TIME DOTCOM READY TO EXPAND COVERAGE
Group says Q1 profit rises 18.64pc to RM62.94m, cautiously optimistic
TIME dotCom Bhd has started to engage actively with the government over the latter’s aspiration to fasten broadband speed and halve its price for customers.
Chief executive officer Afzal Abdul Rahim said the government must be clear on what it wanted to do with telcos and agreements towards achieving the goal.
“We are more than happy to continue investing and expanding our coverage. But, it’s still very early to finalise and it requires time for related parties to digest it,” he said.
Afzal said an open-dialogue culture had resurfaced between the regulators and telcos, acknowledging that it was vital for the sector to grow.
Afzal said Time dotCom had the lowest price point per megabits per second (Mbps) among local providers.
“We kind of buck the trend despite the challenging market. However, we are cautiously optimistic... we have a small market share with relatively high margins,” he said after Time dotCom’s annual general meeting, here, yesterday.
Afzal said the company would invest further to expand connection coverage but certain areas might not be viable due to infrastructure absence.
“We are unable to go (expand) to landed properties because we don’t have access to poles. We are also unable to plug new poles.
“Without access to poles or being able to rent or erect poles, we can’t reach landed properties,” he added.
On whether it would consider renting other telcos’ fibre or service infrastructure, he said Time dotCom preferred to have a control of its service to ensure smoother operation.
Afzal said its target market was mainly the multi-dwelling units, which make up over a quarter (5.5 million units) of the country’s purpose built-home.
“We can either serve the multidwelling units by digging the roads and wiring up the spine of those blocks. Or we can use poles to get to landed properties,” he said.
Meanwhile, Time dotCom’s net profit in the first quarter ended March 31 rose 18.64 per cent to RM62.94 million, from RM53.05 million a year ago, due to improved cost efficiencies and higher profit sharing from investments in associates.
Revenue slightly rose 5.64 per cent to RM230.73 million for the period, from RM218.42 million previously, on the back of higher sales from data and data centre businesses as well as retail customers with strong demand for TIME Fibre Home Broadband service.
Afzal said the company planned to work closely with its associates in Thailand and Vietnam to ensure the sustainability of its domestic and regional operations.
Time dotCom is also looking forward to working with its partner, Symphony Communication PCL in Thailand that owns a terrestrial fibre network with crossborder capabilities, to connect Malaysia, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos.