16 Oct 2018
TM in ongoing discussions with government to address issues faced by Streamyx customers
Following its statement issued on 21 September 2018, Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM), the nation’s pioneer broadband provider and now convergence champion, today reiterated its commitment to enhance the broadband experience of Streamyx customers; and shared that discussions with the Government and the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia are underway to effectively address issues faced by Streamyx customers.
TM would like to reassure its 2.3 million broadband customers and all its stakeholders that TM plays an active part in the dialogue, debate and conversations that are ongoing in the industry towards building a more balanced and inclusive digital nation. This is in line with TM’s vision to deliver high speed broadband with a wider nationwide coverage to all Malaysians.
TM has been continuously investing in its infrastructure over the years, to provide connectivity and also in order to elevate the experience of both its unifi and Streamyx customers, concurrently. The primary focus is in expanding Malaysia’s high speed broadband coverage. The copper network which is a legacy network, faces many challenges, mainly technological limitations. This is more pronounced for Streamyx customers, whereby the copper network is only able to deliver speeds up to 8Mbps.This requires a longer term and more permanent solution, which will take time to implement and has heavy financial implications.
TM looks forward to a collaborative win-win approach with the Government to effectively address the challenges faced by Streamyx customers, once and for all. In order to do this, TM looks to accelerate discussions with the Ministry and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to explore specific funding options, various fit-for-purpose technologies as well as optimising existing industry mechanisms in order to deliver a better broadband experience nationwide.
TM also shared a further update on the progress made with respect to the ongoing upgrade exercise for its Streamyx customers. To date, TM has successfully upgraded nearly 50% of over 340,000 Streamyx customers residing in unifi coverage areas to unifi; at the same price of their current plan. The rest of the 170,000 Streamyx customers who have yet to grab this opportunity for the free upgrade are encouraged to do so. TM aims to complete this unifi upgrade exercise by March 2019.
For Streamyx customers who are currently residing in non-unifi areas, TM is committed to continuously invest in the best fit for purpose technologies to bring high speed broadband to them. Meanwhile, where technology permits, TM is doubling the Streamyx speed at the same price of their current broadband plan. Close to 180,000 of those in non-unifi areas can look forward to receiving this free speed upgrade. TM aims to complete this speed upgrade exercise by December 2018.
Streamyx customers who are eligible for the speed upgrade will continue to be contacted via email and phone. TM urges customers to update their latest contact details i.e., telephone number and email address to facilitate this process. This can be done both via the unifi portal and unifi care app.
However, in order to address the remaining 500,000 Streamyx customers, TM is calling for the discussions with the Government to quickly reach a mutually beneficial outcome for these customers.
TM remains steadfast in its purpose to make life easier for a better Malaysia. In working towards a more definitive solution for an improved broadband experience and a more enhanced digital lifestyle for all its customers, TM would like to acknowledge their trust and loyalty; and values their continued patience and understanding.
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TM One is services partner and managed services provider of the year
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TM reiterates commitment to enhance the broadband experience of Streamyx customers
Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) today reiterated its support of the Government’s aspirations of improving the reach and experience of broadband services in Malaysia, and its commitment to address the issues faced by Streamyx and its loyal customers in a more comprehensive manner. In July, TM announced its upgrade plans for Streamyx (pre-unifi) customers tounifiin coverage areas or double the speed for those in non-coverage areas. The upgrade will enable its existing broadband customers to experience faster speeds at their existing package price. Following the announcement, TM has received many enquiries and much feedback from customers who are eager to know whether they are eligible for the speed upgrade. TM is grateful for the feedback given and is working hard to realise the broadband aspirations. TM has been continuously investing to enhance both its fibre and copper network over the years to deliver high speed broadband with wider nationwide coverage. The copper network is a legacy network and has always faced many challenges, mainly technological limitations. This requires a longer term and more permanent solution, which will take time to implement. Additionally, TM has continuously invested in the rollout of LTE 4G network and WiFi hotspots to complement its fixed network to provision broadband services anywhere, anytime via home@unifi, mobile@unifi and wifi@unifi. TM’s LTE 4G services coverage currently exceeds 77% of the household population in urban and rural areas and together with our partner, complimenting it with 90% 3G services coverage. To enable the convenience of mobility, the