23 Mar 2022
Tune Protect enters partnership with Huawei Malaysia and TM
FIRST TO HOST THE INSURANCE CORE SYSTEM ON TM’S PUBLIC CLOUD IN MALAYSIA
Tune Protect Malaysia (Tune Protect), Huawei Technologies (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (Huawei Malaysia) and Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) announced a collaboration today for Tune Protect to re-platform its existing GIS (General Insurance System), an insurance core system on Cloud. The hosting of Tune Protect’s core insurance system on Cloud is the first for insurers in Malaysia as it progresses in its digital transformation. The core system comes with a set of SAP HANA and SAP applications that will be completely hosted in TM Cloud αEdge (pronounced as Cloud Alpha Edge) which provides multi-cloud deployment management platform, scalability reliance and trust . This pivotal move is part of Tune Protect’s Cloud First strategy , and in line with current market demand.
Works are currently underway for the core insurance system to be deployed in multiple phases commencing July 2022. Rohit Nambiar, Group Chief Executive Officer of Tune Protect said, “As the first insurer to have received the approval to host the core system on Cloud, we are further enhancing our group credentials. Cloud is the centrepiece of our digital transformation that will enable us to achieve speed-to-market and introduce more innovative products and services for our customers.”
TM Cloud αEdge plays an important role as digital platform enabler through the offerings of comprehensive set of cloud services in Malaysia and will transform Tune Protect’s existing business capabilities and services into a highly scalable, and agile cloud native open standard and platform to unlock its existing capabilities into unlimited digital value. This transformation is crucial to support today’s fast-paced and demanding business operations and ensure the company consistently stays competitive in the market.
Partnering with Huawei Malaysia and TM has brought Tune Protect to a whole new level of engagement experience. Aside to providing cloud and digital services, Huawei and TM have also demonstrated teamwork and commitment through the rendering of advisory and consultation in terms of compliance and technical requirements that align to the guidance provided by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM).
This will be the first core insurance system in Malaysia that has been officially approved by BNM and will be hosted on TM Cloud αEdge -- the only Malaysian-owned Hyperscaler Public Cloud, that primarily promotes data sovereignty. This marks a significant milestone for the company as TM’s Cloud αEdge meets the data protection standard and compliant to BNM’s Risk Management in Technology (RMiT) full guidance requirements checklist, making it the ONLY Public Cloud choice for financial service industry (FSI) customers’ cloud adoption in Malaysia.
Meanwhile, Imri Mokhtar, Group Chief Executive Officer of TM said, “We fully understand the importance for FSI customers, including insurers such as Tune Protect to have highly secured digital infrastructure while they continue accelerating their digital adoption. Given the rising volume of digital transactions and our commitment to excellent customer experience, we must ensure that the infrastructure supporting our partner is resilient, scalable and protected on all fronts. With TM Cloud α Edge being fully compliant to BNM’s RMiT, FSI players can reap the benefit of scalability and agility to future-proof their business, while simultaneously protecting customer data, at a superior price advantage. Through our enterprise and public sector business solutions arm, TM ONE, we are ready to serve the industry with end-to-end robust and secured digital infrastructure, befitting our role as the sole Malaysian Cloud Service Provider (CSP) under the MyDIGITAL initiative.”
In conveying his appreciation and support for this collaboration, Huawei Malaysia’s Vice President of the Cloud and AI Business Group, Mr Lim Chee Siong said, “It is always our goal at Huawei Cloud to dive into digitalisation and to provide everything as a service. Huawei will continue to innovate and team up with TM and our partners to dive into digital and build the cloud foundation for an intelligent world. Cloud is just the beginning. We view it as a runway to transport businesses to even greater heights.”
TM is the only local player with its own core Data Centre and Cloud infrastructure with full data residency, locality and sovereignty. Through the collaboration with Huawei Malaysia, this infrastructure is reinforced through Cloud, AI and the most advanced cybersecurity practices and technologies, putting it right on track to become the only Malaysian-owned end-to-end Cloud AI infrastructure service provider. This means the data in the Cloud is stored right here in Malaysia instead of abroad, providing a solution to the challenge of data sovereignty.
