21 Feb 2022
TM in consortium to build new submarine cable system for Southeast Asia – Middle East – Western Europe
With advanced technologies, open cable system concept and capacity of more than 100Tbps, the latest investment will improve connection with Europe and cater for future digital demand
Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) announced that the Company is part of a consortium for the latest Southeast Asia - Middle East - Western Europe 6 (SEA-ME-WE 6) submarine cable system, that connects Malaysia with multiple countries namely Singapore, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Pakistan, Oman, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and France.
TM’s participation in the consortium was made official with the signing of the Construction and Maintenance Agreement (C&MA) with all consortium members recently. The SEA-ME-WE 6 joins the list of TM’s investments in submarine cable systems including SEA-ME-WE 3, SEA-ME-WE 4, SEA-ME-WE 5 as well as other numerous international cable routes worldwide.
The SEA-ME-WE 6 will provide TM with one of the lowest latency routes between Malaysia and Europe. It will also create an additional layer of network diversity and resilience for the heavily loaded traffic between Asia and Europe. With its advanced technologies, open cable system concept, and a design capacity of more than 100Tbps, this latest investment will undoubtedly provide the consortium members with complete control over their traffic management.
Commenting on the latest investment, TM Group Chief Executive Officer Imri Mokhtar said, “TM has always been at the forefront in making Malaysia the ideal gateway for connecting our country to the world, as well as enabling global technology players to deliver innovative digital services to Malaysia. Submarine cable expansion remains a key element in achieving this goal.
“Our investment in SEA-ME-WE 6 will allow us to address our capacity requirements to cater for increasing future digital demand across Asia and Europe while continuing to provide reliable, diversified and uninterrupted global connectivity solutions to customers. It will also allow TM to support the deployment of hyperscalers’ data centres as well as the future requirements of 5G network in the country.”
“The SEA-ME-WE 6 submarine cable will land at TM’s new cable landing station in Morib, the latest addition to TM’s existing four (4) international cable landing stations in the country. Its strategic proximity to Klang Valley, which is close to most hyperscalers’ data centres, positions it as a key cable landing site for Malaysia.”
Imri added that the new investment will help realise TM’s aspiration to establish Malaysia as a regional digital hub by facilitating more submarine cables to land in Malaysia. This also demonstrates TM’s commitment to the MyDIGITAL initiative to attract more international submarine cables to land in Malaysia.
Aside from TM, the SEA-ME-WE 6 consortium comprise multiple global players, including Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited (BSCCL), Bharti Airtel Ltd. (Bharti Airtel), Dhivehi Raajjeyge Gulhun PLC (Dhiraagu), Djibouti Telecom SA (Djibouti Telecom), Etihad Etisalat Company (Mobily), Orange (France), PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia International (Telin), Singapore Telecommunications Limited (Singtel), Sri Lanka Telecom PLC (SLT), Telecom Egypt (TE) and Trans World Associates (TWA).
TM is well experienced in both domestic and global submarine cable system development and investments. With 30 submarine cable systems owned and leased spanning more than 320,000 kilometres around the globe, TM is committed to providing the highest service performance and best quality experience to all its customers worldwide.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
K-KOMM Deputy Minister officiates Yayasan TM’s effort for most number of Gutta Percha planted within 24 hours
Recognised by the Malaysia Book of Records, campaign sees planting of 5,017 trees across 23 locations with 18 collaborative partners Yayasan TM (YTM), the foundation arm of Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM), today launched The Largest Gutta Percha Tree-Planting Event in 24 hours, a Malaysia Book of Records certified campaign in conjunction with World Telecommunication and Information Society Day 2022. The project, inspired by the “Greening Malaysia; Our Trees, Our Life” campaign under the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources that aims to preserve the country’s biological diversity, was co-organised with Yayasan Sukarelawan Siswa (YSS), and saw 1,000 student volunteers and TM’s own Reaching Out Volunteers (TM ROVers) working together to plant 5,017 Gutta Percha trees at 23 locations simultaneously. Launched by YB Datuk Zahidi Zainul Abidin, Deputy Minister of Communications and Multimedia, together with Dato’ Haji Rosli Isa, Secretary General, Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, the campaign specifically chose the Gutta Percha tree species for its significant heritage status in Malaysia. Native to the country and known as Nyatoh Taban Merah to locals, the species was instrumental for the early beginnings of the global submarine telegraph network. In 1851, the latex from the Gutta Percha tree was discovered to be the best insulating material and led to the invention of the first submarine cable in the world. While it was replaced with polyethylene by the 1950s, this humble tree essentially spearheaded modern