Maxis Plans 3G Coverage Expansion
Malaysia's Maxis expects to spend between RM400 and RM600 (US$110-165) million on capital expenditure for its 3G network next year. Chief executive officer, Datuk Jamaludin Ibrahim said that the spend would be used primarily for expanding 3G network coverage. He was speaking at a public ceremony at the Multimedia University and University Malaya.
At the end of June, the company had about 110,000 3G subscribers, said Jamaludin adding that some 40,000 new subscribers signed up in June - driven primarily by services offered around the football World Cup.
Asked by reporters on the income from 3G subscribers he said: "ARPU generally is going down but it's quite stable for high-end users."
He said Maxis would take a few more years before it could provide nationwide 3G coverage in the face of competition from new 3G licence holders. "Coverage in Klang Valley will be increased to 100 percent by year-end from 80 percent now," he added.
Statistics from The Mobile World note that Maxis ended Q1 '06 with some 8.2 million customers - giving them a market share of 42.5%. The country has a population penetration rate of 80%."
Posted to the site on 17th July 2006