TM, THE FIRST MALAYSIAN COMPANY NAMED THE SERVICE PROVIDER OF THE YEAR AT THE 2007 FROST & SULLIVAN ASIA PACIFIC ICT AWARDS

Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM), made Malaysia proud by being the first Malaysian company to receive the coveted Service Provider of the Year award at the 2007 Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific ICT Awards ceremony held in Singapore last Friday. Held for the fourth consecutive year, the Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific ICT awards serve to recognize companies in the ICT sector across the Asia Pacific region. This comes in hot on heels of TM winning the Broadband Service Provider of the Year, Data Communications Service Provider of the Year and the coveted Service Provider of the Year award at the 2007 Frost & Sullivan Malaysia Telecoms Awards held last month.

The Service Provider of the Year award is indeed a recognition for the TM Group. The award recognizes TM’s commitment in delivering the best to its customers, not only in the domestic market, but also in the Asia Pacific area. This most coveted award for Service Providers is conferred each year to the Company, in Frost & Sullivan's judgement, that has demonstrated clear leadership in essential key measurement areas, including consistent and sustainable revenue growth, dominated market share and market share growth as well as overall leadership in product introduction and innovation.

The award citation states: The recipient is a service provider that is well respected and highly regarded for growing its regional footprint, and its astute foresight in maintaining long-term sustainable growth. Unlocking the value of its regional operations into high-growth markets such as India and Indonesia, allows the company to achieve sustainable growth despite the service commoditization in its local market.

Speaking at the award ceremony, Dato’ Abdul Wahid Omar, Group Chief Executive Officer, TM expressed his delight: “We are truly excited in receiving the Asia Pacific Service Provider of the Year award for the first time. It is even more meaningful as TM is the first Malaysian company to receive this award.”

“Telekom Malaysia or TM is typically known as the incumbent fixed line telco in Malaysia. That label, however, is quickly diminishing. Over the years, we have expanded our mobile operations not only in Malaysia but also in 7 other countries in Asia. Indeed more than 53% of our revenue comes from our mobile operations and 30% of our profits come from our overseas operations. With total mobile subscribers exceeding 30 million, TM is now an emerging regional communications company.”

TM Group is South East Asia’s second largest telecommunications company and has investments and operations in 13 countries, particularly in 10 key Asian countries namely Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Thailand, Pakistan and Iran. With strong and consistent growth in its overseas operations, especially in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India, Bangladesh and Cambodia, TM is well positioned in the Asian region, which is considered as one of the fastest growing markets in the world today.

TM attributes the significant growth in the telecommunications sector in Asia to pent-up demand for communications services in emerging countries throughout the region, fast liberalization of the industry, as well as improving economic growth which in turn boosts purchasing power in the region. TM Group currently serves a regional mobile subscriber base of 30.3 million as at end-March 2007, an increase of 35.9% from the corresponding period last year.

TM’s regional footprint has been further established over the last 5 years where its Sri Lankan subsidiary, Dialog Telekom consolidated its position in the number 1 spot while its Bangladesh subsidiary, TMIB captured the number 2 position in the local market there. Meanwhile, both its Indonesian and Cambodian operations are in the number 3 position respectively in their countries. In India, TM through its investment in Spice Communications Pvt Ltd, is undertaking strategies to grow its customer base by taking advantage of the tremendous growth opportunities in the Indian market.

“Awards such as these not only compel us to strive harder but they also serve as an acknowledgement that we are on the right track. This award is dedicated to all our 36,000 employees across Asia without whom this award would not have been possible. And not forgetting our sincere gratitude to all our customers for their support and loyalty. This is a tremendous achievement for TM and establishes our growing position in providing quality products and services to cater to the increasing demand for mobility in Asia. We are really excited to be part of this impressive growth momentum. In giving this award to TM, Frost & Sullivan has recognised our ability towards nurturing and building strong Asian communication brands in the markets we serve,” concluded Dato’ Wahid.

About TM
Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM), a leading regional information and communications group, offers a comprehensive range of communication services and solutions in fixed-line, mobile, data and broadband. As one of the largest listed companies on Bursa Malaysia with an operating revenue of more than RM16 billion, TM is driven to deliver value to its stakeholders in a highly competitive environment.

The Group places emphasis on continuing customer service quality enhancements and innovations. Currently, with investments and operations in 13 countries around Asia and globally, TM is focused on sustainable growth in both the local and international markets.

On the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) front, the Group has always been a major corporate contributor towards responsible activities in the belief that these practices are a fundamental tenet of good corporate governance. The Group promotes 3 major platforms i.e. education, sports development and community/nation-building. Under education, TM has spent some RM800 million to develop Multimedia University into one of the top universities in Malaysia with more than 20,000 students. TM has also provided scholarships to over 10,000 graduates pursuing academic programs locally and overseas. On the sports front, TM is actively contributing towards the upliftment of football at all levels while under the community/nation-building platform, the Group contributes towards causes that bring value to the community and nation at large.

For further information on TM, visit www.tm.com.my.

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