Company also enhanced its WiFi coverage and service quality with more than 12,000 hotspots nationwide to date. Through its Broadband Improvement Plan which began in 2016, TM has been working hard to enhance the experience of both unifi and Streamyx customers, concurrently. Understandably, it has been easier to execute the unifi speed upgrades, which are served by fibre. TM is now giving specific focus to Streamyx and high-rise broadband customers served through its own or the buildings’ copper networks. Imri Mokhtar, Executive Vice President of unifi, said: “Over 1 million home and business customers nationwide are today on broadband over TM’s copper network – both on landed and high-rise properties. With rising demand of a more digital lifestyle and business needs, what was before termed as a high speedinternet’, may not cut it anymore. We hear your 1 million voices. We remain committed as Malaysia’s nation building partner to invest and build the needed network that brings value to our customers, shareholders and other key stakeholders and for the country’s digital economy.” “Based on our customer and network analytics, over 340,000 customers reside in a fibre broadband area, but are somehow not yet part of the 1.26 million unifi community. To date, we have successfully upgraded nearly 50% of these customers to unifi at no extra cost to their current bill. We urge remaining customers to grab this opportunity and complete this attractive unifi upgrade exercise by March 2019,” he added. Imri explained: “Starting from 2010, TM has continuously expanded Malaysia’s fibre broadband coverage. Nonetheless, such coverage is yet to reach all of our existing broadband customers. Copper limitation is more pronounced for Streamyx customers, with 8Mbps being the best broadband speed that can be delivered today. We value your trust and sincerely appreciate your loyalty and more so for your patience and understanding. Where technically possible, we shall double the Streamyx speed at no extra cost to your current broadband bill. Close to 180,000 Streamyx customers can look forward to this free upgrade.” Streamyx customers who are eligible for the speed upgrade will be contacted via email and phone. TM urges customers to update their latest contact details i.e., telephone number and email address to facilitate this process. This can be done both via the unifi portal and unifi care app. To address the remaining Streamyx customers, TM is working towards a more definitive solution and has initiated discussions with major stakeholders to deliver better broadband experience nationwide by exploring various fit-for-purpose technologies.
TM on course to accelerate convergence and empower digital to expedite national broadband adoption; continues value creation
Key Highlights of Financial Year (FY) 2017 vs FY 2016: Performance FY 2017vs FY 2016 o FY 2017 Group Revenue at RM12.09 billion o Group Operating Profit (Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT)) at RM1.09 billion; whilst Normalised EBIT was RM1.19 billion o Group Reported Profit Before Tax (PBT) rose 14.1% to RM1.05 billion o Healthy Group Reported Net Profit (PATAMI) growth of 19.8% at RM929.7 million; Normalised PATAMI growth of 1.8% at RM863.2 million o Delivers dividend commitment - declares 2nd interim dividend of 12.1 sen per share or RM454.7 million; total dividend payout stands at 21.5 sen per share or RM808.0 million o Sustained customer satisfaction with Customer Satisfaction Measure (TRI*M index) score of more than 73, above global telco average of 66 Operational Highlights o Consolidated unifi brand for converged lifestyle services o Achieved more than 1.1 million unifi (Home and SME) customers o Launched unifi Mobile #BEBAS and mobile@unifi app - unifi Mobile TM Household penetration at 9.8% Telekom Malaysia Berhad Group of Companies (TM Group) today announced its results for the financial year ended 31 December 2017. The Group’s 2017 performance was mainly driven by Internet and multimedia services. Group revenue stood at RM12.09 billion on the back of higher internet revenue contribution, which rose 8.3% against FY 2016, to RM3.97 billion; contributing 33% of total revenue. Speaking at the press conference after announcing the Company’s 2017 full-year financial results, Dato’ Sri Mohammed Shazalli Ramly, Group Chief Executive Officer, TM said: "2017 was a challenging yet transformational year for TM. We stayed focused on our Key Performance Indicators (KPI) and Key Happiness Index (KHI), driven by our Perfexe 10 aspirations. The holistic Perfexe 10 execution approach drove us to implement our high priority plans whilst accelerating convergence and empowering digitisation. Perfexe 10 simplifies and serves as a guide to all of our business operations while we closely track the progress of each plan and evaluate specific initiatives to ensure we execute in a timely manner. Although Perfexe 10 is a long term plan, we are pleased by the progress of each business thus far; where we have rebranded our business clusters, with unifi representing lifestyle offerings for homes, individuals and Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs); TM ONE offering end-to-end converged solutions to business verticals in the enterprise and public sector space; and TM GLOBAL positioned to accelerate the digital opportunities of domestic and international telecommunications.” Dato’ Sri Shazalli went on to comment, “Overall, TM was resilient in a challenging environment, delivering healthy revenue and profitability. We are pleased with the market’s response to all the initiatives that we implemented during the year. We saw strong customer traction