YTL Comms extending coverage

Saturday November 20, 2010




Its Yes service will cover 80% of population by end-2011 from 65% now



KUALA LUMPUR: YTL Communications Sdn Bhd (YTL Comms) will roll out its 4G mobile Internet-with-voice service, Yes, to cover 80% of the population by end-2011.



YTL Comms, a unit of YTL Power International Bhd, currently has a coverage of 65%. To date, it has invested some RM2.5bil in the Yes 4G infrastructure.



We will extend to Sabah and Sarawak at the right time, executive director Datuk Yeoh Seok Hong told a briefing prior to the service launch by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday.



Seok Hong said that with 1,500 base stations, the event marked the largest network ever launched in the country.



We still have 1,000 base stations to be deployed. By then, 80% of the population will be covered, he said.



Chief executive officer Wing K. Lee said Yes was the most affordable 4G mobile Internet-with-voice service in Malaysia.



He said its pay-as-you-go rate of nine sen for 3MB (megabit) data, one-minute call or one short-messaging service was the cheapest in town.



Lee said Yes also offered up to 30% rebate to power users who consume high amounts of data.



The saving starts at 2.5GB (gigabit). The more you use, the less you pay, he said, adding that for usage of 4GB and above, subscribers would get a 30% rebate for every GB used.



Yes subscribers will receive a rebate of RM9 for data usage of 2.5GB while usage of 3GB will get RM23 rebate.



The rebates will reduce Yes' rates to as low as two sen per MB or RM20 per GB while giving users the power to self-manage by setting temporary data caps.



YTL Comms and Samsung have also introduced the world's first all-4G mobile phone, Yes Buzz, which will be available next month.



The 4G network will be SIM-less with the 018 prefix.



YTL Comms chairman Tan Sri Francis Yeoh declined to give a specific target of pre-registered subscribers but said the numbers were healthy.



He said the response to the pre-registration had exceeded the group's expectations by three times.



Yeoh said the group was keen to cooperate with telecommunications service providers in China and other Asian countries to offer 4G services.



Prior to the launch, Yes 4G faced interconnectivity issues with other networks as it was unable to interconnect with the operators. However, the group managed to sign interconnectivity agreements with them yesterday.



We're now finally interconnected with everybody. We have received full cooperation (from other telcos), Seok Hong said, adding that other operators had welcomed them onboard.



At the launch, Muhyiddin spent five minutes on a video call with Malaysian students in London.



Also present were YTL Corp executive chairman Tan Sri Yeoh Tiong Lay; Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Utama Dr Rais Yatim; Tun Lim Kheng Yaik; and Datuk Seri Chua Soi Lek.


http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/11/20/business/7468348&sec=business