Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM), the national connectivity and digital infrastructure provider through its global and wholesale arm, TM WHOLESALE and Tata Communications, a global digital ecosystem enabler’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Tata Communications International Pte Ltd., join forces to offer stable, high-speed and reliable connectivity in the ASEAN region and open access to global enterprises.
This collaboration will enable service providers, mobile network operators and internet service providers in the region to address their customers’ growing data connectivity needs by providing access to a global Tier 1 Internet Protocol (IP) network. This will help deliver reliable, stable Tier-1 IP Transit (IPT) service, an internet connectivity service that enables end-users to access all websites and content on the internet. This will further boost sectors such as e-commerce, online entertainment, retail, online banking and delivery services that have accelerated in recent times.
As part of this arrangement, Tata Communications expands its IPT service coverage leveraging TM’s data centre, extensive connectivity and network infrastructure in Malaysia. This collaboration will also enable Tata Communications to optimise TM’s reachability within the ASEAN region through terrestrial networks and submarine cables to the neighbouring countries. The submarine cables include the Malaysia-Cambodia-Thailand submarine cable for connectivity to Indochina and, Nusantara Gateway submarine cable for connectivity to Indonesia.
At the same time, TM will benefit from Tata Communications global Tier-1 IP network to serve customers in more than 190 countries and territories hence further extending TM’s IP transit coverage and enhances its regional TMiX offering.
Commenting on the collaboration, Amar Huzaimi Md Deris, Executive Vice President of TM WHOLESALE, stated, “We are delighted to work with a renowned global player like Tata Communications, to fulfil our role as the digital infrastructure accelerator in Malaysia. This is part of our effort to enhance our internet service performance with expanded global reach for service providers in Malaysia and neighbouring countries to meet the growing IP networks requirements. The collaboration underscores our commitment to our customers for delivering world class network service, brings us one step further to achieve our aspiration as the trusted digital hub in the ASEAN region. It also signifies our commitment to support the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint (MyDIGITAL) initiative towards enabling Digital Malaysia.”
Sumeet Walia, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, Tata Communications, said, “The service provider ecosystem across the ASEAN region will benefit from our joining forces with TM and enabling access to a Tier-1 internet provider transit connectivity that provides scale and a fillip to boosting the economy. By offering high-capacity and low-latency IP transit services to and from Malaysia for both our customers, we bring forth synergies for a more robust, secure and flexible IP platform.”
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TM wins again at Malaysia Technology Excellence Awards 2021 for its innovation, patrol
This is the fourth award received by TM at Malaysia Technology Excellence Awards in three years running Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) through its innovation arm, TM Research & Development (TM R&D) wins the AI – Telecommunications Award at the recent Malaysia Technology Excellence Awards 2021, presented by Singapore Business Review. The award was conferred in recognition of the Company's achievement in developing PATROL as a proof of function for research particularly on automatic detection of construction using vehicle dashcam and generate proactive alerts using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning algorithms. This is the fourth award received by TM R&D from the Malaysia Technology Excellence Awards in its three years of running. The awards ceremony lauds exceptional companies that have successfully pioneered IT products, solutions and innovative technology projects in their respective industries to boost Malaysia's fast-growing economy. Commenting on the accomplishment, Dr. Sharlene Thiagarajah, Chief Executive Officer, TM R&D said, "This is indeed a proud moment for us. Winning the award is a huge boost for our effort in showcasing how AI can be applied to solve real-life problems. It is also a huge encouragement for us to further strengthen our position as the leader in the research, development and innovation field. This award goes out to the team for delivering such outstanding work. We hope it will give them the drive to explore more innovations for TM to serve a more digital society, digital business, digital industry and digital Government, towards accelerating Digital Malaysia." Project PATROL was developed to provide early warning alerts on areas where TM infrastructure has a high risk of being destroyed due to civil and construction works by a third party. Ideally, before the civil or construction works were to begin, TM and other utility companies are to be consulted to ensure proper precautionary measures are taken to avoid telecommunication cable or other utility infrastructure cuts such as water or sewerage. The cable cuts will lead to loss of broadband