TM eyes high-speed broadband 2 launch this year

The HSBB2 plan consists of two parts under Budget 2014 with RM3.6bil allocated for the project, which aims to expand coverage, mainly in urban and suburban area. Of the total allocation, RM1.8bil would be spent on expanding coverage in mainly urban areas, while the rest was for suburban areas, Zamzamzairani said.

PETALING JAYA: Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) aims to roll out the second phase of high-speed broadband (HSBB2) this year, after it concludes its negotiation with the Government, said group chief executive officer Tan Sri Zamzamzairani Mohd Isa.

“We are still discussing with the Government on the HSBB2 plan and capital expenditure value and we hope to conclude it within this year,” he told reporters after the group’s AGM and EGM yesterday.

The HSBB2 plan consists of two parts under Budget 2014 with RM3.6bil allocated for the project, which aims to expand coverage, mainly in urban and suburban area.

Of the total allocation, RM1.8bil would be spent on expanding coverage in mainly urban areas, while the rest was for suburban areas, Zamzamzairani said.

Analysts had said that TM stood to benefit from the Government-driven HSBB2 project because TM currently owned and managed the existing HSBB network.

TM’s main thrust for the last few years has been the roll-out of the HSBB network. As of December 2013, TM had about 635,000 UniFi subscribers and earned the bulk of its income from fixed broadband business.

While Zamzamzairani was tight-lipped on the actual investment TM planned for the HSBB2 project, he said the capex for it was not factored into the group’s capex estimates this year, and that TM would use part of its proceeds from its newly-introduced dividend reinvestment scheme (DRS).

Yesterday, TM shareholders approved the DRS that would provide them the option to reinvest, in whole or in part, their cash dividends entitlements.

The shareholders also agreed to a final single-tier dividend of 16.3 sen per TM share, taking total dividend payout to 26.1 sen or RM933.7mil, an 18.6% increase compared with last year.

Zamzamzairani said the DRS would provide the flexibility for the group to fund its projects in the future.

He also said TM was planning to complete the purchase of a 57% stake in Packet One Networks (M) Sdn Bhd by the third quarter of this year.