Green Packet Bhd (0082), a telecommunications and broadband service provider, plans to buy a stake in a foreign WiMAX licensee by the end of this year as it expands its wireless broadband business outside the country.
The company is currently in advanced talks with a few WiMAX licensees."We definitely want to secure one more WiMAX licence by the end of this year," group chief executive officer and managing director Puan Chan Cheong told Business Times in an interview.
Puan declined to reveal the names of its potential partners, but that they are from Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines and Cambodia.
Funding will not be an issue, as the company, in its recent rights issue exercise, has raised some RM100 million. The funds will be used to roll out its WiMAX network, or other expansion, if the opportunities arise.
Besides eyeing WiMAX licences, the company also aims to beef up its WiMAX consultancy business. So far, it has offered its services to companies in India, Bangladesh and Chile.
"We have helped them (clients) in winning a WiMAX licence, their WiMAX strategic business planning as well as selecting a vendor. We also helped them roll out their network and their go-to-market strategy. We also advised companies on how much to bid for a spectrum.
"We have done jobs for Chile, India and Bangladesh, and we are now looking at the Middle East and Latin America," Puan said.
He added that consultancy business may one day be a significant contributor to the group's turnover, as each job ranges between US$150,000 and US$3 million (RM526,500 and RM10.5 million).
"Operators are willing to pay ... These operators spend hundreds of millions on each rollout. If we can help them save 1 per cent, that's already a lot of money," he said.
"We have helped them (clients) in winning a WiMAX licence, their WiMAX strategic business planning as well as selecting a vendor. We also helped them roll out their network and their go-to-market strategy. We also advised companies on how much to bid for a spectrum.
"We have done jobs for Chile, India and Bangladesh, and we are now looking at the Middle East and Latin America," Puan said.
He added that consultancy business may one day be a significant contributor to the group's turnover, as each job ranges between US$150,000 and US$3 million (RM526,500 and RM10.5 million).
"Operators are willing to pay ... These operators spend hundreds of millions on each rollout. If we can help them save 1 per cent, that's already a lot of money," he said.
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