pay a premium for the higher speeds that FTTH offers.''

On that note, an analyst opines that TM should reduce the entry level packages to below RM100/month.

Naturally, Zam thinks otherwise as “demand is there and so is the value. It is triple play and not just about HSBB ... it's about Internet, video and phone.'' In fact, Zam points out that Unifi's 5Mpbs package is priced lower than that of its rival Time dotCom Bhd (TDC).

Brown points out that Maxis offers a cheaper headline HSBB package than TM. However, that may not necessarily be the case. Maxis offers 4Mbps with 30GB of data for RM128/month whilst TM offers 5Mbps with 60GB of data for RM149/month; that is double the data for only RM21 more per month and TM's offer also includes IPTV and voice.

As such, for consumers hoping that TM would tweak its pricing downwards anytime soon, could be in for a disappointment.

Zam admits that there are challenges in operation and execution of FTTH projects such as logistics and training that continue to bog the company in its quest to roll out faster.

Datuk Seri Shazalli Ramly ... ‘You have to move because of the evolution
Indeed, digging up roads to lay fibre in the ground can be a costly affair, although for new townships, this would naturally be a lot easier to do.

In reality, most parts of the Klang Valley are “brown field'' areas, which means digging and laying of fibre takes up a relatively long time and it is this which Cheah says could be delaying TM's efforts to link users up to the fibre, although 800,000 premises can already tap into the super-fast broadband service.

Zam points out that for areas which do not have Unifi just yet, TM's Streamyx is made available. Besides, there are plenty of wireless options from Maxis Bhd, Celcom Axiata Bhd, DiGi.Com Bhd, Packet One Network (P1), YTL Communications, RedTone International Bhd and TDC.

Zam believes the growth experience over the past four months is “an indication that the take up is ramping up.''

“We want to do more and we will not take years to fill the 1.3 million premises passed. We are building and the demand is there. The inflection point is 200,000 users and then everything goes up. We should hit that inflexion point in 2012,'' he says.

TM's management's guidance to analyst is that its margins will be weaker this year due to higher marketing cost but margins are expected to be higher in the following years at the operating level.

Homing in on consumers

Of late, the hottest buzz in the high speed broadband realm is in the home services sector where reaching out to more users in a single household instead of satisfying the needs of just one user is the order of the day. The development in technology allows for this while the behavioural changes among consumers are driving the need to diversify. With aggregation of content, telcos and celcos are moving to generate better revenues for their fibre.

Consumers need more and better options. For example, a television set which is traditionally there for passive viewing, hence often referred to as the idiot box', is evolving into an interactive and gaming device.

It is the changes in demands which observers say could have led to TM's decision to relax its stranglehold on HSBB services and reconsider its seven-year moratorium which was aimed at fending off competition, to finally open its doors to Maxis late last year. TM is also currently drawing up a similar deal with Celcom.

An analyst says it was also the lukewarm response to Unifi and enterprise business that could have driven TM to capitalise on its asset by opening it up to its competitors.

“A lot of money has been invested into HSBB and a healthy rate of return is more important than other initial strategies. At this point, it is beneficial for TM to have a fibre partner as they can derive revenues from the wholesale business,'' says IDC's Cheah.

Whatever the reason, the move should be lauded as more players can only be a good thing for consumers as it brings about more choices.

Meanwhile, consumers are watching with anticipation what Maxis has planned for the home services products, although like most things that are preceded by high expectation, the offerings since the soft launch has yet to match expectations.

Michael Lai says the future will be driven by content in high definition, bigger bandwidth and multiple screens ...
“The big question really surrounds what kind of growth Maxis will be able to drive with its retail HSBB services since they have a track record of top-notch marketing. If they can replicate their success in the mobile market in HSBB, we could see some really strong growth,'' Tony says.

Yet some observers are curious as to why TM has not teamed up with Astro. Instead, Astro has tied up with TM's rival TDC to offer IPTV and broadband, which is in direct competition with TM.

Cheah says content is key to growth in take up and while TM has an impressive content library, this could be no match to that of Astro's.

Banding together

Brown adds that if Maxis deploys a powerful IPTV that includes some of Astro's exclusive content, that could clearly give it an edge over TM and Celcom. “TM's biggest problem in the HSBB era is clearly content. They just cannot break the grip that Astro holds and would probably want the MCMC to move in and do something about content rights, similar to what regulators have done in Singapore. But it's tough to see that happening,'' says Brown.

On his part, Zam says: “We will look to work with anyone who wants to work with us. We keep our options open. More content will help.''

