Friday, August 20, 2010

You get a new date ... don’t stand us up again

“MARKETEERS, geeks, web geniuses, Internet superstars, network gurus and finance wizards. Over 200 different positions in sales and marketing, product, IT, network, finance, supply chain and general administration are available. Now is your chance to be part of a world class team that will shape the future of 4G mobile Internet''
That was how an e-mail from YTL Communications Bhd (YTL Comms) was worded.
And if you log onto its website you will hear half a dozen professionals, including its CEO, cajoling you to join the team.
If that is not convincing enough, go to JW Marriott Hotel in Kuala Lumpur from 10am to 4pm this Saturday. Bring your CV too. The website says walk-in-interviews are running from Aug 14 to 21.
YTL Comms may be finally getting to where it should have been more than a year ago.
It got a WiMAX 2.3Ghz spectrum and was to roll out services for wireless broadband. It set a July deadline for a big bang nationwide roll-out. But, July has come and gone, and we are still waiting.
However, to say YTL Comms is not doing anything would be unfair. Perhaps it is the speed issue. Which train is it on? The fast speed or one with coal-fired engine?
It has a hub in Sentul where many of its engineers are mapping out its network; it has a list of partners that is the envy of the industry; there is a RM2.5bil commitment to the venture and YTL Comms has even thrown US$1mil at innovators to get the desired content for delivery to enable it to stand out from the rest of the pack.
Let’s not forget the WiMAX and LTE (long term evolution) fight for 4G supremacy; that may have been a factor for the delay in YTL Comms’ nationwide launch.
All the same, you cannot ignore remarks from the industry like this one: “It looks like YTL Comms is finally putting its act together after months of no roll-out of its WiMAX service, being slammed with a fine and yet again missing a promised date in July.
“We hope the new delivery date of October/November is for real. What a delightful Christmas and New Year present it would make for the Government and the rakyat.’’
That YTL Comms is hiring is good for the market as it provides job opportunities. But expect increased movements in the industry. A CEO of a WiMAX company said his engineers are “sought after...and keeping them is a constant challenge.’’
YTL Comms may be working round the clock to roll out the service but one other WiMAX player recently had to retrench some workers due to network issues. Hopefully, this company can resolve its issues soon and return to the market with an improved offering.
Jalenas Sdn Bhd, which was supposed to wire up Malaysia with high-speed broadband over a year ago, only recently hired some expatriates to jumpstart the operations. Its CEO James Angelone is now working overtime to get things moving.
U Mobile Sdn Bhd, which has Singapore Technologies Telemedia (STT) as its shareholder, hired Dr Kaizad B. Heerjee as CEO recently. We wonder when will U Mobile surprise the market with a killer offering since it has STT as a partner.
What the market needs are players that can widen the reach and deliver quality services at reasonable prices. The minimum speed offered should be one-megabit per second and they should realise that the age of 256 or 512kbps is over.
And since the whole premise of dishing out four WiMAX licences was to help increase broadband penetration rates, players who have not done much should get into delivery mode now.
Hopefully, by year-end we can all say “it was worth the wait after all.’’
(Published in The Star on August 20, 2010 - Friday Reflections by B.K. Sidhu)

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