Telekom Research & Development Sdn Bhd (TM R&D), the innovation arm of Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM), recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ZTE (Malaysia) Corporation Sdn Bhd (ZTE), a global leading provider of information and communication technology solutions, to collaborate on optical network research, bringing the first 50Gbps bandwidth experience to Malaysia.
The MoU was signed by Dr Sharlene Thiagarajah, Chief Executive Officer, TM R&D and Steven Ge, Chief Executive Officer, ZTE Malaysia.
Under this agreement, TM R&D and ZTE will jointly explore the capabilities of next-generation Passive Optical Network (PON) access technology, 50GPON, to support various application scenarios. In addition, both entities will look into use cases that can deliver ultra-broadband access to the government, enterprise and consumers, as well as support the requirements of innovative services such as 5G, Cloud Virtual Reality (VR), industrial intelligent manufacturing for high bandwidth, low latency & jitter, and clock synchronisation, all of which will enhance the user experience in Malaysia.
Commenting on the MoU, Dr. Sharlene Thiagarajah, Chief Executive Officer, TM R&D said, “TM R&D is committed to conducting research on future technologies and innovating new value-added smarter eco-systems that will improve the quality of user experience, and ultimately bring a positive impact on their lives. This fits well into the TM Group’s transformation towards becoming a human-centred TechCo. We are very excited to partner with a renowned global player such as ZTE to innovate on future generation PON technology in line with the global trend and technology roadmap.”
Meanwhile, Steven Ge, Chief Executive Officer, ZTE Malaysia shared, “With Gigabit home broadband services widely used in Malaysia at present, and the basic fixed network is in the time window of evolution from GPON to 10G PON, this partnership could not have come at a better time.”
“ZTE is pleased with the opportunity to collaborate with TM R&D on future research in next-generation PON technology supporting Digital Malaysia,” he added.
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Capitalising on its core businesses and investing into new growth areas, TM further ramped up its transformation initiatives, delivering profit after tax and non-controlling interests (PATAMI) for the quarter at RM339.9 million or 4.4% higher than the RM325.5 million recorded in 1Q2021. The Group also recorded lower financial costs subsequent to the early redemption of its RM2.0 billion sukuk in March 2021, as well as lower foreign exchange translation losses on borrowings. The Group has applied the Cukai Makmur statutory tax rate accordingly for the current quarter. Accelerating into the second year of its Transformation, TM brought forward its manpower optimisation to enable earlier realisation of expected benefits to the Group. This, along with foreign exchange impact on trade settlement has led to a 5.0% decrease in EBIT at RM560.4 million for 1Q2022 compared to RM589.7 million in the same quarter last year. Excluding these costs, the Group's underlying EBIT is 14.0% higher at RM650.2 million compared to RM570.5 million in 1Q 2021. Free Cash Flow is lower by 15.1% at RM658.8 million compared to RM775.7 million due to higher CAPEX as the Group continues to invest in business expansion and meeting customers' demands through technology refresh and network delivery, ensuring steady growth. unifi: Double-digit revenue and subscriber growth unifi continued its growth performance, recording revenue increase of 10.6% from RM1.25 billion to RM1.38 billion in the current quarter. Sustained by increasing demand from Internet, voice and sales of devices, with cumulative fixed Internet subscribers increasing by 17.5% against the corresponding quarter last year. unifi remains the largest growth contributor for the Group. unifi will continue to maintain its leadership in fixed broadband and enhance its Fixed-Mobile Convergence (FMC), enriched with TV and streaming content. This reflects its commitment to improve its FMC customer experience with better and seamless service. unifi will also grow its SME digital platform as a one-stop service centre for solutions catering especially to SMEs nationwide. TM Wholesale (TMW): Higher revenue from increased demand for data services TM Wholesale (TMW) also recorded a growth performance for 1Q2022, with revenue increasing by 1.2% from RM631.9 million in 1Q2021 to RM639.5 million, mainly contributed by higher revenue from voice and data services. This was underpinned by increasing demand from High-speed Broadband Access (HSBA) and higher International Voice and Data. To date, TMW continues to enable industry broadband and 4G network via its fibre infrastructure, with the ongoing 5G rollout further strengthening that role. 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Commentary and Outlook from Imri Mokhtar, TM Group Chief Executive Officer "With our economy and borders reopening, TM is powering Malaysia's journey on its road towards recovery, by ensuring the vision of an inclusive and extensive Digital Malaysia becomes a reality. "Into the second year of our Transformation, we are focused on strengthening our core business while investing into new growth areas to meet customers' demands. In ensuring sustainability in the long run, we continue to grow our profitability to invest and seize opportunities arising from digital acceleration. "One of these opportunities is in the exciting space of digital solutions and services for enterprises. Building on TM One's existing capability and relationships with enterprises and the public sector, we will deliver speed and agility through our new digital arm Credence: a corporate start-up led by technology leaders. 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