16 Oct 2020
TM R&D Celebrates double win at the global TM Forum Excellence Awards 2020
In-house solutions SWIMS and IDEAS+ received global recognition for the Beyond Connectivity and A.I, Data & Analytics categories respectively
Telekom Research & Development Sdn Bhd (TM R&D), the innovation arm of Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM), added another feather to its cap when they recently bagged not one, but two (2) awards at the prestigious TM Forum Excellence Awards 2020.
The awards were conferred to TM R&D for its innovative solutions namely Smart Water Integrated Management System (SWIMS) under the Beyond Connectivity and Artificial Intelligence (A.I) category, while its Intelligent Network Diagnostic & Expert Advisory System for Service Desk (IDEAS+) solution received the recognition under Data & Analytics category.
Since 2007, TM Forum Excellence Awards recognises the world's leading companies for their innovative achievements spanning digital transformation, business and IT agility, customer centricity, cultural transformation, cross-industry partnering and collaboration, and product and service innovation in AI, data analytics, autonomous networks and cloud native IT. All entries were assessed by a global panel of judges based on the extensive materials submitted. Each year, the judging panels are carefully selected from varied global organisations to ensure a balanced approach and a wholly impartial view.
Commenting on the double wins, Dr. Sharlene Thiagarajah, Chief Executive Officer, TM R&D said, "This is certainly a welcomed surprise and a proud moment for us at TM R&D. We are excited that two of our very own internally-developed smart solutions, deployed in collaboration with Air Selangor and Group Customer Experience at TM have been recognised by global industry experts such as TM Forum. Both solutions are now commercially available domestically and to the global market. We believe TM R&D is on the right track to support TM's Digital Malaysia aspirations and simultaneously accelerate Malaysia to become a digital nation."
SWIMS is an Internet of Water (IoW) solution, essentially doing for water what Internet of Things (IoT) does for various other industries and verticals. These include electric utilities, transportation, smart cities and factory automation, to enable in-depth, new insights into the operations and the right tools to act on those insights.
"SWIMS offers end-to-end smart water management that improves non-revenue water management. It optimises the repair and replacement of ageing water infrastructure as well as improves response to weather events such as water level and quality. Based on feedback we received from Air Selangor, with SWIMS, water usage visibility improved by 3,000% and meter reading accuracy improved 10-15% through automation," shared Dr. Sharlene.
The TM Forum Excellence Awards also recognises another solution from TM R&D, IDEAS+ which is a one-stop advisory platform deployed at TM's contact centre. Using machine-learning algorithm, IDEAS+ assists the call centre agents to efficiently troubleshoot and resolve various customer issues. The objectives of the project were to reduce Average Handling Time (AHT) at the contact centre when entertaining customer calls, reduce repeated truck roll, increase the accuracy of troubleshooting and escalation as well as to achieve cost-saving. IDEAS+ is an intelligent diagnostic and advisory system for TM contact centre agents to provide predictive guideline as well as troubleshooting steps with more than 95% accuracy.
Established in 2001, TM R&D is the centre of innovation for TM Group focusing on innovations that enriches humanity and bring progress to nations. Growing from strength to strength since 2016, TM R&D has won 15 globally recognised awards and generated more than 2,800 Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) and 1,400 digital assets to-date. TM R&D's innovations all developed in-house 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 products and services, they can be contacted at business@tmrnd.com.my or log on to www.tmrnd.com.my or follow them on LinkedIn (TM Research & Development) for more news and updates.