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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.
Unifi TV kickstarts 2023 offerings with addition of popular beIN SPORTS 2, Moonbug Kids and one premium channels
Unifi, a leader in converged home, mobile and lifestyle services via its digital content arm, Unifi TV, today announced three new premium channels via partnerships with leading content providers – beIN Asia Pacific; Moonbug Entertainment, a subsidiary of Candle Media; and Korea’s KC Global Media. Starting February 2023, viewers will be able to enjoy these popular channels via their Unifi TV subscriptions: beIN SPORTS 2 – featuring top-tier European football, international tennis competitions and most recently, full Formula 1 coverage; Moonbug Kids – designed for families with pre-school children; and ONE – for fans of the latest Korean drama and entertainment. Two of the three new channels, Moonbug Kids and ONE will also be available for free preview throughout the whole of February for both existing and new Unifi TV subscribers. This brings Unifi TV’s channel offerings to a whopping 71 premium channels, along with 17 app partners including Disney+ Hotstar, Viu, WeTV and Lionsgate Play – the largest selection of streaming apps over a single platform. Ho Hock Doong, Head of Content, Unifi TV said, “We are excited to partner beIN Asia Pacific, Moonbug Entertainment, and KC Global Media in bringing their popular channels to Unifi TV and to provide more quality offerings to our local audiences. “At the end of 2022, Digital Market Insights projected that Malaysia’s Home Entertainment revenue was expected to reach an annual growth rate (CAGR 2022-2027) of 8.36%, with a projected market volume of US$48.57 million and 1.1 million active users by 2027. “With these prospects in mind, we are strengthening our partnerships with leading global content providers to offer an inclusive selection of digital entertainment solutions – bringing Unifi’s ‘all-in-one’ value proposition to all audiences,” he added. beIN SPORTS 2 will join the line-up of three existing beIN SPORTS channels as well as the beIN SPORTS CONNECT app already available on Unifi TV, offering the widest live sports coverage from beIN SPORTS in Malaysia. In addition to the Formula 1 broadcast rights which will be extended to Unifi TV viewers, the channel will also include the Australian Open, ATP and the upcoming Roland-Garros. Mike Kerr, Managing Director, beIN Asia Pacific, said, “As we continue to expand and strengthen our sports offering, we are excited to enter into the next phase of partnership with Unifi TV. Now with Formula 1, fans can immerse themselves in more live coverage than ever before on beIN SPORTS. We look forward to working alongside Unifi TV to grow our audiences in Malaysia.” Putting families in the forefront, Moonbug Kids on Unifi TV will feature all of Moonbug’s IPs including CoComelon, Blippi, Gecko’s Garage, Morphle, Arpo, Little Baby Bum and recent acquisitions Little Angel and Oddbods – offering wholesome and quality entertainment for preschool and early-years viewers. Unifi TV is also the first digital content platform in Malaysia to offer selected Moonbug Kids programmes on demand that are localised in Bahasa Melayu and Mandarin – bringing these edutainment programmes to more of Malaysia’s multi-lingual audiences. “We are extremely excited to launch our Moonbug Kids channel on Unifi TV via their on-air and online platforms. We have had a strong start to 2023 in maintaining our strategy of rolling out our content and channels across APAC and EMEA and are now very much looking forward to sharing our beloved characters and stories with families across Malaysia,” said Nicolas Eglau, Managing Director EMEA & APAC, Moonbug Entertainment. Leading K-entertainment channel, ONE, on the other hand, will bring the best of Korean entertainment to Malaysia. The channel will feature drama series Kokdu: Season of Deity within 24 hours of release in Korea and a line-up of romantic specials in February such as Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo and Backstreet Rookie. Fans of travel variety shows will also be treated to Dopojarak: Story of Homme the K-Wanderer, featuring personalities from K-pop, K-drama, fashion and sports. George Chien, Co-Founder, President, and CEO of KC Global Media shared, “We are excited to enhance our partnership with Unifi TV to bring the best entertainment from around the world to every household and mobile device in Malaysia! With the addition of ONE channel on Unifi TV, fans can look forward to an endless stream of freshly curated programming direct from South Korea’s biggest broadcasters and studios.” “These channels are quality additions to our platform and will strengthen our lifestyle offerings as part of Unifi’s Converged solutions for broadband, mobile and digital content. Our aim is to provide seamless customer experiences via extensive and affordable services that meet today’s digital demands, including online entertainment both at home and on-the-go,” Ho shared. “As we kick off 2023, we aim to continue expanding our digital content, providing more customisable, value-for-money selections together with Unifi’s other converged solutions to bring something for everyone,” he concluded.
