This is HOT!!!: 02 April 2006

The Clean and New Rapid KL....

This the situation when i took the Rapid KL bus 205 from the Taman Melati LRT station yesterday... Even though this is not the Bus drivers fault and it is an attitude of an uncivilized person, BUT the 2 trips before that which 2 of my friends took the bus noticed this situation 2 hours before me(I took the bus around 10p.m)...Is this what claim by rapid ,"THE NEW RAPID"???? Plus 2 days before that, i took the Rapid bus 205 around 9.45a.m frm Taman Setapak, which the bus driver is an indian. I remembered that this guy was the old Putraline bus driver which never does his work in proper. As to prove what i said, the driver stoped beside the station near Taman Melati and forced us to get down there(near the traffic light). He is supposed to drive to Taman Melati(above the Hill) before ending at the Taman Melati LRT station. Is this what Rapid Call a Good Service?. The Driver olso drives the bus so fast that he even will not wait until the passenger get the Bus Ticket(what i mean, he drives the bus while giving the ticket to the passenger). This causes danger to Him(driver) and other passengers in the bus because he is handling BOTH driving and handling the ticket to the Passenger. The Passenger who is receiving the ticket olso faced danger as the bus is moving fast(gravity) and its hard for them to walk in the bus to sit down. The service is olso getting worse as when the bus service was newly launch 3 weeks a go, it was 10 min to wait for a bus, later last week its was 30 min and this week is almost 40min..... Sometime I noticed that there are 2 rapid 205 and most of times there is only one bus...I hope that Rapid as the "Klang Valley�s biggest public transport operator" will change this situation immeadiatly as soon as possible..

Celcom's 3.5G....

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Celcom (Malaysia) Bhd has plans afoot to implement the next evolution of 3G into 3.5G, said its chief operating officer Datuk Zubir A Rasid.

"We cannot reveal details but there are works in the pipeline," he told reporters after launching the Celcom Xpax recharge via Malayan Banking Bhd's mobile financial service in Kuala Lumpur on April 6.

Maxis Communications Bhd announced on Wednesday that it had successfully integrated the High Speed Download Packet Access (HSDPA) or 3.5G fully into its 3G network.

The tie-up between Celcom and Maybank allows the bank's account holders who are also Celcom subscribers to recharge airtime and network access as well other Xpax accounts using mobile phones.

Maybank senior executive vice president and head of retail financial services Datuk Johar Che Mat said users could also make enquiries on their savings and current account balances.

Zubir (left) shaking hands with Johar after the launch

Johar said Maybank aimed to have 100,000 customers subscribe to its mobile financial services by end June this year, adding the bank now had 65,000 active users.

He said the partnership with Celcom was part of its continuing programme to promote and encourage electronic payment in line with the government's call to accelerate electronic commerce.

Johar said Maybank would not impose any charges on its account holders for the service, but subscribers would be charged 30 sen per successfully transacted short messaging service (SMS).

He said the minimum recharge denomination for airtime started at RM3 to a maximum of RM230 for network access recharge. For recharge values of up to RM49, a multiple recharge value of RM1 is available.

Meanwhile, Zubir said the service was currently available domestically and would be extended in the near future to cover its subscribers who travel abroad.

"Prepaid customers in remote areas but who have our coverage could use the SMS service to top-up their airtime," he said.

Maxis, Celcom interconnect to boost 3G take-up rate

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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?

