Spectrum payments unlikely to raise gearings excessive
KUCHING: The upcoming payments for the 700, 2,100 and 2,600 megahertz (MHz) spectrums are not likely to raise the gearings of mobile operators to excessive levels.
According to the research arm of Maybank Investment Bank Bhd (Maybank IB Research), upfront spectrum fee is a relatively new concept in Malaysia, with the regulator only collecting its maiden fee in 2016 for the 900 and 1,800 MHz bands.
“Going forward, mobile operators would likely have to incur further spectrum payments,” Maybank IB Research said in a sector report.
“The 2,600 MHz and 2,100 MHz bands are both up for renewal in December 2017 and April 2018 respectively.”
It added that the 700 MHz band is also up for re-farming in 2018 as free-to-air television migrates from analogue to digital.
Maybank IB Research had attempted to estimate fees for the other bands by interpolating the rates for the 900 MHz and 1,800 MHz bands.
The research arm noted that the 2016 re-farming saw operators paying RM500 million and RM218 million for a five MHz pair in the 900 and 1,800 MHz bands respectively, with 44 per cent of the fee required upfront and the remainder in the form of annual payments over a 15-year tenure.
For its exercise, Maybank IB Research assumed operators are
Going forward, mobile operators would likely have to incur further spectrum payments.
charged RM700 million, RM200 million and RM160 million for a five MHz pair in the 700, 2,100 and 2,600 MHz bands respectively (lower frequency spectrum is usually more expensive than higher frequency due to superior propagation properties).
In terms of spectrum allocation, the research arm assumed each operator retains its current frequency division duplex (FDD) allocation in the 2,100 and 2,600 MHz bands.
“Presently, each of the four main operators has an equal amount of spectrum in these bands,” Maybank IB Research said.
For the 700 MHz band, the research arm assumed each operator is allocated a 10 MHz pair.
“As a sidenote, Malaysia has adopted the Asia- Pacific Telecommunity ( APT) band plan for 700 MHz,” the research arm said.
“The FDD configuration would mean a total of 45 MHz pairs of spectrum being made available for allocation by the regulator (with the smallest block likely a five MHz pair).”
It added that the migration of free-to-air television from analogue to digital is progressing as planned, with set-up boxes currently being distributed.
Maybank IB Research
“We have gained good traction from the East Malaysian market, some of our first batch of repeat customers are from East Malaysia.”
Further leveraging on this exposure, Tan said Naiise Malaysia will be opening a 4,000 square feet Concept Store, thus adopting an omnichannel retail strategy with both online and offline retail channels headquartered in KL.
Its debut concept store is targeted to open by the third quarter this year incorporating a retail area, workshop studio as well as a cafe.
The compound will be located at the ground floor of Zhongshan Building, a row of restored 1950s shophouses in Kampung Attap which has been transformed into a Malaysian creative hub, housing other design and arts focused tenants such as Malaysia Design Archive, Tandang Store, Bogus Merchandise and others. Naiise Malaysia is also in discussions to open a flagship store in Kuala Lumpur by mid-2018.