05 Oct 2021

unifi business a boost for MSMEs as economic recovery gains momentum

unifi business a boost for MSMEs as economic recovery gains momentum Article Header
TM
UNIFI

unifi Business Solutions help MSMEs kick start their online businesses

​As the country's National Recovery Plan gathers pace, many Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are ready to take advantage of the re-opening of economic sectors. In this respect, unifi has recently come up with solutions to help these businesses, many of which have transitioned seamlessly into the digital space post-COVID19 pandemic.

In view of this, unifi is taking proactive steps to ensure that MSMEs can achieve business sustainability with its innovative offerings. This was made possible by partnering with proven technology partners and Government agencies that understand the needs of Malaysian businesses. With unifi Business Solutions, MSMEs can grow their businesses online and significantly boost sales and productivity at minimal costs through reliable high-speed Internet that comes with an array of tried-and-tested business solutions, including productivity and marketing tools.

With solutions that suit the needs of current businesses, unifi Business Solutions have now established itself as the go-to platform for Malaysian MSMEs. This is attributed to its exceptional service, which includes swift, dependable nationwide support and sound, thought-out advice by its team of experienced consultants.

For businesses venturing into the digital marketplace, they have the option of signing up with Digital Marketing Solutions where they can enhance their online presence by setting up a website, getting a business listing and securing more businesses with Facebook and Instagram ads.

With cari@unifi Premium Listing, businesses are able to reach a wider customer base through postings listing and articles on unifi's cari@unifi marketplace platform. Productivity can be increased by signing up with Microsoft 365, where businesses can have real-time solutions to connect and collaborate anytime, anywhere.

Understanding that new businesses might be overwhelmed with the digital marketplace maze, unifi Business, together with partners and Government agencies, offer free digital upskilling classes to MSMEs. Localised webinars by consultants and partners are held regularly to ensure that no businesses are left behind in the journey towards business digitalisation.

In addition, all unifi business broadband and mobile customers will enjoy the benefits as a member of the unifi Business Club (uBC) where they will get access to relevant and current content at the uBC portal (https://ubc.unifi.com.my). Here, they can find content such as webinars, talk shows, live chats, events, business tips and articles that can help them navigate the business world. uBC members will also enjoy specialised financial assistance, productivity boosters, digital marketing platforms, tools and community engagement programmes that are tailored to a variety of business needs.

Mohamad Yusman Ammeran, Head of SME Segment, unifi said with more economic sectors opening up, many MSMEs have embraced digitalisation to sustain and thrive, after a challenging period owing to the COVID-19 restrictions. "MSMEs form the backbone of our economy and Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) and unifi are ever ready to help these enterprises get back on their feet, come back stronger and help accelerate the country's economic recovery," he said.

Yusman added that under unifi's current campaign, MSMEs could enjoy up to 50% off savings or get an RM5,000 matching grant for each company, as part of the PEMULIH initiative announced by the Government in June 2021.

To encourage sign-ups amongst MSMEs, unifi is also offering exciting prizes under its Sign Up & Drive Away contest. The prizes include nine (9) four-wheel drive (4WD) vehicles during the contest period which will end on 31 December 2021. Other prizes include laptops, smartphones and computer tablets. So far, five (5) 4WD vehicles have been won, including by the latest winners, Zainun Ngah Enterprise and GAP Empire Trading, both of which are in the retail sector.

Speaking at the prize giving event to the latest winners recently, Yusman said: "This is an excellent opportunity for local MSMEs to increase their productivity while reducing their operating cost, and at the same time, stand to win exciting prizes. We believe these offerings will help our customers bounce back stronger and help grow the Malaysian economy. We hope they see unifi Business not just as a service provider, but as an integral partner of their business journey."

"unifi's online business solutions for MSMEs is in line with TM's support towards the Government's initiatives, such as JENDELA and MyDIGITAL, and fits into the Company's role as the enabler of Digital Malaysia," he added.

For more information on unifi Business Solutions and MSME Digitalisation grant offerings, please visit www.unifi.com.my/business/smegrant.

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25 May 2022
TM records steady performance in 1Q2022 with revenue & PATAMI up 2.9% & 4.4%; maintains focus on its growth strategies execution