Most certainly, it's exciting times for Malaysia as high speed Internet is the conduit to accelerate lifestyle changes. The big question is is there enough fibre to take us through the next generation or the next 5-10 years when man-to-man communications will completely shift gear to man-to-machines and machines-to-machines? Now, that's some food for thought.

“A lot of people do not understand the magnitude of the future growth. At this point, regulators around the world are already looking for more spectrum since growth is going to be exponential. Increasingly, the fibre and wireless/mobile players are forming collaborations to work together to meet the demand,'' says P1 CEO Michael Lai.

Globally, there are over 1 billion broadband users and more than half a billion fixed broadband users; the latter are expected to surge to 1 billion by 2013.

Lai adds that the “future will be driven by content in high definition, bigger bandwidth and multiple screens and no one player can handle these alone. So, they will compete and co-operate or what they call in the IT industry co-opetition.''

Celcom CEO Datuk Seri Shazalli Ramly adds that “we saw lots of agreements (between players) being signed and that means there is realisation, it is sinking into all players. If you don't, you get burnt as you no longer can stay at comfortable (levels). You have to move because of the evolution.''

Lai says while HSBB is a good starting point as fibre gives capacity, what is being offered today, such as 5Mbps, 10Mbps or even 20Mbps, is nowhere near future demands where the concept of smart grids and electrical applications being able to work independently come into play.

So, the next logical question could be is it time to plan a second independent superfast speed network to cater for future growth? That may be a welcoming idea for smaller players who currently find it a hassle to ride on the HSBB as TM prefers users who can add value.

To meet the burgeoning and ever-evolving demand, Maxis executive vice-president, network and technology Mark Dioguardi states the obvious when he says that the company will have to continue to invest.

As for the second network, TDC CEO Afzal Abdul Rahim says it may not be a viable proposition. Zam says: “If there is market failure, we would need to do something like that. But we can come to reasonable terms to provide choices, so why re-invent the wheel?''

Nomura's Sachin says there can never be enough fibre given the exponential data traffic growth. However, he says that given Malaysia's (comparatively small) size and population, it would be hard to justify having an alternative competing fixed infrastructure to the existing fibre.

Based on latest subscriber figures, TM has some way to go to bridge the Klang Valley's digital divide, let alone that of the nation, while execution clearly remains the top challenge.

While wireless and cellular players have higher broadband subscriber numbers, they would still have to depend on fibre for their core network and base stations from TM. On the retail side, however, they are competing with Unifi.

There is a school of thought that TM should spin off the wholesale business to an independent party to allow for a single pricing mechanism for all players and focus on retail to enable it to reach far and wide. That is something akin to what British Telecom did many years ago.

Of course, that's an option that TM would clearly not be in favour of.

“Different countries have different approaches. We cannot be compelled to do it just because one country has done it. What are we trying to achieve here dominance? That does not resolve the problem. In any case, there are players out there with more licences than us. They are capable of building their own,” says Zam.

http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/5/7/business/8612351

DiGi to decide on dividend quantum

Tuesday May 17, 2011

Analysts say it is not likely to be higher than RM1.63 sen per share

PETALING JAYA: DiGi.Com Bhd has yet to determine the quantum of dividend payment to its shareholders this year as this would depend on its capital management activities.

It had hoped to raise its dividend payout ratio this year in order to maintain shareholder value.

DiGi's dividend policy change is in preparation for lower earnings stemming from efforts to improve its network.

Company officials have explained that as DiGi continued to modernise its network, the depreciation of its equipment would be to the tune of RM1bil over three years.

This would have an impact on its profits and hence the need to adjust its dividend policy if DiGi intended to maintain the level of its dividend payments.

The lower profits stemming from the depreciation will not have an impact on DiGi's cash flows or dividend paying ability.

However, analysts said that the actual dividends to be paid to shareholders were not likely to be higher than last year's RM1.63 sen per share.

DiGi is a pure dividend play and currently has a dividend payout policy of 80%.

In financial year ended Dec 31, 2010 DiGi paid out 107% of its profits as dividends while in the fiscal year before that, it distributed a higher 138% of profits as dividends to its shareholders.

DiGi posted a net profit of RM331.4mil for the first quarter ended March 31, which was 19% higher than RM278.3mil in the same period last year on higher revenue.

Its revenue stood at RM1.43bil, an increase of 11% compared with RM1.29bil a year ago.

The board of directors recently declared a first interim tax exempt (single-tier) dividend of 43 sen per ordinary share in respect of the financial year ending Dec 31, 2011.

http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/5/17/business/8695287&sec=business

Packet One wants more spectrum

Thursday May 12, 2011
By B.K. SIDHU
bksidhu@thestar.com.my

It needs additional bandwidth to roll out more sophisticated services

PETALING JAYA: Packet One Networks Sdn Bhd (P1), a unit of Green Packet Bhd, is in dire need of more spectrum and hopes to get an additional 30Mhz of the 2.3G spectrum given the growth rates it is registering for its broadband service.

