NEWS: P1 gears up for Year of WiMAX

PETALING JAYA: Wireless broadband service provider Packet One Networks (Malaysia) has high ambitions this year, which it has dubbed “The Year of WiMAX.”

Its chief executive officer, Michael Lai, said there are new developments in P1’s stables as it prepares to extend its WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access ) broadband service, as well as roll out new WiMAX devices this year.

“Users can expect to see a slew of the devices in the market, including a WiMAX chip embedded netbook,” he said.

He declined to say exactly when the netbook would hit store shelves. “But it will be sooner than you think,” he said.

P1 has another reason to celebrate this year, It has received a RM50mil loan, payable over four years, from ICT (information and communications technology) industry financier and development facilitator, Malaysian Debt Ventures (MDV).

Lai said the bulk of the loan will fund P1’s expansion into Sabah and Sarawak, which is likely to start in the second half of this year.

“We will begin with the major towns, such as Kota Kinabalu and Kuching, before going into the other regions,” he said.

Since it started rolling out its services in August 2008, P1 claims to have extended its broadband service to about 35% of the population in Peninsular Malaysia as of 2009. It is working to bump that up to 45% this year, it said.

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“Broadband is not a privilege anymore but a necessity if Malaysia is to compete effectively in a globalised economy,” Lai said.

He said one important aspect of increasing broadband penetration is the development of applications for the WiMAX platform.

P1 is working on such applications, he said, even as it deploys its WiMAX network.

Both are inter-dependent on each other; you must have a reliable network to support the applications and it is such applications that will help drive take-up of the network.

To date, P1 already has several such applications, including the social networking site Ruumz.com and Internet security software NetSecure.

Md Zubir Ansori Yahaya, MDV managing director and chief executive officer, said MDV supports the establishment of high-speed broadband and WiMAX infrastructure as part of the Government’s strategy to encourage economic growth.

“A part from fibreoptic networks, MDV believes that WiMAX is an important technology for broadband,” he said.

He pointed out that WiMAX, unveiled in the late 1990s, is gaining critical mass now. “Other technologies are being developed but WiMAX is the way to go at this time,” he said.