and other telecommunication services which will cause major inconveniences to consumer lifestyle and businesses, as well as operation nightmare for any telcos. To fill in those gaps, PATROL was developed powered by digital and AI capabilities. PATROL leverages AI, object detection capabilities and the Internet of Things (IoT) to detect a construction area using a dashcam. The system then automatically checks if the unregistered civil and construction activity is in close proximity to underground or overhead cable infrastructure. Several parameters are used to assess risk before an alert is sent to the Network Operations Centre for investigation. "PATROL provides real-time alerts on civil and construction activities that pose a high risk to the security and safety of TM's cable infrastructure. This information allows telco providers to act fast in preventing possible threats to their assets. With PATROL, we foresee a huge opportunity for operational cost avoidance due to cable cut cases," she further added. Established in 2001, TM R&D is the innovation arm for TM Group focusing on creating smarter ecosystems to make business and life easier for a better Malaysia. TM R&D's solutions are clustered around four (4) pillars namely Intelligent Platforms, Data Brokerage, Connectivity/Tools and IR4.0/Digital Solutions. Growing from strength to strength since 2016, TM R&D has won multiple global awards and generated more than 2,800 Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) and 1,400 digital assets to date. TM R&D's innovations are all developed in-house and cut across multiple verticals such as Utilities, Retail, Agriculture, Healthcare and Education with safety and productivity as the top priority. As TM R&D continues to expand beyond connectivity and into smarter digital ecosystems, its role in TM has become more prominent and exciting. For more information about TM R&D and its innovations, visit www.tmrnd.com.my or email your inquiry to business@tmrnd.com.my or follow them on LinkedIn (TM Research & Development) for more news and updates.

YTM launches “Young Filmmaker 2021” for young, creative filmmakers with total cash prizes of RM25,000 to be won!
The competition with its theme “Return Stronger”, organised in collaboration with Strada Films Sdn Bhd, offers total cash prizes of RM25,000 to 9 winners, complete with digital content, knowledge sharing, live events and film masterclasses opportunities Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) through its foundation arm, Yayasan TM (YTM) has taken the initiative to continue supporting the nation’s creative industry development by organising “Young Filmmaker 2021”, a short film competition. It opens up opportunities for young, local budding filmmakers to express their creative ideas and talents and enhance their potential in professional filmmaking. The competition, with the theme “Return Stronger”, is open to all students as well as the public from ages 18 to 35 and offers total cash prizes of RM25,000 to nine (9) winners. It is co-organised by Strada Films Sdn Bhd in collaboration with Digital Perak Corporation Holdings (Digital Perak), Multimedia University (MMU) as well a host of other partners to provide digital content, knowledge sharing, live events and masterclasses throughout this three (3) months programme. The “Young Filmmaker 2021” was officially launched in a virtual ceremony by Zakaria Abdul Hamid, Chairman of National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (FINAS) together with Izlyn Ramli, Director of YTM; and Mohamad Azlan Norani, Chief Executive Officer, Strada Films Sdn Bhd. The virtual session was also joined by Meor Rezal Fitri Dato' Dr. Hj. Meor Redwan, Chief Executive Officer of Digital Perak; Khir Rahman, President of Malaysian Cinematic Auteurs Guild (MCAG); and Ghaz Abu Bakar, President of Digital Creative Content Creators Associations Malaysia (DCAM) who is also the lead juror for the competition. Commenting on the launch, Izlyn said, “As a purpose driven social impact based foundation, YTM is committed to human capital development and today, we are unveiling yet another digital platform to unleash the budding talents in the creative industry; particularly filmmaking in Malaysia. The “Young Filmmaker 2021” is a collaborative effort that we hope will further empower them through digital content creation. This is in line with TM Group’s unique role as the enabler of Digital Malaysia and at YTM, we are focusing on three (3) strengthened branches namely Education, Community & National Development, and Tourism, Culture & Heritage. This initiative is part of our third pillar, connecting the dots between youth, talent and creativity to skills development and digital opportunities.” “Despite the challenges we faced as a nation during this Covid-19 pandemic, there are countless stories, experiences and events that have inspired us. The theme, "Return Stronger" welcomes and celebrates those uplifting stories around us that will give the young filmmakers the freedom to express their creativity based on life and humanity that will hopefully in turn, touch and inspire the audience. We would also like to thank all our partners, and especially our esteemed judges for their invaluable time and commitment to make this the best experience for all participants,” she added. The Young Filmmaker 2021 competition features a panel of professional jurors comprising