telecommunications capabilities globally. Hosting the event, Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Abd. Ghafar Mahmud, Board of Trustee Member of YTM said, “This symbolic Gutta Percha tree-planting programme is a collaborative effort to protect our natural heritage and to honour the unique role it has played in connecting communities throughout the world. From its humble origins in our own forests, this species has transformed our communications capabilities, and it is now our duty to protect it for future generations.” Speaking at the launch, YB Datuk Zahidi said, “The World Telecommunication and Information Society Day this year is celebrated by industry players, agencies and corporate partners in their own unique ways. As we move with the fast pace of the digital world, we need to balance it with green conservation efforts to sustain our environment. I am thrilled and excited with today’s event that sees the preservation of Gutta Percha, a native and very important species particularly to telecommunications. Congratulations to YTM and YSS for this unique collaboration!” A total of 18 partners from local councils, institutions and universities also collaborated on this project, providing designated areas for Gutta Percha education, research and development, as well as participating in the tree-planting initiative. Besides YSS, these partners include: Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM), Jabatan Perhutanan Semenanjung Malaysia, Perbadanan Putrajaya, Majlis Perbandaran Sepang, Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur, Multimedia University (MMU), International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM), University of Malaya (UM), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Universiti Teknologi MARA (UITM), Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP) and Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP) as well as Mr DIY, Hara Makers and unifi. In addition to tree-planting, YTM is also supporting Buy for Impact’s social enterprise, Hara Makers, through their Reimagine Plastic environmental initiatives. The foundation is further helping economically-disadvantaged communities through an income-generating project to create upcycled volunteers’ hats for the Gutta Percha Tree-Planting event. Extending the impact of the project beyond the launch event, YTM, in partnership with unifi, is running an Adopt-A-Tree campaign via unifi Rewards points redemptions. unifi customers will have the opportunity to adopt a Gutta Percha tree by donating their points towards this effort via the myunifi application or portal. Through their support, the adopted trees will be planted within the 23 unifi Green Zones and customers will receive a digital certificate from YTM for their contribution. These initiatives tie in with TM Group’s Environmental, Societal and Governance (ESG) sustainability commitments, connecting the three components with Malaysia’s national heritage conservation as well as education efforts.
Credence, TM’s new cloud and digital services company, to empower enterprises’ digital capabilities – from infrastructure to insights
Powered by TM as a corporate start-up, Credence will bring new expertise and agility to grow TM’s digital services to support customers’ requirements and capture new opportunities. Kuala Lumpur, 6 July 2022 – Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) today launched Credence, a new cloud and digital services company focused on expanding the capabilities of enterprises and the public sector in their digital transformation journey. “With enterprises re-evaluating their capabilities and offerings to respond to today’s increasingly digital demands, TM is poised to become an astute digital solutions provider in addition to its established connectivity leadership position. “TM will empower organisations in the private and public sector to transform with greater efficiency and flexibility while offering a superior return on investment. We recognise that now is an opportune time to leverage on our strengths, address market needs and launch a dedicated company – Credence – that is focused on technology and digital innovation,” said Imri Mokhtar, TM’s Group Chief Executive Officer. “TM will offer a differentiated advantage in how we bring end-to-end digital solutions and services to customers through Credence. Leveraging both local and international technologies as well as expertise, Credence will provide greater and faster time-to-value by understanding local customer requirements and challenges. “In the long run, through our foray into the digital services market, we aim to improve TM’s growth trajectory and unlock significant value for both our customers and stakeholders,” Imri explained. Credence is led by Krish Datta, an experienced technology leader who joined TM in late 2021 to shape its new digital services arm. Leveraging TM’s established resources, infrastructure, and its strong links to enterprises and the public sector, Credence is well-positioned to accelerate Malaysia’s digital transformation journey. “We offer organisations the ability to embark on their digital journey with better predictability, lesser concern and disruption while choosing the best tech solutions that suit their needs and priorities, enabling them to focus on their core business,” said Krish. He explained that Credence will provide capabilities from tech infrastructure to business insights, cloud advisory, IT landscape migration, SaaS, managed services as well as