PUTRAJAYA: YTL Communications Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of YTL Power International Bhd, yesterday announced a 4G innovation network that will see the company head a consortium of major industry players.

YTL Communications signed agreements with technology players Cisco, Clearwire, GCT Semiconductor and Samsung to develop new products and applications for YTL’s 4G WiMAX network, expected to be rolled out some time in the second half next year.

To sweeten the pot, YTL is also holding a global competition — the mY Prize in 2010 — that will award a total of US$1 million (RM3.38 million) to entrepreneurs and developers to come up with 4G WiMAX products for consumers. Details on the competition would be forthcoming in January, YTL said.

The innovation partnership will help develop key products for YTL’s WiMAX network, such as handsets featuring mobile voice-over-IP (VOIP), a technology that is being pioneered by Samsung. Mobile VOIP handsets would allow WiMAX subscribers to receive and make telephone calls in similar fashion to traditional mobile phones.

Presently, YTL is planning a launch that will cover the entire nation, which will make it the first company in the world to do so. The cost of investment is expected to be about RM2.5 billion. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who officiated at the signing ceremony, said YTL’s nationwide network would play an important role in bringing broadband access to rural communities. “We cannot put in optic fibre in Jeli, in Pekan — this is the solution. WiMAX 4G is the solution,” he said.

YTL was recently fined by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) for failing to roll out its WiMAX by the deadline stipulated in the agreement when it received its WiMAX licence. It is the only one of four licensees that has yet to roll out its commercial WiMAX service. It said it would appeal the fine.

YTL Communications chief executive Wing K Lee said the delay was due to the company’s ambition to roll out nationwide coverage, rather than to proceed on a city-by-city basis.

“YTL’s intention is to launch nationwide with one flip of the switch,” Lee said. “To launch city-by-city will defeat the mobility element of mobile Internet. A nationwide network is a prerequisite,” Lee said.


This article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, November 11, 2009.