TM delivers double digit revenue, EBIT and PATAMI growth in Q2; on track to achieve its 2022 market guidance
2Q2022 Key Highlights (vs 2Q2021) Increased demand for Internet and Data translated to an 11.8% growth in Operating Revenue, at RM3.09 billion compared to RM2.76 billion Manpower and other OPEX cost optimisation contributed 81.3% EBIT growth, recorded at RM702.7 million PATAMI up 73.0% at RM378.0 million from RM218.5 million, as a result of higher operating profit and lower net finance cost Invested 15.7% of revenue in CAPEX or RM484.5 million in fibre expansion, network upgrades and support systems Free Cash Flow increased 36.4% at RM730.5 million, mainly attributed to increase in revenue and cost optimisation initiatives Interim Dividend of 9.0 sen per share declared with Dividend Reinvestment Scheme applicable (DRS) On track to achieve its 2022 market guidance, TM continues to strengthen core businesses while investing in new growth areas Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) has sustained its growth trajectory, delivering an excellent set of financial results across all key metrics for the second quarter ended 30 June 2022, offering converged services and solutions and demonstrating its resilience against increasing competition from other telco and technology players. The Group’s operating revenue grew by 11.8% to RM3.09 billion, compared to RM2.76 billion in the same quarter last year (YoY), on a foundation of strong performance across every customer segment and a sharp increase in revenue from all lines of service, particularly Internet and Data. Optimisation efforts enabled TM to record lower manpower and other OPEX costs, which led to higher Earnings Before Interest and Taxation (EBIT), up 81.3% at RM702.7 million compared to RM387.6 million YoY. Profit After Tax and Non-controlling Interest (PATAMI) was up 73.0% at RM378.0 million from RM218.5 million YoY, on the back of accelerated demand for connectivity, services and digital solutions. The Group applied the 33% Cukai Makmur statutory tax rate accordingly for the current quarter. In addition to Group-wide cost optimisation initiatives, the revenue jump helped drive an increase of Free Cash Flow by 36.4% to RM730.5 million YoY, putting TM in a solid position to make future investments and further reduce debt. TM also declared an Interim Dividend of 9.0 sen per share in line with its policy to distribute yearly dividends of 40% - 60% from its PATAMI. The DRS is applicable for this dividend tranche to provide flexibility to shareholders, enabling participation into the Group’s continuous growth momentum.unifi: Maintaining growth momentum As the leading convergence provider in Malaysia, unifi recorded a 10.3% revenue increase from RM1,272.0 million to RM1,402.6 million in the current quarter, driven primarily by continuous growth of fixed broadband subscribers, which recorded a 14.1% increase from the same quarter last year. unifi continues to innovate the home entertainment landscape, rapidly adapting to consumer consumption patterns through more attractive content that can be viewed both at home via high-speed broadband as well as on mobile devices via the playTV@unifi app. Its growing content ranges from Hollywood to Hallyu, offering variety for everyone. unifi's focus also extended to local SME businesses with the month-long #BelanjaDiSME campaign, as well as the SME Digitalisation Grant (SDG), which provides entrepreneurs with up to 50% savings for internet subscriptions and digital solutions.TM Wholesale (TMW): Leading the charge in positioning Malaysia as a digital hub TMW continues its march to be the nation’s preferred network infrastructure provider and to position Malaysia as a digital hub. Revenue for the current quarter increased by 26.4% from RM585.3 million YoY to RM739.9 million, contributed mainly by higher revenue from data and voice services. TMW’s compelling performance is underpinned by escalating domestic data demand and new deals secured on the international front. It recorded the highest installation for High-Speed Broadband (HSBB) Access in June 2022, driven by mobile network operators (MNOs) and content service provider under JENDELA. TMW also delivered more than 4,500 cumulative 4G and 5G backhaul sites in supporting the MyDIGITAL