P1 W1MAX Celebrates One Year Anniversary with 80,000 Subscribers

Online, August 25, 2009 (Newswire.com) - Kuala Lumpur, 25 August 2009 - Packet One Networks (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. ("P1") Malaysia's first and leading WiMAX telco today announced that it has surpassed the 80,000 subscriber mark, after one year of rolling out its P1 W1MAX high-speed wireless broadband service.

The impressive subscriber milestone underlines P1's commitment to challenge the Malaysian broadband scene through its innovative 4G (fourth generation) technology and compelling consumer and business high-speed wireless broadband packages. At the same time, the leading WiMAX player here and in the region is playing an active role in catering to the insatiable demand for high-speed broadband, in line with the Government's goal of ensuring that Malaysia reaches 50% household broadband penetration rate by 2010.

P1's CEO, Michael Lai said, "We are one year into our mission to provide broadband technology that reaches out to everyone in Malaysia. As one of the forerunners in the world for large scale 802.16e 2.3GHz commercial WiMAX deployment, we're very proud of what we've achieved today from ground zero."

P1 acquired one of Malaysia's four WiMAX licenses in March 2007. Following this, P1 began a series of strategic alliances with the aim to be the first to launch Malaysia's and one of the world's first WiMAX services. In May 2008, through its parent company, KLSE Main Board listed Green Packet Berhad, P1 secured a US$14.3mil (RM50mil) investment from Intel to make it the very first Intel-invested WiMAX telcos in the Asia Pacific.

Navin Shenoy, General Manager of Intel Asia Pacific, said: "Intel congratulates Packet One on a successful first year. The Internet is an essential, enriching and entertaining part of our lives, and the strong take-up of Packet One's WiMAX service demonstrates Malaysia's need for powerful, flexible, wireless broadband solutions. Intel is pleased to continue its work with Packet One to bring the benefits of WiMAX to more Malaysians."

Barely 17 months into operations, P1 launched commercial services with the go-to-market brand of P1 W1MAX in August 2008. The competition was nowhere in sight.

Lai attributes P1's progress to a few key success ingredients. He said, "We have over 500 strong workforce that believes in our WiMAX vision, and everyone from our engineers, marketers, and finance personnel to our help desks staff tackled the knowledge gap in relation to the new WiMAX technology and on the 2.3 GHz spectrum band. Now we're probably one of the most skilled workforce the world has to offer for deployment and service provision of WiMAX."

Talent aside, Lai advocates the importance of the WiMAX DNA (Device, Network, and Applications).

Whilst WiMAX devices on the 2.3GHz spectrum band were practically non-existent, P1 had an unfair advantage which leverages the technology and R&D strength of Green Packet, also a wireless connectivity products and solutions provider for the international market. The outcome of which is a host of stylish and user-friendly plug-and-play fixed and mobile devices, which not only accelerated P1's launch preparedness but continues to help it gain traction in the marketplace. P1 has also maintained a respectable (Average Revenue per User) of above US$24.30 (RM85), which it plans to sustain by continually introducing new and innovative connectivity and communications services to its consumers.

Services in the pipeline include P1 VoWiMAX or Voice over WIMAX, which is expected to bring digital voice to a whole new level with the high bandwidth capability of WiMAX and QoS. Within the next few years, P1 expects to further support WiMAX-enabled laptops and several new Mobile Internet Devices (MID) such as mobile phones and PDAs.

Rapid is the key word says Lai, when it comes to network deployment to expand coverage to the entire nation. To meet P1's ambitious network coverage goals, the Company employs a multi-vendor strategy with Alcatel Lucent deploying the first phase, and towards the tail end, launch ZTE's concurrent second phase deployment. P1 had even built its own in-house deployment team to support its aggressive rollout target. P1 expects to deliver 35% population coverage by 2009, and 65% by 2012.

"We want to make broadband a right for all Malaysians and not a privilege", said Lai when asked what the P1 W1MAX brand is all about. He added with zest, "We're the challenger, unconventional, engaging, fun and out to make an impact. More importantly, we go out of our way to understand and respond to what our consumers want."

P1 is definitely changing the Malaysian broadband industry landscape. This new player is promising new subscriber addition numbers on the back of limited network coverage.

"More and more Malaysians are becoming convinced that P1 is capable of providing a compelling alternative and we can't wait for them to join the P1 W1MAX revolution, if they have not already," concluded Lai.

About Packet One Networks (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd.
Packet One Networks (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (P1) is Malaysia's first and leading WiMAX telecommunications company with the country's widest WiMAX network.

P1 W1MAX represents the first large-scale commercial deployment of mobile WiMAX in Southeast Asia, and the first large-scale deployment of an 802.16e 2.3GHz WiMAX network outside Korea.

P1's goal is to bridge the digital divide by making access to the internet universal, ubiquitous and affordable for every Malaysian. P1 hopes to play a major part in realizing the nation's goal - to have 50% broadband penetration by 2010.
P1 is the winner of the Red Herring Asia's Most Innovative Private Technology Company in 2008 and is listed in the Malaysia Book of Records as Malaysia's first WiMAX telco (August 2008).

For more information on P1, visit www.P1.com.my.

About WiMAX
WiMAX is an abbreviation of Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access by the WiMAX Forum. It is a standard-based technology enabling delivery of last mile wireless broadband access as an alternative to cable and DSL. It is expected to enable quad play (voice, video, internet and mobility).

WiMAX enables deliverables of bandwidth between two points or between a point to multipoint to customer. The usage of WiMAX requires certain bandwidth of spectrum to be allocated to the service provider, in accordance to the channelling plan approved and published by MCMC.

Media Contacts (Media and Press related enquiries only)
(For product enquiries, please call 1300 800 888)
Follow us on Twitter to get the latest updates, news and scoops from P1

Loh Chyi Jen
Email : chyijen.loh@packet-1.com
DL : +603 7450 8705
HP : +6 012 353 7538
Amin Ashaari
Email : amin.aziz@packet-1.com
DL : +603 7450 8703
HP : +6 012 302 5024