Malaysia’s second largest cellco by subscribers, Celcom Axiata, has said that its entire infrastructure is now ready to offer Long Term Evolution (LTE) services, with the operator noting that it is now awaiting the government’s issuing of a licence allowing it to offer the 4G technology commercially. According to the Star Online, Celcom CEO Datuk Seri Shazalli Ramly has said that the company is hopeful that the state will hand out such concessions before the end of 2012, and highlighting the status of the cellco’s network, the executive was cited as saying: ‘We are the first (operator) to move into single RAN (radio access network). Single RAN means the network runs 2G, 3G and LTE all in one (infrastructure); it is 3-in-1 whereas our competitors have different RANs for different technology, one for 2G, another for 3G.’
Celcom is understood to have spent approximately MYR800 million (USD250 million) on upgrading its network to single RAN status, and Mr Shazalli has said that the operator expects to stick to its previously announced capital expenditure budget of MYR1 billion in 2012. The bulk of the investment is to be spent on further network upgrades, coupled with an information technology transformation programme.