Sources said it had written to the industry regulator, Malaysian Communications & Multimedia Commission (MCMC), sometime in April to ask for the additional spectrum.

It now has a 30Mhz block on the 2.3G band. The additional 30Mhz block on the same band would allow it to cater to the demand for its services. Without that, it would have problems expanding to new areas to support the Government's vision of having a wider broadband reach in the country, said a source.

The company has more than 320,000 subscribers; its coverage has surpassed 45% of the populated areas in Peninsular Malaysia.

In addition, sources said, it also wanted to double the capacity of the 20Mhz earmarked for each player on the 2.6G band. Nine players are supposed to be assigned 20Mhz of the 2.6G spectrum and P1 is one of them. All the nine players know that 20Mhz is far too little for the fourth generation of wireless technology to work optimally.

»The challenge (for P1) is really roll-out as, for now, its network faces congestion and this deteriorates the WiMAX user experience« SOURCE

The LTE which is a 4G technology promises to improve the throughput and capacity of wireless phone networks.

P1 also wants a slice of the controversial 700Mhz spectrum given the fact that the spectrum is on a lower band, its coverage is wider and there is better penetration into buildings.

P1 was the first player to roll out wireless broadband on the 2.3G bandwidth some years ago. It is one the four players that have rights to the spectrum. The others are Asiaspace Sdn Bhd, REDTone International Bhd (is only able to offer WiMAX-related services to east Malaysia) and YTL Communications Bhd.

Thus far, the company has invested RM1bil in its roll-out and now has a South Korean SK Telecom as an investor.

SK has invested US$100mil for a 25.8% equity stake in P1. Intel is also a shareholder since 2008 in P1's parent, Green Packet. P1 is also planning LTE trial with ZTE.

Since its inception P1 has managed to be a contributor towards the Government's vision of increasing broadband penetration in the country and claims that its contribution is about 7% towards the 55.6% achieved in broadband penetration in the country as at end-2010.

“The challenge is really roll-out as, for now, its network faces congestion and this deteriorates the WiMAX user experience. Any measure taken to address the congestion would be seen as temporary,'' a source said, adding that what the company needed was a permanent solution, which was more bandwidth.

P1 is also not alone in wanting more bandwidth. In fact every company that is offering services by riding on spectrum wants more spectrum to roll out more sophisticated services.

Players such as DiGi.Com Bhd and Celcom Axiata Bhd have made their intentions known for a long time. There is a spectrum re-farming exercise under way, though it will take a long time. The progress of the exercise, to date, is not known.

http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/5/12/business/8664674

KRS – an alliance of telco rivals

Saturday April 30, 2011

By B.K. SIDHU
bksidhu@thestar.com.my

INDEED, it is rare when two dozen telcos come together for a common goal. Instead of pulling away in different directions, a competitive industry can also compel rivals within the same industry to forge alliances.

On Monday, an agreement was inked to set up a 24-member Konsortium Rangkaian Serantau Sdn Bhd (KRS) which has a paid up capital RM240,000, thanks to the RM10,000 contribution from each member.

The telcos include Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM), Time Dotcom Bhd (TDC), Maxis Bhd, Celcom Axiata Bhd, DiGi.Com Bhd, U Mobile Sdn Bhd, Green Packet, YTL Communications Sdn Bhd, RedTone International Bhd, OCE, Fibrerail Sdn Bhd, Jaring, Sacofa, Sarawak Information Systems, Fibrecomm Networks (M) Sdn Bhd, and V Telecoms.

The plan, over the short term, is to eventually bring down the cost of Internet protocol (IP) transit by buying international bandwidth in bulk. In the longer term, the goal is to be partners of submarine cable (one which is laid beneath the sea) networks that reach US and European shores.

IP transit cost makes up about 10%-40% of total Internet cost for a player. This is what players pay to buy capacity on submarine cables to enable customers to access sites, the bulk of which are located in the United States and Europe as well in India or Australia.

IP transit is in demand, given the rising demand for broadband services. For a small player, it can be a challenge to buy capacity at a cost that allows it to make a profit.

This idea of setting up the consortium comes under the National Key Economic Area as part of the wider regional reach initiative.

“It is a positive step as a larger consortium will have more bargaining power when it negotiates for bandwidth prices,'' says an analyst from ECMLibra Investment Research in his report.