analytics and insights. “Credence aims to deliver outstanding experience for our customers. We are the only company that is able to offer our customers the full end-to-end solutions from infrastructure to insights (I2I). Our approach is to meet customers where they are, discover what their mission-critical goals are, and work with them according to their needs and priorities. “We are also platform and technology-agnostic – putting us in a better position to offer solutions with a stronger customer bias vis-a-vis a vendor bias,” explained Krish. As part of the launch, Credence announced key partnerships with VMware, AWS and Huawei, which enables them to offer a broad range of options to enterprises, customised to their individual growth needs. “We are pleased to announce that Credence is working with VMware to deliver their first sovereign cloud service in Malaysia, keeping in mind the data sovereignty of customers in Malaysia,” said Krish. “Malaysia’s digital-first approach is enabling massive transformation and opportunity for businesses in the country. VMware is working with Credence to help enterprises in regulated industries, and companies in the e-commerce and energy sectors to meet their unique cloud and data sovereignty requirements within Malaysian borders,” said Ajay Turki, Director Cloud Sales, Southeast Asia & Korea, VMware. “We are also enhancing the offerings of TM’s Cloud Alpha Edge to include services, SaaS solutions as well as data insights to be the leading Government cloud service provider,” added Krish. “At its core, however, digital transformation is less about technology and more about people, and the success of organisations depends on developing, cultivating and nurturing the next generation of technologically-skilled professionals. Through Credence, we aim to address the current digital and tech skills gap – making strategic hires from the tech sector as well as transferring similar skillsets from TM to spearhead this new digital start-up. “In this way, we hope to nurture a pipeline of next-generation tech and digital talents, and equip Malaysians for a digital future by upskilling them with digital capabilities, and providing them access to the right data and tools. This will not only benefit organisations but our collective progress as a nation, solidifying our Digital Malaysia aspirations,” concluded Imri.
TM turns in solid 1Q2021 performance; strong start to transformation programme
The Group posted revenue of RM2.81 billion, 9.9% higher from RM2.56 billion in 1Q2020. A Solid 1Q2021 Performance Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) today reported its financial results for the first quarter ended 31 March 2021. The Group's revenue increased by 9.9% to RM2.81 billion compared to RM2.56 billion in the same quarter last year with an increase in revenue across all business lines – unifi, TM ONE and TM WHOLESALE. Ongoing cost improvement initiatives continued to show results with total operating cost ratios (% cost to revenue) improving from 88.1% last year to 79.7%, supporting both revenue growth whilst optimising cost efficiency across direct costs, manpower, other operating costs and depreciation and amortisation. Group EBIT for 1Q2021 rose by 80.8% YoY from RM326.1 million in 1Q2020 to RM589.7 million, on the back of higher revenue and better operating costs efficiency. This subsequently led to a strong 113.4% YoY growth in Group PATAMI from RM152.5 million last year to RM325.5 million. In 1Q2021, the Company invested 8.8% of revenue in capex amounting to RM247.0 million as it continued to modernise its network and technology platforms towards delivering current and future solutions for customers. Of the amount invested, 69% was for network access including JENDELA (fibre broadband expansion), 12% for core network, and the balance 19% for support systems. TM expects to meet the 2021 market guidance announced in February with revenue growth to be flat or single digit growth, EBIT to be more than RM1.6 billion and CAPEX guidance to be between 14% to 18% of revenue. 1Q2021 Business Highlights: A Strong Start to the New TM Transformation Programme The 'New TM' Transformation Programme (2021-2023), anchored on 40+ Value Programmes focusing on customer experience, revenue, cost efficiency and a future proof organisation, has seen a strong start with quarterly growth across all lines of business and improved operations. unifi maintains its strong momentum and convergence leadership with 11.9% YoY growth in fixed broadband customers to 2.44 million, with the highest ever quarterly fixed broadband customers net additions of 110k, driven by growth of unifi customer base. Whilst the MCO since 2020 has increased demand for fixed broadband, unifi has successfully converted this demand with its compelling unifi convergence proposition under the #unifiyourworld campaign, providing the best customer value for broadband, mobile and content via unifi Plus Box. This growth was also supported by the higher number of ports deployed and wider fiber network roll-out under the JENDELA programme, which TM surpassed its 1Q targets achieving 141% of its commitment. TM is also expanding the pool of network contractors to increase the capacity of its fiber expansion programme in the coming quarters. unifi also focused on continuously improving customer experience and accelerated its Streamyx migration programme in Q1 2021 to enable more customers enjoy higher speed broadband. WiFi optimisation is also an important part of getting the