Limited 3G Launch in Malaysia
April 18, 2005 - source: BWCS
Telekom Malaysia, now known as the TM Group, has announced a limited launch of its new 3G services next month. The date set for the commencement of 3G is May 17th, which just happens to be World Communications Day. However, despite the global nature of the date, TM's launch will see Celcom 3G go live only in certain parts of the country. These are understood to include the Klang Valley, Penang, Johor Baru, Malacca and the Kulim Hi-Tech Park.
The company justified its choice of locations by saying that Penang has been chosen due to its status as Malaysia's "Silicon Valley" and the setting up of a Multimedia Super Corridor zone there. The areas of Johor and Malacca have been included as they are popular tourist destinations and both gain sizeable traffic from near-by Singapore and, finally the Kulim Hi-Tech Park justified its inclusion by dint of the heavy concentration of major high-tech industries there.
According to the CEO of the TM Group, Datuk Abdul Wahid Omar, "By the time of the launch, Celcom 3G expects to have sufficient 3G handsets which are currently in high demand globally." He added that the total investment will be a lot less than the initial estimate of MYr4.3 billion (US$1.13 billion) over 15 years. Celcom underlined that the service will offer text, voice, video and other multimedia services at initial speeds of around 384kbps, rising to 2Mbps in the future.
The cost of the initial simultaneous launch in the four designated areas will only be around MYr300 million (US$78.9 million).
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