He says controlling the cost of international bandwidth was crucial as the requirement for data capacity rises exponentially, especially in the new era where data usage in smartphones and table PCs are rapidly growing.

“Over the longer term, if executed successfully, end-consumers might even enjoy lower priced Internet packages or getting more international bandwidth by paying the same price,'' he says.

Currently, TM, TDC, Maxis and Celcom are partners in various submarine-cable consortia with networks covering the United States, Europe, Middle East and Africa.

This week four individuals had been identified to be board members of KRS. Sources said they are Datuk Harold Read, Datuk Mohamed Khadar Merican, Datuk Dr Abd Samad Alias and Datuk Idris Abdullah.

“The board members must be credible as they will be the custodian of any funding that the KRS may get from the Government in the future,'' says a source.

KRS is on the lookout for a CEO and a business plan will be crafted. Capacity buying will begin in three to six months time, says another source. The bigger gainers in the consortium are most likely the smaller players as they will save costs with bulk buying.

HwangDBS Vickers Research in its note says that the lower cost of IP transit and domestic bandwidth could enhance the cellular players' overall margins but it does not expect this to impact earnings in the near term given that part of the cost savings will be passed to consumers. “TM and TDC could be on the losing end as the lower lease rates could result in lower wholesale revenues and margins, but we think the impact may not be significant to TM's bottomline given that wholesale revenues account for only 9% of total revenues. TDC generates 50% of its total revenues from wholesale business,'' it said.

Eventually, the grand plan of KRS is to have its own submarine-cable network.

For a typical 7terabits cable network with four to five fiber pairs the cost is between US$400mil and US$600mil to run from Malaysia to the United States, probably, via Hong Kong.

For that to happen, KRS needs to conduct a detailed study, says TDC chief executive officer Afzal Abdul Rahim. TDC is a member of KRS and a partner of a cable network that runs from Japan to the United States.

If it makes business sense, KRS will invest in its own cable network but securing funding would be its biggest challenge. However, it may seek a soft loan from the Government, said a source.

Afzal is looking at a two-year period, though this may be a long shot, before any cables can be dropped into the ocean.

Having KRS has its benefits but it is also to deflect any business falling to the hands of foreign cable companies that is said to have secured rights to land stations on the Malaysian shores. It is not clear whether this theory holds water but the bigger domestic players would certainly not appreciate competition on their shores if they are not allowed to land stations in other countries. “It should involve bilateral arrangement even though Malaysia has opened up access for landing stations,'' says a source.

At present, the Internet traffic mainly goes through Singapore as it cost less than via Malaysia. About 70% of Internet traffic goes ex-Singapore and while the pricing depends on volume; the average cost is said to be US$55 a month for a 1GB line and US$70 for a 200Mb line ex-Malaysia. Ex-Singapore, the cost is lower at US$50 and US$20 respectively.

Come what may, IP transit cost should come down to benefit the consumers and that can only happen if there is bulk-buying. But one thing KRS shouldn't do is to allow the bigger players like TDC or TM to restrict its freedom to buy capacity. That would, as the source said, not be in the best interest of competition.

http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/4/30/business/8583175

Green Packet, S.Korea telco plan RM202m investment in P1

Tuesday May 17, 2011

By LEE KIAN SEONG lks@thestar.com.my

PETALING JAYA: Green Packet Bhd and South Korea's SK Telecom are investing a further RM201.6mil in Packet One Networks (M) Sdn Bhd (P1) to support the network expansion of its 4G WiMAX/ TD-LTE (Time Division-Long Term Evolution) in the coming two years.

On completion of the additional investment, Green Pcket's share in P1 will be increased to 59.36% from 57.13% now while SK Telecom will hold a 25.97% share in P1, compared with the current 25.8%.

TD-LTE provides higher data rates and larger capacity and can reduce service delay.

Green Packet Bhd CEO Puan Chan Cheong (right) and P1 chief strategy officer and deputy CEO Dr Ahn Hoekyun in the interview with StarBiz.

It also offers improved real-time and highspeed services.

Green Packet group managing director and chief executive officer Puan Chan Cheong said the investment was made up of RM50.5mil from SK Telecom and up to RM151.1mil from Green Packet.

“We signed the investment agreement on Monday. We are making all the necessary preparations for the LTE deployment with the technology and financing in place.

“So far, P1 has already invested more than RM1bil for its capital expenditure (capex) and operating expenditure and our coverage is slightly more than 45% of population in peninsular Malaysia now,” he told StarBiz in an interview yesterday.

He said P1 also had vendor financing of about US$150mil from ZTE Corp and international telecom equipment vendors had approached the company to support its dual WiMAX/LTE network expansion.