In the second year of its Transformation, the Group is on track to achieve its 2022 market guidance, focusing on strengthening its core businesses and investing in new growth areas Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) continued its growth trajectory and long-term business sustainability, recording a steady performance in its First Quarter ended 31 March 2022 as compared to the same period last year (YoY). The Group's operating revenue increased by 2.9% to RM2.89 billion, compared to RM2.81 billion in the same quarter last year, driven primarily by increased demand for voice, Internet and multimedia. Despite rising competition to offer converged solutions among telco and other technology players, TM continued to deliver strong customer growth across its operations. 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. On the international front, it will continue to serve other OTTs and hyperscalers with connectivity and data centres, while regionally, TM Wholesale aspires to establish Malaysia as a digital hub for ASEAN via new submarine cables, enhanced data centre solutions and edge computing. TM One: Renewed focus on growing B2B digital solutions market TM One, the Group's enterprise and public sector arm, recorded a 7.4% decrease in revenue from RM925.2 million to RM856.8 million in 1Q2022 due to decline in data services revenue. Strengthening and growing its B2B digital solutions, TM One has focused its efforts on high potential industry verticals, namely healthcare, manufacturing, education, oil & gas, banking, financial services & insurance (BFSI) and public sector. It has entered a partnership with Tune Protect and Huawei Malaysia that saw Tune Protect becoming the first organisation in Malaysia to host an insurance core system on public cloud (Cloud αEdge). 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. "unifi continues to better its fixed broadband and Fixed-Mobile Convergence value proposition to improve customer experience, while expanding our offerings to provide quality entertainment to customers at home or on-the-go. "We have also achieved some key milestones in our sustainability efforts. TM One has successfully secured the Green Electricity Tariff from Tenaga Nasional Berhad for its data centres in Kuala Lumpur, Cyberjaya and Johor Bahru, contributing to a lower carbon footprint as the demand for cloud storage inevitably increases. This is in addition to the existing Green Building Index (GBI) certification earlier obtained for its core data centres. TM's broader ESG commitment also remains consistent with Malaysia's initiatives towards achieving net-zero Greenhouse Gas emission for the country by 2050. "Meanwhile, TM Wholesale continues to establish Malaysia as a regional digital hub via new submarine cables, edge computing, data centres and supporting international connectivity. On the domestic front, TM Wholesale continues performing its role as the enabler for industry broadband, 4G and 5G network via fibre infrastructure that will transform the nation's connectivity capabilities."

24 Dec 2021
TM restores 85% of flood-impacted services and ramps up outreach to affected customers, communities and employees

​Following up from the statement issued by Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) on December 19, 2021, we have since accelerated our focus on supporting the escalating needs of our customers, communities and employees impacted by the tragic event of the floods. As of today, 85% or 84,274 of our affected customers are now back online thanks to the exhaustive efforts made by TM’s engineering and support teams, enabling the successful restoration of our core services. We will continue this rigorous service restoration exercise to ensure the remainder of our customers are able to be connected soonest. For our affected customers, we have allocated:     RM13 million to replace for free, damaged Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) and network components;     A waiver of two (2) weeks subscription from customer bill estimated at RM5 million; and     Credit term extension to 60 days to further ease the financial burden of customers. In the affected regions, TM has restored a majority of its impacted primary network sites. The flood had impacted more than 15 network sites and hill stations across four (4) states, due to power outages and in some areas, high water levels and severe road conditions, preventing our network team from accessing these locations. As part of the pledges made by members of the GLC/GLIC Disaster Response Network (GDRN) currently at RM58.4 million, the TM Board has allocated RM2 million in aid of the recovery, rebuilding and flood relief efforts. TM, via Yayasan TM (YTM) is also joint chair and secretariat for GDRN. Together with YTM, partner NGOs and the Malaysian Armed and rescue Forces, we have also distributed over 3,500 care packs consisting of hot meals, dry rations and hygiene items, and COVID-19 self-test kits provided by Pharmaniaga to the flood-stricken areas in Klang Valley and Hulu Langat. Our committed team of over 260 staff volunteers (TM Reaching Out Volunteers – TM ROVers) are currently assisting communities with the daunting task of cleaning up their homes, including 830 of our own employees whose premises have been damaged. TM will also ensure compensation via financial aid to the affected staffs, and the provision of temporary shelter at the MMU campus. Imri Mokhtar, Group Chief Executive Officer of TM said, “The immense challenges faced by fellow Malaysians during this unfortunate situation calls for corporations and businesses to come together to respond swiftly to alleviate the struggles of many, leveraging on our resources and means where possible.” “As co-lead of the GDRN, TM is grateful to serve alongside its members in addressing the needs of those trying to rebuild their lives in the aftermath. The worse may not be over, and TM is mindful of our role to support our customers, communities and employees as we recover as a nation.” “We appreciate the patience shown by all as we work hard to get our networks back up and running and ensure uninterrupted services in face of power shutdown and damaged equipment in some of our locations,” he added. TM will continue to play its aid and recovery efforts towards community wellbeing. More regular update is available on TM social media channels or visit our website https://unifi.com.my/unifi-alerts for updates.

