Studio Press

The country's top two major mobile phone operators, Celcom (Malaysia) Bhd and Maxis Communications Bhd, have joined forces via an interconnection deal to step up the promotion of their high-speed third-generation (3G) services.

Following the collaboration, the two telcos now expect 3G services to contribute significantly to their toplines by 2008.

At a joint media conference in Kuala Lumpur on April 6, Maxis' and Celcom's chief executive officers, Datuk Jamaludin Ibrahim and Datuk Shazalli Ramly said 3G services would contribute between 3% and 5% of their revenues in three years.

Speaking to reporters after signing their 3G interconnection agreement in Kuala Lumpur on April 6, the two CEOs said as of now, 3G services constituted a "negligible" part of their businesses.

Celcom currently has 68,000 active 3G subscribers, while Maxis had 50,000 subscribers as at end-March this year.

Under the agreement, the two telcos will open access between their 3G networks and enable their users to make and receive video calls as well as send and retrieve video messages among themselves.

Shazalli said he was confident that the 3G take-up rate would increase with the collaboration entered into by the telcos.

�Through this collaboration, we aim to enhance the potential of interactive 3G services and spread the excitement of video telephony to more people. Interconnectivity is crucial for widespread adoption of 3G and video telephony,� he said.

Jamaludin said similar to short messaging service (SMS) when it was first introduced, interconnection played a key role in unlocking eventual critical mass in 3G usage.

�We have seen a huge culture change in the way people choose to communicate. We believe that visual message through video can be as popular and powerful as voice and text in the near-future,� he said.

While Shazalli said Celcom expected to have significant take-up following the collaboration, Jamaludin said Maxis wanted to focus on expanding its coverage services.

�We expect 3G handset prices to fall drastically over the next year, which would encourage subscription. Our 3G take-up rate has been within expectation,� he said.

Meanwhile, commenting on Maxis� Indonesian unit PT Natrindo Telepon Seluler which was required to pay 480 billion rupiah (RM195 million) for its 3G start-up there, Jamaludin said Maxis was still in discussion to secure a 10 megahertz frequency.

�We cannot divulge further information at the moment,� he said.

And finaly the War between this two companies has REDUCED, but I still think that Video Calls frm Maxis to Celcom will be Expensive and so the otherwise... So what do U think?