“We will be completing our LTE trial before year-end. We will roll out the services once we have obtained the green light from the regulator.

“SK Telecom is rolling out a huge LTE network in South Korea and we will leverage on their expertise and services for our LTE roll out,” he said.

P1 chief strategy officer and deputy chief executive officer Dr Ahn Hoekyun, the representative from SK Telecom in P1, said SK Telecom would launch its commercial LTE network in July with a capex investment of more than US$2bil.

SK Telecom is South Korea's leading telecommunications provider with more than 25 million subscribers, which accounts for more than 50% of the total market.

On whether SK Telecom will increase its stake in P1, Ahn said: “We are very interested to increase our shares in P1 going forward.

"We see the potential in P1 and we think our presence in Malaysia with P1 will be very crucial to expand our business in South-East Asia.”

Puan said Green Packet had no specific timeline or proposal for the further acquisition of shares by SK Telecom in P1 but it would be a long term vision for both parties in order to grow the company.

In June 2010, SK Telecom invested US$100mil in P1, making it the second largest shareholder in P1 after Green Packet.

Puan said that P1 was on track to reach 65% population coverage by the end of next year, adding that it had about 1,100 base stations now and planning to build up to 1700 stations to cover about 55% of the population by year-end.

P1 chief executive officer Michael Lai said the company had already begun trials with its technology partner, ZTE, to co-exist with both TD-LTE and WiMAX, leveraging on the power of the two 4G technologies.

“We demonstrated the capability of our technology to key media, and they witnessed download speeds of 130Mbps at 2.3GHz.

“We are ready to put on trial the 2.6GHz spectrum. The timing is subject to the allocation of the spectrum,” he said.

With this investment, P1 will be in position to respond to the trend in data consumption by ramping up its mobile broadband coverage via its dual 4G WiMAX/TD-LTE network expansion.

The expansion from WiMAX to a TD-LTE network requires only a software upgrade as both the WiMAX and TD-LTE standards can be supported on the same platform and can operate on the same 2.3GHz spectrum.

http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/5/17/business/20110517074600&sec=business

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

TM Tidak Terjejas – Zamzamzairani

Utusan Malaysia Online - Korporat

mTouche Sells Stake in Telecom Services Firm

Published: 2011/05/11

MTOUCHE Technology Bhd has signed a conditional sale and purchase agreement with Sedania Corp Sdn Bhd to sell its 20 per cent stake in IDOTTV Sdn Bhd for RM3.5 million.

IDOTTV is involved in telecommunication services.

In a filing to Bursa Malaysia yesterday, mTouche said the sale is in line with its strategy to streamline its business operations.

Read more: mTouche sells stake in telecom services firm http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/20110510235038/Article/#ixzz1M19scHZi

TM Allocates RM3.4b for Capex This Year

By Zaidi Isham Ismail

Published: 2011/05/11

The allocation will be mainly spent for rolling out high speed broadband and for laying of submarine cables.

KUALA LUMPUR: Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) plans to spend RM3.4 billion in capital expenditure (capex) this year, mainly to roll out high speed broadband (HSBB) and for laying of submarine cables.

Out of the RM3.4 billion capex, RM2 billion was raised via issuance of sukuk last month. TM said it will make two more issuances, with tenures of seven and 15 years.

TM managing director and group chief executive officer Datuk Seri Zamzamzairani Mohd Isa said the second tranche of the sukuk for capex may be issued this year, depending on consumer demand and market conditions.

"We will spend to improve service network, billing services, HSBB rollout programme and laying of submarine cables.

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"Before we issue the second tranche, we have to look at our cash requirement and business position to balance our debt and equity position," Zamzamzairani told reporters yesterday after its annual and extraordinary general meetings.

He added that TM normally allocates up to 15 per cent of yearly revenue for capex requirement.

On the HSBB deployment, Zamzamzairani said TM had passed 800,000 premises, 1.7 million broadband customers and 48 exchange areas nationwide.

It aims to pass 1.1 million premises this year, targeting 1.3 million premises next year at 78 exchange areas.

TM's HSBB service,UniFi, has 80,000 customers with 800,000 premises nationwide available at 66 exchange areas since its launch in July last year. It is targeting 1.3 million premises and 95 exchange areas by the end of 2012.

Meanwhile, Zamzamzairani said TM has no plans to buy a stake in Tricubes Bhd, which bagged the RM50 million deal to develop and deploy Malaysia's 1Malaysia e-mail project.