in the home and mobile space. The recently launched unifi mobile #BEBAS, broke away from convention - where our customers are now liberated to use our mobility service relevant to their needs - and fully on digital, showed very encouraging performance.” “TM Group remains at the leading edge of enabling the country’s digital economy via our broadband deployment for the nation and in bridging the digital divide. In our unique role as protector of national interest, the Group’s achievements thus far have been numerous. Through our products and services, we have delivered countless benefits to not only our customers, but all Malaysians. We now have a converged nationwide coverage of unifi which includes broadband, mobility and wifi. As at end 2017, we recorded a total broadband customer base of more than 2.3 million customers. Our main broadband service offering, unifi for home and SMEs achieved more than 1.1 million customers, and unifi Mobile achieved 9.8% penetration of TM’s households. We have also been fully supportive of the Government’s objective towards improving the affordability, reach and quality of broadband services. In 2017, under the implementation of the Broadband Improvement Plan (BIP), we have successfully enhanced Malaysian’s digital experience by doubling the broadband speed at the same price to approximately 1.0 million Malaysian homes and SMEs. We also launched unifi edu pack for the youth, specifically students at institutions of higher learning and unifi e-biz pack for e-entrepreneurs. Earlier this year, we launched wifi@unifi app that enables all Malaysians to access the Internet via wifi. The app locates wifi hotspots and connects users to over 9,400 hotspots across Malaysia. To further expand our reach to customers, TM ONE collaborated with a renowned restaurant chain to provide high-speed broadband services and solutions including WiFi access points to more than 1,000 of their outlets nationwide. In addition, TM GLOBAL plays the role of positioning Malaysia and TM as the ideal gateway for the world to the ASEAN region; and submarine cable expansion is a key element in achieving this. Three (3) new submarine cable systems namely Malaysia-Cambodia-Thailand (MCT), Nusantara Gateway (NuGate) and Sistem Kabel Rakyat 1Malaysia (SKR1M) have been developed and were completed last year. TM GLOBAL has also set up a new international Point of Presence (PoP) in Marseilles, France, for service providers who need connectivity to Europe. To further enhance our customers’ enjoyment of our wide array of entertainment, and in support of the development of the Malaysian football scene, we are bringing the proud moments of the national football league to all Malaysians and football fans as the title sponsor for “unifi Liga Super Malaysia” and “unifi Piala Malaysia” as well as co-sponsor for Piala FA until 2025. Our customers can now enjoy exciting football content via unifi TV and across all screens, accessible via unifi PlayTV app,” he elaborated. Group Reported Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) stood at RM3.58 billion, lower by 5.6% against last year primarily due to higher operating costs mainly related to mobile services. After excluding non-operational items such as foreign exchange loss on trade settlements and placements, Normalised EBITDA stood at RM3.67 billion, lower by 3.9% compared to 2016. Group EBIT for FY 2017 was at RM1.09 billion, 5.3% lower against last year from the higher operating cost despite reduction in depreciation and amortisation charges. Stripping off the foreign exchange loss on international trade settlements and placements and loss on disposal of financial assets, Group Normalised EBIT stood at RM1.19 billion, 0.2% higher than the previous year. Group Reported Profit Before Tax (PBT) rose 14.1% to RM1.05 billion, against RM918.5 million last year. TM Group reported a healthy 19.8% growth in Group Reported Profit After Tax and Non-controlling Interest (PATAMI) against FY 2016 at RM929.7 million as compared to RM776.0 million recorded in FY 2016 primarily due to foreign exchange gain on the Group’s borrowings in FY 2017. Excluding this, Group Normalised PATAMI was 1.8% higher at RM863.2 million. The total capital expenditure (CAPEX) for FY 2017 as a percentage of revenue was 22.8%, amounting to RM2.76 billion, which was lower than guided in 3Q2017, due to internal re-prioritisation of projects. By asset type, access comprised 42% of total spending, followed by core network at 34% and the remaining 24% was for support systems. “At the same time, it is gratifying to see that our focus on customer experience continues to place us amongst the trusted brands in Malaysia. In 2017, sustained customer satisfaction resulted in our achieving Customer Satisfaction Measure (TRI*M index) score of more than 73, exceeding the global industry’s average of 66 for the seventh consecutive year,” added Dato’ Sri Shazalli. In line with its dividend policy, the Group is declaring a second interim single-tier cash dividend of 12.1 sen per share or RM454.7 million for the financial year ended 31 December 2017. Together with the 1st interim dividend of 9.4 sen per share amounting to RM353.2 million which was paid on 13 October 2017, the total dividend payout is 21.5 sen per share, or RM808.0 million. The second interim dividend will be paid on 13 April 2018. Accelerating Convergence To Accelerate Convergence, the Group has consolidated its service brands into a single identity. With this strategic repositioning, unifi is now the one and only brand in Malaysia that offers truly comprehensive suite of converged services – home, mobile, wifi and TV, across all segments - fixed, mobile and nomadic - anytime, anywhere on any device; reflecting what true convergence means to the Group. On the business front, the Group has also converged its service offerings for enterprise and public sector customers, presenting a comprehensive set of solutions to meet all their business needs. With the consolidation, TM ONE is now the one and only trusted digital partner and enabler for enterprises and the public sector to fully realise their digital opportunities. The new business cluster enables private enterprises and government agencies to enhance the way they work, with ‘Consider IT Done’ as its driving force and attitude. In 2017, TM ONE placed more emphasis on an approached termed as “verticalisation”, converging customised vertical or industry relevant solutions, to unleash their full digital potential. Top-priority verticals have been identified for immediate revenue generation. The Group foresees higher traction in its Data Centre business once its Klang Valley Core Data Centre (KVDC) is fully completed later in 2018. Together with the already running Tier III Iskandar Puteri Core Data Centre (IPDC), the inter-connected data centres form a Twin Core Data Centre solutions for high redundancy which are connected via high speed fibre optic connectivity, designed for higher fault tolerance and enhanced security. The Group also foresees potential for new growth opportunities in TM GLOBAL. TM GLOBAL’s focus moving forward is to continue accelerating its business growth by generating revenue from other than connectivity services. It also plays a vital role in expanding content localisation initiatives by bringing international content locally to minimise outbound bandwidth and improving customer experience. It enables easier access for businesses, at more competitive pricing. On the international front, we also connect the world via domestic, regional and global submarine cable development and investments with a total of twenty (20) submarine cables with fibre-route of more than 190,000 km around the globe to date. Empowering Digital Empowering Digital entails digitisation (driving productivity via digital) and digitalisation (monetisation of digital businesses), which combined, will enable TM Group to reap the full benefits of improved productivity, enhanced customer experience and monetisation of opportunities presented. In September 2017, TM Group launched unifi.com.my web portal, a single all-in-one customer service absolute portal for interaction on unifi related services, enabling customers to order or upgrade their services, check their usage, pay bills, troubleshoot online as well as chat in real-time with our agents for assistance. Under its digital empowerment pillar, the Group also launched hub@TM, a one-stop centre for all apps developed for Warga Keluarga TM. A number of new digital applications that serve both its customers as well as employees were developed such as FLOW - an employee engagement application that facilitates better collaboration and responsiveness; GROW - an enhanced tool for employee performance evaluation and assessment; HERO – a complaint support escalation app for Warga Keluarga TM; HELO - a digital onboarding app to kick start new hires’ employment journey; TMmedic - TM Group’s healthcare benefits app; EYES – a tool for employees to alert network team on occurrences that may potentially result in service disruption. For customers, several apps have been developed to enhance their overall unifi experience such as wifi@unifi - a unifi Wifi locator app; TM Wifi Optimiser – a tool to boost customers’ WiFi performance; mobile@unifi - a gateway to anything unifi Mobile service – from add-ons #pilihapasaja, to reloading #bayarbilabila, purchasing data, calls and SMS #kredittakmati as well as customer support; and unifi PlayTV - an app version of unifi TV for viewers to enjoy world class entertainment and award winning shows, anytime and anywhere. The introduction of these apps is in tandem with TM’s aspiration of ‘Going Digital’ as the Company moves beyond connectivity into new value added digital and smart services. It is part of the Group’s holistic approach covering customer experience, process optimisation and new business opportunities which entails building a digitally aware and smarter workforce. This is in line with its goal to accelerate the achievement of its strategic goals of Accelerating Convergence and Empowering Digital via “Perfexe 10”. 2018 and mid-term Headline Key Performance Index (KPIs) Guidance TM also announces its Headline KPIs for 2018 and the mid-term target respectively. They are revenue growth of 3.5% to 4.0% in 2018, EBIT to maintain 2017 EBIT RM and Customer Satisfaction Measure of 74. For the mid-term, the Headline KPI is revenue growth of 3.5% to 4.0%, EBIT growth of 3.5% to 4.0% and Customer Satisfaction Measure of 75. Comparison: Quarter-on-Quarter (4Q2017 vs 3Q2017 Results) The 4Q2017 saw Group Revenue at RM3.20 billion, growth of 8.8% QoQ. Group EBITDA was higher by 1.7% at RM893.5 million QoQ on the back of the higher operating revenue. Group EBIT rose 3.4% at RM270.3 million QoQ whilst Group Reported PBT grew 30.6% at RM307.6 million. Group PATAMI increase 30.8% to RM277.0 million compared to RM211.8 million in the preceding quarter. Prospects for the Next Financial Year Ending 31 December 2018 The Group foresees sustainable performance in 2018, despite competition and challenges. This is driven by the new execution model which prioritises its plans towards delivering relevant converged digital lifestyle services and end-to-end business solutions to all its customers.
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