renowned film directors and producers such as Ghaz Abu Bakar, Eyra Rahman, Vimala Perumal, Khir Rahman, Aziz M. Osman, Jason Chong, Nik Amir, Razaisyam Rashid and Azhari Zain. YTM also collaborates with the Malaysian Cinematic Auteurs Guild (MCAG) to provide opportunities for young talents to reach their highest potential in filmmaking. The winner of The Best Director Award for this programme will be selected as a Finalist for the “Rahsia Sutradara” Programme by MCAG under the Malaysia Creative Capabilities Enhancement Programme (MyCAP). The winner of the award will have a chance to be mentored by a distinguished panel of film directors to produce a fully sponsored film worth up to RM1.2 million. This collaboration will further broaden the young filmmakers’ horizons from short films to full-fledged movies. Besides MCAG, Digital Perak together with the State’s arts and culture agencies; Perak State Information Department, Perak Tourism, People of Remarkable Talents (PORT) Ipoh and other partners will also host a series of knowledge sharing programmes for the participants of “Young Filmmaker 2021” with industry experts virtually through the PiOR.TV interactive channel. This will provide the young talents with the insights into the art and business of filmmaking. This is not YTM’s first collaboration in the creative industry. In 2015, YTM and unifi TV organised an ‘I Want To Be A Filmmaker’ (IWTBAF) competition to discover talented young local filmmakers. Azlan Norani was the Grand Prize Winner in the competition and he won a YTM scholarship in Cinematic Arts at MMU. After the competition, Azlan continued his studies in MMU at the Iskandar Puteri campus in Johor and later founded his own film production company, Strada Films Sdn Bhd. “Young Filmmaker 2021” is calling for emerging and professional content creators to submit their short films around the theme of “Return Stronger”, before the closing deadline of 31 December 2021. To submit your entry and to find out more about the ‘Young Filmmaker 2021’ competition, visit https://www.youngfilmmaker.com.my/ Don’t miss your chance to win total cash prizes of RM25,000 to kick start your filmmaking career. This is your time to shine!

TM and Tata Communications join forces for IP Transit services in ASEAN
Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM), the national connectivity and digital infrastructure provider through its global and wholesale arm, TM WHOLESALE and Tata Communications, a global digital ecosystem enabler’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Tata Communications International Pte Ltd., join forces to offer stable, high-speed and reliable connectivity in the ASEAN region and open access to global enterprises. This collaboration will enable service providers, mobile network operators and internet service providers in the region to address their customers’ growing data connectivity needs by providing access to a global Tier 1 Internet Protocol (IP) network. This will help deliver reliable, stable Tier-1 IP Transit (IPT) service, an internet connectivity service that enables end-users to access all websites and content on the internet. This will further boost sectors such as e-commerce, online entertainment, retail, online banking and delivery services that have accelerated in recent times. As part of this arrangement, Tata Communications expands its IPT service coverage leveraging TM’s data centre, extensive connectivity and network infrastructure in Malaysia. This collaboration will also enable Tata Communications to optimise TM’s reachability within the ASEAN region through terrestrial networks and submarine cables to the neighbouring countries. The submarine cables include the Malaysia-Cambodia-Thailand submarine cable for connectivity to Indochina and, Nusantara Gateway submarine cable for connectivity to Indonesia. At the same time, TM will benefit from Tata Communications global Tier-1 IP network to serve customers in more than 190 countries and territories hence further extending TM’s IP transit coverage and enhances its regional TMiX offering. Commenting on the collaboration, Amar Huzaimi Md Deris, Executive Vice President of TM WHOLESALE, stated, “We are delighted to work with a renowned global player like Tata Communications, to fulfil our role as the digital infrastructure accelerator in Malaysia. This is part of our effort to enhance our internet service performance with expanded global reach for service providers in Malaysia and neighbouring countries to meet the growing IP networks requirements. The collaboration underscores our commitment to our customers for delivering world class network service, brings us one step further to achieve our aspiration as the trusted digital hub in the ASEAN region. It also signifies our commitment to support the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint (MyDIGITAL) initiative towards enabling Digital Malaysia.” Sumeet Walia, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, Tata Communications, said, “The service provider ecosystem across the ASEAN region will benefit from our joining forces with TM and enabling access to a Tier-1 internet provider transit connectivity that provides scale and a fillip to boosting the economy. By offering high-capacity and low-latency IP transit services to and from Malaysia for both our customers, we bring forth synergies for a more robust, secure and flexible IP platform.”