best internet experience, hence unifi also continues to promote the take up of Mesh WiFi to its new and existing customers. Meanwhile, its IT systems are also undergoing enhancements to provide better customer experience and cost optimisation via simplification and consolidation of platforms. Notably, unifi rolled out a new order management system that reduces order processing time by more than 60%, to improve customer experience across its sales touchpoints. TM ONE continues to enable the digital transformation journey of enterprise and public sector customers with a comprehensive suite of connectivity, data centre, Cloud, cybersecurity and smart solutions. After cautious spending in 2020, customers are now accelerating their digitalisation, and this has translated into new sales and contract renewals to provide comprehensive digital solutions, especially in key verticals such as oil and gas, the banking and financial services industry (BFSI) as well as from higher broadcast, ICT and customer projects. There is also greater traction seen for Cloud services from the Enterprise segment; whilst discussions are ongoing to support public sector data migration, as the Government's sole local Cloud Service Provider (CSP) under the MyDIGITAL blueprint. TM WHOLESALE is the preferred network infrastructure provider supporting the technology industry and is positioning Malaysia as a digital hub with strong demand from domestic and international telco and technology operators; including hyperscalers. On the home front, TM as the leading infrastructure partner for High Speed Broadband wholesale services, leveraged its superior network nationwide to support the industry's broadband growth. It is also the primary mobile backhaul infrastructure provider for the industry, which saw growth in coverage and capacity through dynamic offerings of these services. TM also recorded growth in terms of its Wholesale Data Services. Towards establishing Malaysia as an ASEAN digital hub, TM strengthened its partnership ecosystem with international carriers and hyperscalers registering higher revenue for International Data Services as compared to last year. TM expanded its portfolio of data centre customers with more major Asian and US hyperscalers co-locating at the nation's only Tier III twin core data centres at Iskandar Puteri (IPDC) and Klang Valley (KVDC). Its wholesale Content Delivery Network (CDN) services also expanded its digital media delivery network ecosystem with more new customers in 1Q2021. TM remains committed to sustainable growth, with continued emphasis on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG), maintaining its strong track record as one of the 75 Bursa companies on the FTSE4Good Bursa Malaysia Index, with the full rating of 4/4. Environment: TM complies with the Environmental Quality Act 1974, and has reduced its annual carbon emissions by 13%; integrating sustainable practices in all areas of operations. Social: TM ensures the safety and health of customers and Warga TM with special working arrangements implemented and enhanced Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) towards business and customer service continuity. TM also supports the nation and communities in need through connectivity initiatives such as Jaringan Prihatin, CERDIK, MYBAIKHATI and other humanitarian aid. Governance: Committed to uncompromising integrity, TM continuously assesses the Group's corruption risk and ensures its corruption mitigation practices are independently certified. Imri Mokhtar, Managing Director & Group Chief Executive Officer commented: "We began 2021 with a positive momentum and a strong start to our 'New TM' 2021-2023 Transformation Programme. We are pleased to report a solid year-on-year performance despite these unprecedented times. We delivered good growth with our revenue up 9.9% YoY to RM2.81 billion, contributed by strong demand from our unifi, TM ONE and TM WHOLESALE customers. Coupled with our continuous cost efficiency initiatives, EBIT significantly improved 80.8% YoY to RM589.7 million and PATAMI doubled to RM325.5 million as compared to the first quarter of 2020. Under the 40+ Value Programmes, TM is reshaping our workforce into a stronger execution engine, embracing a more agile work culture with future-ready skills; focused on growing with our customers towards a more digital society, businesses, public sector services and technology industry. TM reiterates our leading role in accelerating Digital Malaysia through digital connectivity, digital infrastructure and a digital workforce. As an essential enabler, we are ready to play a leading role in the execution of both, the JENDELA implementation plan and the realisation of the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint (MyDIGITAL); leveraging on our comprehensive connectivity, digital infrastructure and innovative solutions. We are also committed towards sustainable growth, with increased emphasis on ESG by our Board and management. We remain focused on our ESG sustainability journey. I am pleased to update that we maintained our track record as one of the 75 Bursa companies on the FTSE4Good Bursa Malaysia Index, with a full rating of 4/4. With this encouraging set of overall results, we are on track to meet our 2021 market guidance and look forward to delivering greater customer experience and shareholder value with our New TM Transformation Programme."
NEWSLETTER
Just drop your details and stay updated with the world of Telekom Malaysia. We promise – no spam!