KUALA LUMPUR, March 18 — Celcom Axiata Bhd (Celcom), Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd (Digi) and Maxis Bhd (Maxis) have concluded a definitive agreement to jointly develop and share fibre infrastructure, allowing for faster and more efficient deployment of fibre backhaul to base stations and avoiding duplication of fibre infrastructure in the country.
In a joint statement today, the three telcos said the collaboration would enable an improved widespread of 4G connectivity to all Malaysians and increased the country’s fibre infrastructure in line with ambitions under the National Digital Infrastructure Plan (JENDELA), as well as preparing for tower infrastructure for a 5G future.
In order to accelerate a joint rollout, the three operators said they are combining their expertise in designing, building, commissioning, operating, and maintaining related fibre infrastructure nationwide.
The telcos said they will also work on intensifying the sharing of fibre infrastructure and enhancing mutual swapping arrangements.
The collaboration essentially leveraging the strengths of fibre technology to complement microwave in providing an efficient backhaul combination, they added.
While the microwave technology will bring the advantages of fast deployment, nevertheless, fibre infrastructure upgrades will enable the three operators to be better prepared for internet traffic growth, especially in high-impact areas.
“The collaboration would also allow the industry to extend 4G mobile backhaul to support 5G new sites and fibre to the home expansion,” the telcos said, adding that the infrastructure, tower and bandwidth sharing among operators is a common practice.
They said Celcom, Digi and Maxis have been engaged in fibre infrastructure sharing since 2005 with bandwidth capacity as a start to fibre-cable sharing in 2010, while tower sharing has also been ongoing before 2000.
The announcement came a year after the three telcos signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore leveraging each other’s resources to deploy a wider, more efficient fibre network, signifying a progress milestone in advancing Malaysia towards a digital nation with the provision of quality digital connectivity nationwide.
Furthermore, the telcos said as Malaysia accelerated its plan for 5G deployment as part of MyDIGITAL’s ambition, a denser, fibre-rich infrastructure would be needed to deliver 5G’s key performance indicators — low latency, higher data speeds, ultra-high reliability, and capacity to manage more connected devices.
They said the fibre collaboration is effective for 20 years and planning is well underway in preparation for joint build and swapping arrangements that are expected to take place hereafter.
Other operators might also leverage the opportunity to tap into additional network capacity from the three telcos, they added.
Celcom chief executive officer (CEO) Idham Nawawi said the partnership marked a major milestone for Celcom in driving its ambition towards delivering a great and consistent network experience for all Malaysians and would also result in greater cost efficiencies for network infrastructure rollouts and services nationwide, supporting the ever-increasing traffic demand.
Digi CEO Albern Murty said the partnership would bring about opportunities to avoid infrastructure duplications and enable faster mobile network capacity growth through efficient fiberisation of sites.
Meanwhile, Maxis CEO Gokhan Ogut said the company remains committed to playing a role in supporting the country’s digital ambitions. — Bernama
