Malaysia’s DiGi Telecommunications is said to have set aside MYR750 million (USD252.2 million) for capital expenditures in 2013, according to Bernama. It is understood that of the total investment, around 80% has been earmarked for the construction of a 4G LTE network and the development of DiGi’s 3G infrastructure. Commenting on the plans to launch commercial 4G services, the operator’s CEO Henrik Clausen was cited as saying: ‘DiGi will further beef up the investment this year to spur mobile internet business and we also expect to launch the 4G network by the end of June … We are not worried about the kick-off time for 4G services as we think end of the second quarter is ample time for us to launch the service, but most importantly [we want] to do it in the right way.’
Looking at the company’s recent achievements with regard to its network, meanwhile, it was claimed that last year DiGi had upgraded more than 3,200 cell sites, or around 60% of its network, to be LTE-ready, while its 3G network footprint now covered more than 67% of the country’s populated areas, up from 54% a year earlier. Detailing the progress of a site sharing and fibre rollout initiative with rival Celcom Axiata, Mr Clausen noted that the project had seen around 1,000km of fibre deployed in the north and south of Peninsular Malaysia.