Read more: TM allocates RM3.4b for capex this year http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/TMPEX/Article/#ixzz1M18lDrFS

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Chinese tech giants fight over 4G phones

Published: Friday May 6, 2011 MYT 10:03:00 AM
Updated: Friday May 6, 2011 MYT 10:06:28 AM

PUBLIC DISPUTE: Mobile Internet devices of Huawei Technologies Ltd (right) and ZTE Corp for sale at a computer mall in Beijing. China's biggest technology companies have launched a court battle in Europe over mobile phone patents in a rare public clash between firms Beijing is promoting as national champions. It is the first case of its kind between major Chinese companies, which usually settle disputes in private. - AP
BEIJING: Two of China's biggest technology companies have launched a court battle in Europe over mobile phone patents in a rare public clash between firms Beijing is promoting as national champions.

The fight between Huawei Technologies Ltd and ZTE Corp highlights the challenge for communist leaders who need to manage Chinese corporate ambitions as they try to create global competitors in telecoms, energy and other fields.

It is the first case of its kind between major Chinese companies, which usually settle disputes in private.

"We're going to see more of this in this industry and others," said David Wolf, a technology marketing consultant in Beijing. "The government will find, wow, we've got these national champions, but now they're trying to kill each other."

The dispute centres on fourth-generation mobile technology, which companies that are developing it say will deliver more stable connections, wireless broadband and other advances. It is in limited use in the United States and being tested elsewhere.

Control of key patents could help decide which equipment suppliers are positioned to reap billions of dollars in sales once it is rolled out in other markets.

Huawei and ZTE make network gear, the core of phone systems. They have multibillion-dollar annual sales in China, Africa and Latin America and see themselves as potential global 4G leaders. That fits with Communist Party hopes to transform China from a low-cost factory into a creator of profitable technology.

Huawei has filed patent infringement lawsuits against ZTE in France, Germany and Hungary. ZTE rejected the claims and said it has asked a French court and Chinese regulators to invalidate a Huawei patent.

Huawei and ZTE are among China's first wave of fledgling multinational companies. They compete with Nokia-Siemens Networks, Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent and have a small but growing US and European presence.

Their dispute comes amid mounting complaints by foreign business groups about Beijing's industrial policy. They say China is improperly supporting favoured companies by limiting market access and providing low-cost loans and other support.

Huawei's lawsuits accuse ZTE of infringing patents for data cards and improperly using a Huawei-registered trademark on some of its products.

"We will do whatever is required to ensure that the use of Huawei's intellectual property by any company is based on internationally accepted protocols and practices," said Huawei's chief legal officer, Song Liuping, in a statement.

ZTE said its lawsuit accused Huawei of infringing its 4G patents. The company said it also has asked a French court and China's State Intellectual Property Office to invalidate Huawei's patents for a rotary USB connector used to exchange data between devices.

"ZTE respects the intellectual property rights of other companies, but it will not stop protecting its own intellectual property rights," said a company statement.

Huawei, founded in 1987 by a former Chinese military engineer, has 110,000 employees and reported 2010 revenues of 182bil yuan (RM84bil).

ZTE, founded in 1985, has 70,000 workers and reported 2010 revenues of 70bil yuan (RM32bil).

Their status as industry leaders gives both high-level political influence. But Chinese leaders want both to succeed - a possible reason for a stalemate and the decision to go to court.

An impartial ruling by a European court also might add to the winner's appeal for potential customers by reinforcing its status as a technology creator, rather than a Chinese policy tool.

"They are making an interesting statement by filing those lawsuits not in Chinese courts but overseas, because Chinese courts are perceived to be very political, and they want this matter obviously adjudicated on the legal merits," said Wolf, CEO of Wolf Group Asia.

Huawei and ZTE are unusual among major Chinese companies because they compete directly with each other, offering similar products in the same markets.

Authorities who want China's potential global companies to focus their competitive energies on foreign rivals have tried to head off clashes in other industries by assigning different markets or products to individual enterprises.

Huawei has suffered setbacks as it tries to expand in the United States. It was forced in February to unwind its acquisition of 3Leaf Systems, a maker of cloud-computing technology, after it failed to win approval from a US security panel.

In a separate case, Huawei won a court order that temporarily blocked the sale of Motorola Solutions Inc's network business to rival Nokia-Siemens Networks.

Huawei said the deal might reveal business secrets because Motorola sold Huawei equipment. Motorola settled with Huawei for an undisclosed fee.

Also this month, Ericsson said it has filed lawsuits against ZTE in Britain, Germany and Italy accusing the company of infringing patents for handset and network technology.