Maxis & Celcom Expects 3-5 Pct Contribution To Revenue From 3G Services

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KUALA LUMPUR, April 6 (Bernama) -- Maxis Communications Bhd and Celcom (Malaysia) Bhd expect the third generation (3G) service to contribute between three and five percent to their revenues from 2008 onwards. Both companies have forged the next milestone for the mobile communications industry and 3G by announcing 3G interconnection, enabling interconnect video telephony beginning Thursday. As of March 31, 2006 Maxis has 50,000 active 3G subscribers while Celcom has 68,000. In total, Maxis has about eight million customers while Celcom has seven million. Maxis chief executive officer Datuk Jamaludin Ibrahim and Celcom chief executive officer Datuk Shazalli Ramly both agreed that the revenue derived from 3G currently was insignificant. "It is very small. For us (Maxis) between three percent and five percent is considered significant contribution," Jamaludin said after the Maxis-Celcom 3G Interconnection signing ceremony, here today. By opening access between the two major 3G networks, the 3G user community in Malaysia immediately increased two-fold, allowing Maxis' and Celcom's users to make and receive video calls, and send and retrieve video messages freely among themselves. "As a result of the collaboration, we hope to have a significant improvement in the take-up rate for 3G services," said Shazalli. Jamaludin said the ability to communicate as well as reduction prices of 3G devices would also encourage more people to use 3G services. Both Maxis and Celcom are continuously widening their 3G coverage areas. For Maxis, Jamaludin said the 3G coverage is expected to expand substantially in the Klang Valley, Penang and Johor by end of the year. Both CEOs said that there would be further collaborations between both companies for the benefit of the consumers. Jamaludin said among the most significant collaboration between the telcos in Malaysia was the tower sharing, which had saved the industry between RM300-RM500 million during the last two years. "That is very significant. It helped the whole industry to expedite the roll out of our networks. It is a win-win situation," he said. Jamaludin said major telcos in the country, including DiGi.Com Bhd are currently having talks on the best way to register their pre-paid users.

M.Mobile to set aside up to RM60m for 3G development..

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April 6 2006

MALAYSIAN cellular phone maker M Dot Mobile Sdn Bhd (M.Mobile) is allocating up to RM60 million to develop third generation (3G) mobile phones, scheduled for launch next year.

Chief executive officer Zainudin Mohd Salleh said M.Mobile has started talks of partnership with several 3G solution providers to develop the 3G mobile phones. "We need to dedicate a minimum of 70 engineers to develop the 3G phones," he told Business Times in an interview. M.Mobile is 70 per cent owned by Mobile Knight Sdn Bhd while the rest is held by Kosmo Technology Industrial Bhd. Zainudin said the company aims to sell 350,000 mobile phones in the domestic market over the next 12 months, representing a 6 per cent market share. To date, it sold some 10,000 units of its M10 models since its launch in late February this year. The M10 mobile phones comprise three models, namely the M10 basic unit, the M10i with Islamic features, and the M10m, a special Mawi edition. Zainudin said M.Mobile also plans to launch an ultra lower cost (ULC) model next month. The ULC model, to be priced at below RM200 per unit, will also be exported. The company has so far received an order for some 50,000 units of the ULC model. A study conducted by the company revealed that there is an estimated three billion market potential under the GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) network alone for the ULC. Zainudin said the company is also in talks with a subsidiary of Lembaga Tabung Haji to develop mobile phones with Islamic features for the latter to cater for those who want to perform the Haj and Umrah. It is estimated that every year about three million Muslims worldwide perform Haj and about 240,000 Malaysians perform Umrah. Apart from that, M.Mobile plans to enter the Indonesian market by the middle of this year. It is currently in talks with the Indonesian Islamic Organisation to develop high- technology Islamic-feature mobile phones. Meanwhile, it will start delivering part of the five million units of its mobile phones to Saudi Arabia next month under a five-year deal it signed with Saudi Television Manufacturing Co Ltd this year. He said the company also received an initial order for about 50,000 units of its mobile phones from Africa, Lebanon and Syria. Zainudin said M.Mobile is now looking to penetrate other markets such as Jordan, Turkey, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Russia, Uzbekistan, Kenya and Kazakhstan. The company also received a request from an Italian company to look into the development of mobile phones with Catholic features. It had also been approached by a well-known company in the music industry to develop mobile phones with specialised features. M.Mobile had set aside some RM40 million for research and development this year. Where does this company heading? Top 10 mobile phone maker in 5 years? How can it beat Sony Ericsson, Nokia or Motorola and other brands like Benq-Siemens,Panasonic,LG,Alcatel,Sagem, SAMSUNG which has already stand years in the market?! Plus, first they say that they want to expand their staff(engineers) to at least 140 people, and olso to consentrate on research & development. Now, they say that they are going towards 3G and olso to produce Ultra Lower cost phones.. What i am trying to know is where are they trying to head? Pls Comment...