30 Jan 2019
unifi set to bring more #khabarbaik news in 2019

unifi committed to raise the bar with positive changes via #khabarbaik movement unifi, the premier Convergence brand under Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) today shared its plan for 2019 through its #khabarbaik movement, which is set to bring more good news Malaysians nationwide. The #khabarbaik movement was unveiled by Moharmustaqeem Mohammed, Acting Executive Vice President, unifi. Apa khabar? unifi says #khabarbaik The #khabarbaik movement represents unifi’s commitment to continue raising the bar on its products and services as unifi constantly innovates and understands its customers’ needs. unifi hopes that the movement will be a shift in attitude and approach that seeks to spread positivity, and this has been implemented internally since the beginning of 2019. #khabarbaik is the attitude that will be embraced by each and every employee of unifi that will translate to how the business is run and the positive changes it will bring to consumers and Malaysia at large. According to Mohar: “As we kick start the year 2019, this has been a very exciting juncture for unifi. Even as we continue to evolve as an organisation, our commitment has and will always be to enable digital adoption and a converged lifestyle for all – across all backgrounds and income groups. We have contributed a great lot to the country’s digital development and we think that is worth celebrating. In the meantime, we will continue to work hard to address customer pain points. We will keep listening and then, come back to market with more #khabarbaik. That is why the #khabarbaik movement is our way forward to serve Malaysia through our product offerings and design a better customer experience.” First #khabarbaik of 2019 Living up to its promise of delivering good news to Malaysia, unifi also unveiled the brand new unifi Mobile postpaid lineup, designed with every Malaysian in mind. “unifi aspires for every Malaysian household to be seamlessly connected to their favourite content and services. However, we understand that there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach as each member of the family will have different data consumption. From the teenager who consumes many videos on the move, parents with young ones that love to explore educational content online, to the grandparent who uses data primarily to keep in touch with their family members – unifi Mobile’s newest plans aim to enable every individual’s unique digital lifestyle, just at the right price points,” Mohar shared. With the latest unifi Mobile offering, ‘Adik’, who might not need as much data, can opt for a smaller mobile data plan of 2GB (1GB LTE + 1GB 3G) at only RM19. The unifi Mobile 19 plan also comes with five (5) minutes talk time and 25 SMS. Meanwhile, ‘Atuk’ or ‘Nenek’ could opt for unifi Mobile 29 and ‘Kakak’ can choose unifi Mobile 39 which offers 3GB (2GB LTE + 1GB 3G) and 5GB (4GB LTE + 1GB 3G) respectively – along with 50 minutes talk time and 25 SMS. As for those who are happy with 10GB data, they can subscribe to the unifi Mobile 59 plan that comes with 9GB LTE + 1GB 3G, 100 minutes talk time, and 25 SMS. These tailored plans will ensure that everyone has just the right plan they need – not too much, not too little. These new offerings will join unifi’s existing unifi Mobile 99 plan which offers never ending data, calls, and SMS. Now Malaysians will have more options to choose from when looking for a postpaid plan. The full range of unifi Mobile offerings are available for purchase on unifi’s  website at unifi.com.my By introducing simpler and more affordable plans, open for subscription to all Malaysians, unifi is able to make internet connectivity more accessible to all citizens, ensuring that Malaysians from all walks of life are able to benefit from the digital lifestyle. “This is definitely aligned to what we hope to spread with #khabarbaik. It is our commitment to ensure that access to internet connectivity is affordable and seamless for all. We hope that by introducing value add plans like the unifi Mobile 19, we can enable more Malaysians to adopt digital technology into their lifestyle,” said Mohar. Updates on unifi turbo and Streamyx upgrades In another exciting update, aggressive speed upgrading exercise to unifi packages are currently ongoing for existing Streamyx customers residing in unifi coverage areas. Meanwhile, for Streamyx customers in non-unifi coverage areas, TM is committed to bring high speed broadband to them through alternative technologies by TM or other infrastructure providers. Where technology permits, TM is doubling the Streamyx speed at the same price of their current broadband plan. “In total, about 1 million are eligible for the turbo upgrading exercise. Existing unifi customers will see up to a tenfold speed boost with the turbo upgrades; from 10Mbps to 100Mbps, from 30Mbps to 300Mbps, from 50Mbps to 500Mbps, and from 100Mbps to 800Mbps – all at the same rates that they are currently paying. To date, we have successfully upgraded over 910,000 unifi customers and more than 66% of over 340,000 Streamyx customers residing in unifi coverage areas to unifi; at the same price of their current plan. The rest of the 130,000 Streamyx customers who have yet to grab this opportunity for the free upgrade are encouraged to do so. We aim to complete this speed upgrading exercise by March 2019. In the meantime, we do acknowledge that some upgraded customers are facing speed hiccups which we are resolving soonest possible,” Mohar elaborated. “In the coming year, we promise to deliver more #khabarbaik in the form of greater connectivity, seamless customer experience, and an all-round digital lifestyle to all parts of Malaysia,” he concluded. To learn more about the latest unifi offerings, log on to unifi.com.my

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