The Swedish company asked the courts to block ZTE from selling mobile phones that contain the disputed technology and some network products. - AP

http://techcentral.my/news/story.aspx?file=/2011/5/6/it_news/20110506101236&sec=it_news

Broadband services focused on urban areas due to demand, Senate told

Published: Tuesday April 26, 2011 MYT 1:28:00 PM

KUALA LUMPUR: The Dewan Negara sitting on Tuesday was told that greater awareness and demand for broadband services from residents and companies in urban centres resulted in these services being more focused on the urban areas.

Deputy Minister of Information Communication and Culture Datuk Joseph Salang Gandum said, however, this factor did not mean that the government was ignoring the needs of the rural residents for broadband services.

"It is undeniable that the broadband services are more concentrated in the urban areas, but emphasis is also given to the provision of such services in the suburban and rural areas," he told the Senate when replying to a question from Senator Datuk Abdul Rahim Abdul Rahman.

Abdul Rahim wanted to know what measures were being taken by the government to ensure that internet services were extended to all parts of the country instead of being concentrated in certain areas.

Salang said that, in order to meet all requests, the ministry and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) were implementing various initiatives to enhance broadband coverage and to provide awareness on and promote demand for the broadband services. - Bernama

http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?sec=nation&file=/2011/4/26/nation/20110426133936

High Speed Broadband for JB Folk

Saturday April 30, 2011

CITY dwellers in Johor Bahru will enjoy highspeed Internet by 2012 following an agreement signed between Maxis Broadband Sdn Bhd and KSL Properties Sdn Bhd.

Maxis is KSL Properties’ technology partner and had secured rights to provide integrated end-to-end high speed broadband Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) solutions to KSL Properties’ residential development.

The telecommunication company was represented by its senior Vice President, home services Harold Quek while KSL Properties’ Chairman Ku Hwa Seng signed the agreement witnessed by Maxis senior Vice President business services Mohamed Fitri Abdullah and KSL Properties Executive Director Wendy Ku.

Done deal: (left to right) Wendy, Harold, Ku and Fitri Abdullah formalising the partnership between Maxis and KSL Properties Sdn Bhd.
Under the terms of the agreement, Maxis will provide the design, supply, installation, testing and commissioning of telecommunications infrastructure for the provision of broadband services for KSL Properties’ residential developments in Johor.

The immediate beneficiaries of the broadband services are residents of 602 units of D’Esplanade Residence at KSL City.

http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2011/4/30/southneast/8571418&sec=southneast

Support National Athletes by Wearing the Panthera

Saturday April 30, 2011
By SHAUN HO
newsdesk@thestar.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians can now sport the same team colours as their favourite local sporting heroes with the launch of the Team Malaysia Panthera jersey.

Officially worn by national athletes competing in international sporting events, supporters would now be able to put on a show of solidarity with the jersey's striking black on yellow stripes.

Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) signed agreements with the National Sports Council (NSC) and the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) for exclusive rights to produce and distribute the jersey as well as other merchandise bearing the striped design and the Olympic rings logo.

Show of solidarity: (From left) Zamzamzairani, TM chairman Datuk Dr Halim Shafie, Shabery, Tunku Imran and Zolkples holding up the Panthera jerseys which would be available for sale at selected TMPoint outlets.
The agreements were signed by TM group CEO Datuk Seri Zamzamzairani Mohd Isa, NSC director general Datuk Zolkples Embong and OCM president Tunku Imran Tuanku Ja'afar.

Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek, who witnessed the signing, said it was a bold move to market clothing and to associate it with Malaysian sports as the brand.

“Sports is not just about the athletes but also the supporters. TM will produce other apparel too and this will encourage fans to wear it at all sporting events,” Shabery said after the launch of the Team Malaysia jersey at Menara TM here yesterday.

He added that profits from the jersey's sales would be channelled to the NSC trust fund for all youth sport.

Zolkples Embong said TM was given the rights because he felt the company could promote the jersey to NSC's expectations.

“Nobody has presented a comprehensive plan to promote a national sports attire on a massive scale before. TM is big enough to do it,” said Zolkples.

The Team Malaysia Panthera jersey is available in adult and children sizes and can be purchased at selected TMPoint outlets as well as TM events and roadshows for RM79.90.

The jersey can also be purchased online via www.tm.net.my, www.tmrewards.com.my and www.everyoneconnects.net for RM69.90.

http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?sec=nation&file=/2011/4/30/nation/8576265

M'sia Taking Steps to Reduce Broadband Rates

Tuesday April 26, 2011
By LEONG HUNG YEE
hungyee@thestar.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: A new consortium, Konsortium Rangkaian Serantau Sdn Bhd under the Entry Point Projects (EPPs), has been set up to buy international bandwidth for Internet traffic to lower the costs of Internet protocol (IP) transit, according to Information, Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Utama Dr Rais Yatim.

