China Mobile and Packet One Networks (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd (“P1”), signed a technology cooperation agreement today, to spearhead the adoption of TD-LTE technology in Malaysia and South-East Asia. P1 is Malaysia’s first and leading 4G telecommunications company with the country’s widest WiMAX coverage.
The collaborative arrangement has several principal goals. Firstly, to promote TD-LTE as a global standard in general, and early adoption in South-East Asia. Secondly to promote Global TD-LTE Initiative (GTI) throughout South-East Asia, and last but not least, to kick-off the deployment of TD-LTE in Malaysia.
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LTE and WiMAX are two leading technologies specified by the ITU as “4G”, with throughput speeds of up to 100Mbps.
P1 was recently accepted into the Global TD-LTE Initiative (GTI). The GTI was formed in February this year to drive the early adoption of TD-LTE technology and to propagate TD-LTE’s eco-system. China Mobile is one of the founding members of the GTI. Other founding companies are Bharti Airtel, Softbank Mobile, Clearwire and Vodafone Group. There are currently 20 operators in GTI. The GTI is designed to run for two years and works closely with GSMA and NGMN organisations worldwide.
The P1-China Mobile partnership agreement which also promotes bilateral cooperation between the two nations, was witnessed by guests of honour Deputy Minister of Information, Communications and Culture Malaysia YB Dato’ Joseph Salang Gandum and Charge D’Affaires, Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Malaysia; HE Chen Dehai.
Madam Huang Yuhong, Deputy General Manager of China Mobile Research Institute said, “The massive momentum of TD-LTE will see the early development of the widest selection and most cost effective high performance consumer devices like modems, routers, smart phones and tablets.” Research firm Maravedis reported that by the end of 2011, there will be approximately 40 countries represented by 110 operators with 2.5 to 2.6GHz spectrum allocation for TD-LTE.
China Mobile is currently testing TD-LTE deployment in several major cities in China with a reach of over 100 million subscribers. China Mobile’s expertise and experience in the rollout is expected to be highly beneficial to P1.
Both P1 and China Mobile firmly believe LTE is the future for mobile broadband. P1 plans to transition its WiMAX network to a dual WiMAX/TD-LTE network as early as the first half of 2012.
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For immediate release
CHINA MOBILE and P1 Jointly Promote TD-LTE
P1 and the world’s largest mobile operator, collaborate to jump start TD-LTE deployment in Malaysia and South-East Asia
KUALA LUMPUR, Tuesday, 28 JUNE 2011 – China Mobile and Packet One Networks (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd (“P1”), Malaysia’s first and leading 4G operator today sealed a technology cooperation agreement to spearhead the TD-LTE* technology movement in Malaysia and South-East Asia.
“For true mobile 4G and TD-LTE to be successful, technology needs mass adoption. The economies of scale brought about by China Mobile’s over 600 million subscriber base will see rapid development of the entire TD-LTE ecosystem. This will benefit operators all across the globe and will bring huge benefits to P1 and Malaysia both commercially and technologically,” explained Michael Lai, CEO of P1.
Madam Huang Yuhong, Deputy General Manager of China Mobile Research Institute said that Malaysia through P1 with its three years into 4G WiMAX deployment is a valuable knowledge resource in the development of TD-LTE technology. One good instance is the way P1 manages its monthly average subscriber data consumption of 12 Gigabyte. The world will see a data tsunami and this is one exciting area every operator needs to be prepared for.
Madam Huang said, “The massive momentum of TD-LTE will see the early development of the widest selection and most cost effective high performance consumer devices like modems, routers, smart phones and tablets.” Research firm Maravedis reported that by the end of 2011, there will be approximately 40 countries represented by 110 operators with 2.5 to 2.6GHz spectrum allocation for TD-LTE.
Both P1 and China Mobile firmly believe LTE is the future for mobile broadband. P1 plans to transition its WiMAX network to a dual WiMAX/TD-LTE network as early as the first half of 2012.
Lai added, “The Malaysian Government has been visionary in issuing 4G licenses and we are thankful for this. Today, the country is leading this region in 4G evolution and we will continue to evolve to maintain this leadership position.”
In tandem with China Mobile’s TD-LTE promotion activities, P1 was recently accepted into the GTI. The GTI was formed in February this year to drive the early adoption of TD-LTE technology and to propagate TD-LTE’s eco-system. China Mobile is one of the founding operators of the GTI. The other GTI founding companies are Bharti Airtel, Softbank Mobile, Clearwire and Vodafone Group. GTI has a market potential of over half the world’s population. Currently, there are 20 operators in GTI.
Under the agreement, P1 and China Mobile Research Institute will collaborate to:
- Promote TD-LTE as global standards in general; and for early adoption in South-East Asia in specific, through regional and local activities,
- Promote Global TD-LTE Initiative (GTI) throughout South-East Asia
- Promote the jump-start of TD-LTE deployment in Malaysia
Lai and Huang formalized the partnership agreement witnessed by guests of honour Deputy Minister of Information, Communications and Culture Malaysia YB Dato’ Joseph Salang Gandum and Charge D’Affaires, Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Malaysia; HE Chen Dehai. The P1-China Mobile technology partnership also promotes bilateral cooperation between the two nations.
*Time Division-Long Term Evolution (TD-LTE) technology is the 4G telecommunications evolutionary path for the future of mobile broadband.
About China Mobile (as of December 2010)
- World’s No. 1 largest telecommunication company, with a customer base of 584 million
- Ranked number 38 in Forbes “World‘s 2000 Biggest Public Companies”
- Selected by Financial Times as one of the “FT Global 500” companies, ranked number 10
- Included by BusinessWeek in its “The 50 most Innovative Companies”
- Ranked number 8 globally in “BRANDZ Top 100 Most Powerful Brands”
About Packet One Networks (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd.
Packet One Networks (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (“P1”), a subsidiary of Green Packet Berhad, is Malaysia’s first and leading 4G telecommunications company with the country’s widest WiMAX coverage. P1 4G represents the first large-scale commercial 4G WiMAX deployment in Southeast Asia, and the first large-scale deployment of an 802.16e 2.3GHz WiMAX network outside Korea.
P1’s goal is to bridge the digital divide by making access to the internet universal, ubiquitous and affordable for every Malaysian. P1 hopes to play a major part in realizing the nation’s goal providing Broadband for All.
P1 is the winner of the Red Herring Asia’s Most Innovative Private Technology Company in 2008 and is listed in the Malaysia Book of Records as Malaysia’s first WiMAX telco (August 2008). In 2009, P1 bagged the MSC Malaysia APICTA Best of Start-Up Companies award. P1 is awarded the 2010 Most Promising Service Provider of the Year by the prestigious 2010 Frost & Sullivan Malaysia Telecoms Awards. P1’s “Sudah Potong?” advertising campaign bagged gold at the highly coveted 2010 Malaysia Effie Awards. For more information on P1 4G, visit http://www.p1.com.my/
P1 is the converged communications pillar of Green Packet Berhad, which was founded in 2000 in the Silicon Valley. Green Packet Berhad is now headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and listed on the Main Board of the Malaysian bourse. It has over 1000 employees with nine operations across the globe. For more information visit: www.greenpacket.com
Follow P1 on Twitter: https://twitter.com/P1Media
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