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Smart Retail Analytics – a platform that analyses customer's experience within a physical premise and offers insights to enhance that experience. With this solution, retailers can improve customer experience, sales and brand loyalty as the platform supports customised services, targeted advertising and visitor visibility. Smart Water Management System – an internet of water solution that offers seamless end-to-end smart water integration that improves non-revenue water management, optimises repair and replacement of ageing infra as well as improves response to weather events such as flooding and pollution through smart water level and water quality measurements respectively. Smart Vehicle Management System – a fleet management solution that provides management of commercial motor vehicles for work purposes. 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DNB, TM and ZTE Collaborate On World's First and Fastest 28Gbps 5G mmWave on Standalone 5G Core
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TM reports strong 3Q2020 performance amidst challenging environment
Encouraging QoQ revenue growth across all product lines 3Q2020 QoQ Key Financial and Operational Highlights (All comparisons refer to the second quarter of 2020 (Quarter-on-Quarter (QoQ) comparison), except as noted): Group Revenue grew 3.8% to RM2.69 billion from RM2.59 billion recorded in 2Q2020. Group Reported Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) increased by 7.0% QoQ to RM456.2 million, from RM426.3 million in 2Q2020. Group Reported Profit After Tax and Non-controlling Interests (PATAMI) rose 19.9% QoQ to RM329.5 million compared to RM274.7 million. The total capital expenditure (capex) for 3Q2020 stood at 14.9% of revenue or RM400.0 million. unifi: Continues convergence leadership with growth in broadband and mobile; highest convergence penetration of TM households at 58%. TM ONE: Strengthened position as the digital enabler for enterprise and public sector customers with connectivity and end-to-end cloud offerings. 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Operational Review: Maintaining Business Momentum TM delivered another quarter of robust performance, driven by its agility to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on Group businesses and operations; leveraging on new avenues for growth in the 'new normal' whilst adapting to challenges. unifi: Continues convergence leadership with growth in broadband and mobile Achieved the highest convergence penetration at 58% of TM households. unifi customer base grew 6.3% to 1.65 million; total broadband customer base grew 2% to 2.26 million during the quarter. Helped empower Small and Media Enterprises (SMEs) with relevant tools and knowledge to grow their businesses and embrace digitalisation with the launch of cari@unifi and eBiz Pack, unifi Business Club (uBC) collaboration with Lalamove and live webinars such as Reboot and Sembang Bisnes. Partnered with Funding Society Malaysia to provide business financing solutions for Micro SMEs (MSMEs) utilising Yellow Pages' digital platform. unifi Mobile extended access to the daily free 1GB Productivity Internet offer to 24 hours, until 31 December 2020, to support Malaysian's connectivity needs in Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO). TM ONE: Strengthened our position as digital enabler for enterprise and public sector customers with connectivity and end-to-end cloud offerings Scaled up the full capabilities of Cloud α (Cloud Alpha) suite of services with full data residency, locality and sovereignty. Appointed as the technology partner of the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) to develop and maintain the Population and Housing Census of Malaysia 2020 (e-Census) platform. Continue to support state governments and local city councils to establish future-ready smart cities and smart homes via its TM ONE Smart City Solution enabled by the Internet of Things (IoT) and various smart solutions. TM Wholesale: Continues to connect industry players, carriers, over-the-top (OTT) providers and content players in Malaysia and globally Domestic Secured a new contract with a domestic mobile player for cross ocean connectivity, backhaul connectivity solutions and broadband access capacity upgrade. New backhaul connectivity deal with a domestic mobile player for new backhaul services. International Expansion of content delivery services with an Asian-based OTT player. Secured a deal with an Asian-based OTT player for connectivity solution within Asia Pacific, and two (2) new long term data connectivity deals with global carriers. Additional voice business deals with global service providers worldwide. TM Network remained stable throughout CMCO as a result of continuous network optimisation. This is despite traffic utilisation surging between 30% to 50% depending on peak hours, from March 2020 to November 2020 due to more Malaysians working from home. Supporting the nation's digital agenda and addressing the digital divide: Remain committed to increasing connectivity reach via JENDELA and accelerating the digital economy with the recently announced MDEC collaboration. Prospects for the Current Financial Year Ending 31 December 2020 Following the Covid-19 pandemic, Bank Negara Malaysia has revised Malaysia's annual gross domestic product (GDP) forecast to contract between 3.5% to 5.5%[1], against 4.3% growth in 2019. Uncertainty from the most recent wave of the pandemic from October onwards is expected to bring about further revision to these numbers. As the nation faces this adversity, relying even more on the internet and digital connectivity for work and studies, TM continues to serve as an essential service provider, ensuring stable network performance for the entire nation via both our retail and wholesale fronts. The Government's introduction of JENDELA in September 2020 as well as the RM7.4 billion allocations in the recent National Budget to deliver upgraded broadband services for year 2021 and 2022 will serve as a platform to accelerate Malaysia's digital connectivity through wider deployment of mobile, fibre and fixed wireless access. This will pave the way for 5G under the 12th Malaysia Plan (2021–2025). TM is at the forefront in collaborating with other service providers, enabling and delivering JENDELA. We continue to seek opportunities to cater for future demands of connectivity, in line with our proven commitment to maintain business profitability whilst adapting to and exploring new norms and avenues from this dynamic circumstances that the nation faces today. [1] Sourced from Bank Negara Malaysia, 14 August 2020
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