To Sandip Das, triple and quad plays just limit your imagination.
Maxis Bhd won't be coining such words and be limited by capacity or offerings.
The CEO of Maxis believes that with the capacity recently leased from Telekom Malaysia Bhd's (TM) high speed broadband (HSBB) network, the company is ready to move up the value chain.
But that would require a lot of innovation and creativity besides just a platform to roll out content.
“We have the largest access with the signing (with TM) on top of our own network. But we will also will tie up with other players to (top up what we have),'' Sandip said in an interview recently.
In 2009 the company inked a deal with Tenaga Nasional Bhd for usage of its fibre optic network. Last year (2010) it was with TM and now he is eyeing a deal with Time dotCom Bhd, which also has a fibre optic network.
“We are in talks with Time dotCom,'' he says without elaborating.
He is even looking at the WiMAX players to add wireless access so that there will be no area left uncovered.
“Wherever there is an opportunity to get access and not to have to build ourselves, we are open to discussions, particularly in areas where HSBB coverage is not available,'' he says.
The big TM deal
Sandip reckons that the entire telecoms community missed the significance of the deal between Maxis and TM.
“We are talking about the largest mobile company teaming up with the largest fibre optic player (and that will have a huge impact on the market place). In one single move, we have access to 1.3 million homes and of these, 780,000 were accessible by the end of 2010. Where there is no fibre coverage we will use wireless access. So, in terms of access, the market is set for Maxis,'' he says.
The courtship with TM took “two and a half quarters'' and during that time Maxis conducted trials on TM's HSBB network to test its reliability, quality and speed.
“We wanted the best deal (so that we have a nice buffer for margins) and we wanted to reach a price point that is reasonable for both sides. If you ask, do we have the perfect price, my answer is no. But it is good enough to produce the end-game,'' Sandip says. It may not be the ideal price but it does set the benchmark on pricing that the industry has been waiting for as TM can be “a tough negotiator.''
“It is not unusual for wholesale prices to be re-visted when prices crash. Now the prices are not perfect but good enough to work as the larger interest is to get services to people,'' he says, adding that the capacity payments are for “some fixed and some variable components.''
Securing the “pipes” to deliver content is just one part of the equation. If there is not enough compelling content, the appeal will not be there. Maxis is also not alone in the content game as all the telcos and celcos will ride on the HSBB to “pump” content to users.
Then again there is the issue of the “quality of delivery'', and to this Sandip says “we are charting un-chartered territories and new standards will be set.''
In retrospect
To recap, years ago Maxis had an ambitious plan to wire up the country using fibre. It went into some greenfield areas but with the onslaught of the economic crisis in 2007, it decided to abandon the venture into fibre in a big way. It did wire up some housing estates but since it did not continue, it had left some disgruntled users. Instead of fibre Maxis invested heavily to build its cellular network.
Laying fibre needs more money and it is time consuming and the digging can be a tedious effort. But had it invested back then, Maxis would have a huge fibre network, maybe the size of TM's or even Time dotCom's. This is despite the fact that it did invest in backhaul infrastructure.
“We would not say abandon, we switched to optimal option. Then we decided to fiberise on the backhaul (only).
“It was an expansion and would have taken time (and a lot of capital expenditure was required). But our plans to our customers do not change and that is why we have signed up with TM. The logistics may change but not our ambition,'' he says.
“We had a choice then to put a foot in two trains, we decided on one. Now, we are sitting on a powerful access that can provide for our future needs. We had modernised our network last year and went through all the pain and today we have an IP core network that prepares us to meet future needs.''
The Astro connection
It is a fact that Astro wants to get into the IPTV business quickly to enable it to run alongside TM, which has an IPTV offering through its Unifi service.
Was Maxis not fast enough that sister company Astro had to partner Time dotCom to deliver fibre to multi-dwelling units? This is despite the fact that Maxis has 400 over buildings wired up with fibre in the Klang Valley.
“They could have worked with us but they see what is best for them.
“We want to tie up to give access to homes. I think the whole thing shows that Maxis and Astro are customer-centric and professional in the way they go out to get customers,'' Sandip says.
Maxis will at some point be tying the knot with Astro for content for the latter has a whole chest of it. So whatever strategy Astro has works fine for the broadcaster.
If it teams up with Time dotCom it gets access to a different market, with Maxis it would be another market and on top of that Maxis will source content from Astro.
“The working relationship with Astro could be in many forms. It could be purely content purchases or bundled packages of broadband or content and some other.
“We are looking at all kinds of combinations and possibilities,'' Sandip says.
Although it is a sister company, the deal with Astro, according to Sandip, will be “at arms length.
We have different boards and they have their own priorities and requirements. We will have access to their content and they will have access to our households and at the end of the day, may the best man win,'' Sandip says.
The vision
The Internet has given the telecoms world a new lease of life especially so when voice is becoming more matured as a revenue stream.
Sandip's dream is really about having multiple delivery platforms - be it fibre, cellular and wireless, delivering content on a variety of channels - which can be mobile phones, tablets, desktops to television sets, or any other transmission device that spring ups in the future.
Coverage wise, the area is sizeable, considering the capacity that Tenaga, TM, and Time dotCom have, including wireless and cellular capacity. Content wise - the sources will be diverse, including Astro, Media Prima and many others.
The offerings - IPTV, video on demand, VOIP, high-speed internet, telepresence, education, eHealth, interactive TV and hosting services.
“There are hundreds of little players plus the likes of Astro, Media Prima and many others with content. We are thinking of providing a whole suite of services,'' he says.
And when other players “talk about triple and quad plays, and people say they want to do IPTV - to us, all that is not the be-all and end-all. The definitions have changed and we are now looking at SIM penetration in a household rather than subscribers.”
“Imagine a household having six to 12 SIMs and to us all those people are potential consumers (of one or more products.) It is (about) the ability to cater to each and everyone' needs in the household.
“We will introduce a class of services, it depends on usage and content and we will have different bundles. (At the same time) we would be concerned about consumer affordability (when coming up with the various combinations),'' he says.
Sandip says he is building a powerhouse that will have access, channels and content to meet the requirements of many in the future and believes that “we are the leader and the leader has to lead the way.''
But Maxis is not the only company that has the vision, others in the industry are headed in that direction too. So while the plan may look good on paper, the key would be execution, can he do it in time before Maxis' rivals catch up?
His challenge would also be to ensure that while the access, content, and delivery channels are there, the issue of price, quality of service and speed will differentiate one service provider from the other. - By B.K. SIDHU, Starbiz.
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