Friday, December 14, 2012
Malaysia awards eight 4G licenses
Malaysia awards eight 4G licenses
telecomasia.net


The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has awarded 2,600-MHz 4G licenses to eight companies, including a brand new market entrant.
The regulator this week awarded licenses to Maxis, Axiata, DiGi, P1, REDtone Marketing, U Mobile, YTL and newcomer Puncak Semangat.
Announcing the allocation, the regulator said existing operators will be able to use the allocation to expand the capacity of their mobile broadband networks.
The regulator added that the introduction of a new player “is expected to bring fresh ideas and innovations to the market.”
But CIMB Research has questioned the decision to allocate the largest block of spectrum – 40 MHz – to Puncak Semangat, according to the Sun Daily.
In a report, the firm said that while MCMC is believed to have made the decision because it was impressed with the new entrant's business proposal, it is unlikely to prove much of a threat to existing operators as it does not have any 2G or 3G coverage of its own.
This means the company is probably going to need to strike a roaming deal with the major players to offer these services.
P1 Networks CEO Michael Lai said the company is “thrilled to have been granted access to 20MHz of 2.6 GHz TD spectrum [and] excited to be able to offer this next generation of 4G technology to Malaysians.”
Maxis has meanwhile revealed plans to activate LTE sites in Kuching and Kota Kinabalu in the East in 2013.
Source:
Similar
KDDI to launch Myanmar branch
Thai 3G: AIS outlines investment plan
Webwire: Sprint may buy rest of Clearwire; ZTE to spend $30m in US
Maxis allocates $164m for LTE rollout
UK makes next move toward 4G
Webwire: India cellcos said to skirt tax; Viettel commits $400m to Cameroon
Telecom NZ launches flat-rate data roaming
Recent popular content
Watch the best moments from the 5th Annual Telecom Asia Readers' Choice Awards
Less than 1% of usable Big Data is being analyzed: IDC