DiGi proposes 60 sen capital repayment ...

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05-04-2006:

DiGi.com Bhd has proposed a 60 sen per share capital repayment totalling RM450 million � the second such exercise it is undertaking within six months of announcing a RM562.5 million capital repayment last October.

DiGi told Bursa Malaysia yesterday that the capital repayment would partly be via the reduction of its share par value from 25 sen to 10 sen each, representing a total reduction of RM112.5 million.

It also said there would be a reduction of its share premium account by RM337.5 million translating to a capital repayment of 45 sen for every share of 25 sen each.

At a press briefing in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, DiGi chief executive officer Morten Lundal denied speculation that DiGi�s major shareholder Telenor may be preparing to leave Malaysia with the capital repayment exercise.

�DiGi is a Malaysian company and it will remain in Malaysia. Telenor�s commitment in Malaysia is unchanged,� he said.

Lundal said DiGi had excess capital as it still had RM1.3 billion in cash and RM700 million from the sale of the Commercial Paper/Medium Term Notes (CP/MTN). As such, it was opportune to repay its shareholders, he said.

He said DiGi expected its net profit in the year ending Dec 31, 2006 to grow by at least 20% on the back of a higher revenue growth, which has also been revised upward to the mid-teens from 10%-15% earlier.

It had earlier projected a net profit growth in the mid-teens. It also reduced its capital expenditure from an expected RM800 million-RM900 million earlier to RM750 million-RM850 million.

The lower capex is due to the company�s failure in bidding for a 3G licence. However, Lundal said DiGi would be more aggressive in its voice and data segment.

There could be an upside to net profit growth if the company changes its depreciation policy this year, which is still under review.

Lundal said the three core strategies this year is to expand: its voice coverage and quality; its EDGE by increasing its speed and coverage; and investing more than planned in relevant and existing data service.

On the possibility of partnering with one of the new 3G spectrum licence holders, he said: �To partner with them is not our priority now, and not very desirable.�

Lundal said DiGi had achieved 80%-82% of voice coverage and between 50%-60% for EDGE in the country.

DiGi chief marketing officer Chee Pok Jin said it would the first to introduce auto-adjusting rates for data this year and the first to offer unlimited broadband mobility for pre-paid.

It will also be the first to offer smart solutions for multiple device users, including the sharing of a RM99 unlimited packaged and supplementary SIM for data at RM33 per month.

Chee said it would also address the needs of the entrprise markets by offering data-only SIM and tailored price plans without any charge for voice services.

Its paid-up capital will be reduced to RM75 million comprising 750 million shares of 10 sen each, while its share premium account will be reduced to RM15.15 million from RM352.65 million.

Under the first capital repayment last year, the par value of DiGi�s shares was reduced from RM1 to 25 sen each.

DiGi said the capital repayment would be funded via the proceeds from a capital repayment by its wholly owned subsidiary DiGi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd (DiGiTel).

It said it was expected to receive RM451.5 million from DiGiTel pursuant to the latter's repayment exercise. DiGi said it expected the proposals to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2006.

It said the group's return on equity would improve to 38.13% after the proposals compared with 27.94% prior to the second capital repayment.

The company last October had made a definitive commitment to its shareholders towards paying dividends comprising at least half of its net profits from this year.

DiGi said the second capital repayment reflected its continuous effort to achieve an efficient capital structure, adding that the exercise was an efficient method of rewarding shareholders.

It said the exercise represented its initiative to reward its shareholders for their continuous support of the company and that the quantum of the second capital repayment took into account its dividend policy announced last year.

DiGi said it expected its financial position to remain robust by the continuing growth of the telecommunications industry in the country and its established brand recognition in the local market.

Any comment?