blueprint for enhanced digital inclusivity nationwide. On the international front, TMW has secured new deals with a US-based hyperscaler and a North Asian digital provider. Simultaneously, its collaborative agreement with Globe Telecom will enable its customers to enjoy superior gaming experiences, a strategic move to expand its business beyond its telco offerings.TM One: Stronger performance amidst market challenges The Group’s enterprise and public sector arm, TM One, recorded an increase in revenue of 4.1% YoY to RM854.6 million, with growth from recurring business across the enterprise and government sectors. Global supply chain challenges and delays, however, continued to impact its operations and subsequent delivery of several customer projects. As the sole local provider for the Government’s MyGovCloud initiative, TM through TM One, is the only hyperscale cloud provider to offer data residency, data locality and data sovereignty for the Malaysian Government and its citizens. This eliminates potential risks from international regulations, policy interventions, or risk of Malaysian data housed beyond Malaysia’s borders.Credence: Spearheading TM’s growth into the digital tech space Responding to the fast-growing market demand for the digitalisation of enterprises, Credence was recently launched to drive greater levels of digital capabilities and technology skills for the Group’s corporate customers. Established as a start-up, Credence is TM’s new cloud and digital services company, focusing on becoming a trusted technology partner to accelerate the digital transformation of large enterprises and the public sector. Leveraging TM’s existing technology partners and new ventures, Credence will also accelerate the Group’s transformation in the digital tech space.Commentary and Outlook from Imri Mokhtar, TM Group Chief Executive Officer “At the mid-point of 2022, our financial performance and results demonstrate TM’s ability to manage our businesses effectively despite the headwinds arising from a challenging and competitive business environment. These results are also a powerful testament of our transformation journey, and our commitment to deliver a sustainable and inclusive Digital Malaysia. “unifi will continue its trajectory to provide converged solutions to both residential and SME customers. unifi Business, specifically, will double down on its efforts to provide new propositions to engage SME customers including promotional campaigns and financing options. “TM One remains focused in enabling the digital transformation of the enterprise and public sectors. Complemented by its global partner ecosystem, TM One continues to make inroads on bespoke solutions engineered and supported by its in-house ICT capabilities. “TM Wholesale is on course to provide a comprehensive suite of advanced wholesale communication services and solutions for both domestic and global fronts. TMW is poised to position Malaysia as a digital hub for the ASEAN region. “As part of TM’s commitment to empower businesses on their digital transformational journey, the Group will also address the digital and tech skills gap through Credence. This new digital services subsidiary will deliver a differentiated advantage for enterprise digital solutions, providing greater and faster time-to-value with customised options for enterprises. “Looking ahead, 5G will level the playing field and move the industry away from network-based to service-based competition. TM welcomes the Government’s call for the industry to take up equity stakes in DNB. 5G will open up and expand the opportunities and growth areas for all of TM’s business segments – consumers, SMEs, enterprises, wholesale as well as digital services. We look forward to rolling out 5G-enabled products and solutions and unlocking value to meet customers’ demands. “As Malaysia’s convergence champion, we believe 5G will strengthen our convergence proposition, and our customers will be encouraged to transition to 5G in the near term. “Ultimately, TM’s growth and differentiation, whether in 5G, fixed broadband or digitalisation, will hinge on creating and offering exceptional customer experience, as we continue on our evolution towards becoming a human-centred technology company.”
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