Malaysia Telecommuncations Report Q2 2008

It is hoped the transfer of TIME dotCom's 3G licence to DiGi will aid the migration of the country's overwhelmingly prepaid subscriber base to postpaid through added competition. Malaysia's third largest mobile operator became the only operator in the sector not to be awarded a 3G licence, which led it to focus on EDGE services. With the GSM mobile market already facing saturation - just 2.643mn net additions in the nine months ended September 2007 - operators have focused their attention towards the 3G sector. Here, penetration rates are expected to have reached 5.6% in 2007, following growth of 197.2% over the year.

The marketing efforts of operators have been a major focal area in corporate strategies leading to the reinforcement of brand identity, customer loyalty programmes and improved service tariff segmentation. This will remain an important area for 2008 as operators look to boost postpaid subscriber figures. Celcom has already seen signs of a turnaround in its postpaid base with 1.211mn subscribers, up from 1.114mn in Q207, but down from 1.265mn in the previous year. DiGi reported an impressive 8% q-o-q increase to its postpaid base to 639,000 as of September 2007.

Meanwhile, with internet subscriber figures set to slow down over subsequent years, and an overall push in the general telecoms market to implement IP-based technologies, the broadband market is expected to take-off. A national broadband programme is already up and running, which should support the development of the broadband sector, while the award of WiMAX licences will also aid growth in providing network coverage to areas where it is difficult to implement fixed base stations. BMI has retained its broadband forecast outlook and expects penetration rates to reach over 10% by YE08, then more than double by 2010. The consideration of competition to Telekom Malaysia in the broadband sector, which enjoys a 96% share, would also aid further development in the broadband sector.