The announcement confirmed a StarBiz report on March 23 that a consortium was being set up to buy international bandwidth for Internet traffic in bulk in a bid to reduce IP transit cost.

StarBiz reported that the consortium may build and own an undersea cable network or partner other cable networks for capacity in a private-public partnership to address the problem of high IP transit cost.

The reduction of IP transit cost is part of the “extend the regional reach” initiative under the Economic Transformation Plan. IP transit cost is the cost service providers pay to carry Internet traffic around the world but because most sites are hosted in the United States, traffic volumes to the US are high.

The consortium comprises 24 members including Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM), Time Dotcom Bhd, Maxis Bhd, Celcom Axiata Bhd, DiGi.Com Bhd, U Mobile Sdn Bhd, Green Packet, YTL Communications Sdn Bhd, RedTone International Bhd, OCE, Fibrerail Sdn Bhd, Jaring, Sacofa, Sarawak Information Systems, Fibrecomm Networks (M) Sdn Bhd, and V Telecoms.

Fiberail and Fibrecomm are subsidiaries of TM.

“The main objective in setting up the consortium is to lower the broadband subscription cost for users through cost savings as the subscription cost of international bandwidth capacity accounts for 40% of the total cost of providing broadband services.

“To achieve the cost savings, the consortium will buy the capacity in bulk as well as plan and manage the international submarine cable on behalf of its members,” Rais said at a briefing to announce three all-new EPPs under the National Key Economic Area (NKEA) Communications Content and Infrastructure (CCI) yesterday.

The other two projects announced are the tracking and tracing of swiftlet nests using radio frequency identification technology and the enhancement of basic infrastructure in rural areas.

From left: Time dotCom Bhd CEO Afzal Abdul Rahim, National Key Economic Area, Communications Content and Infrastructure (CCI) director Dr Fadhullah Suhaimi Abdul Malel, Veterinary Services Department director-general Datuk Dr Abdul Aziz Jamaluddin, Datuk Seri Utama Dr Rais Yatim, Deputy Information, Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Joseph Salang Gandum and Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission chairman Tan Sri Khalid Ramli at the signing ceremony.
According to filings with Bursa Malaysia by various service providers, the authorised share capital of the consortium shall be RM10mil divided into 10 million ordinary shares of RM1 each and may be increased from time to time in accordance with the memorandum and articles of association of the consortium.

The initial issued and paid-up share capital of the consortium is RM240,000 comprising 240,000 ordinary shares of RM1 each, of which each party holds an equivalent of 10,000 shares of RM1 each issued at par value in the consortium.

The parties have also agreed to commit an additional capital contribution in cash of RM40,000 each by subscribing to 40,000 ordinary shares of RM1 each, at such later time as may be determined by the consortium's board of directors.

Although broadband subscription costs are expected to be lower, Rais expects the service level would continue to be improved at the same time.

To a question, he said that given the number of parties involved in the consortium, the cost should naturally come down. However, he did not have a specific time when the lower subscription cost for broadband would come into effect.

“I cannot tell you now when the real results will be seen and the CCI will be closely monitoring this,” Rais said, adding that the project did not involve public funds as it was a private sector initiative.

DiGi said its participation in the consortium would enable additional IP transit and domestic bandwidth capacity to be available in Malaysia at a lower cost.

“This will consequently benefit consumers in terms of price and experience for Internet and broadband services,” it said.

Maxis said the consortium would enable all its members to enjoy lower bandwidth cost due to bulk purchase and economies of scale.

TM said its participation together with its subsidiaries in the consortium was in support of the Government's initiative under the Economic Transformation Programme, which would enable additional bandwidth capacity for Malaysia in anticipation of increasing demand requirements at lower costs.

http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/4/26/business/8551291&sec=business

Telstra aims to conclude network talks this month

Tuesday May 3, 2011

MELBOURNE: Telstra Corp, Australia's biggest phone company, is looking to conclude long-delayed talks with the government by the end of May to hand over its copper network to the National Broadband Network for A$11bil (US$12.07bil), a newspaper reported yesterday.

The government is believed to want an announcement as soon as possible after the May 10 federal budget, while an industry source pointed to May 23 as a more likely date, the Australian Financial Review said.

NBN Co and Telstra were in the final stages of negotiation,' NBN chief executive Mike Quigley said on Friday.

Uncertainty over the final agreement has dogged Telstra's share price, and Telstra shareholders are eager for the deal to be signed so they can see the details surrounding how the company will be compensated, ahead of voting on the deal.

Telstra shares closed on Friday at A$2.91, not far off a record low of A$2.55 hit about six months ago. - Reuters

http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?sec=business&file=/2011/5/3/business/8594105