01 Jun 2022
TM R&D’s Customer-focused innovations recognised at the Malaysia Technology Excellence Awards
In-house smart solutions for Fixed Wireless Access connectivity and customer experience platform for frontliners awarded under “Connectivity-Telecommunications” and “AI-IT Services” categories respectively
Telekom Research & Development Sdn Bhd (TM R&D), the innovation arm of Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM), recently bagged two awards at the Malaysia Technology Excellence Awards 2022, organised by the Singapore Business Review.
The Malaysia Technology Excellence Awards spotlights exceptional companies who are technology disruptors that boosts Malaysia’s economy. TM’s Fast Internet for All (FIRA) solution was bestowed the award under the “Connectivity-Telecommunications” category, while TM’s Single Platform on Intelligent Customer Experience (SPICE.ai) won the award in the “Artificial Intelligence (AI)-IT Services” category.
Commenting on these awards, Dr. Sharlene Thiagarajah, Chief Executive Officer, TM R&D said, “I couldn’t be prouder of my team as these awards reflect their commitment to meet the fast-evolving digital needs of today’s customers and strengthen our position as a research leader in these fields. This recognition also reaffirms our efforts in building smarter digital ecosystems to facilitate the ease with which Malaysians can embrace a more digital lifestyle, while also bringing progress to the nation.”
FIRA was introduced as a way to support the government in providing Malaysians with quality access to digital connectivity nationwide. Aimed at offering better internet service to underserved communities, FIRA uses Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) technologies to improve connectivity in rural areas across Malaysia. Since its first deployment in Malacca back in July 2020, the solution has demonstrated promising success in improving download and upload link speeds compared to other broadband services. The solution has since been implemented at a rural school in Selangor and at Pusat Komuniti Desa sites under the Ministry of Rural Development. It has also supported an IR4.0 use case in Terengganu.
“FIRA is formulated to address two common issues: coverage and speed. The solution is capable to deliver connectivity up to 50Mbps within 5-8km range, compared to a traditional 4G cell within 1km range. Furthermore, with its quick deployment procedures, FIRA can help mitigate customers’ connectivity concerns in a cost-effective and timely manner,” shared Dr. Sharlene.
SPICE.ai, on the other hand, aims to assist frontliners in their daily task of addressing customer service enquiries and requests.
Dr Sharlene explained, “SPICE.ai consists of multiple components that cover different parts of an existing customer experience system. By integrating these components, frontliners gain a more holistic view of each customers’ profiles. The solution then implements real-time analytics to improve customer experience, giving frontliners the right information at the right time which allows them to deliver a better experience to customers.”
This analytics system has been deployed nationwide for nearly two years and becomes the primary touchpoint for more than 5,000 TM frontliners in most customer interactions across multiple channels. The performance of SPICE.ai has proven to be reliable and seamless even when integrated with more than 20 existing, standalone systems and was still able to relay the processed information through one single platform, on top of providing analytics and advisory.
Established in 2001, TM R&D is the innovation arm of TM Group focusing on creating smarter ecosystems to make business and life easier for a better Malaysia. TM R&D’s solutions are clustered around four pillars namely Intelligent Platforms, Data Brokerage, Connectivity/Tools and IR4.0/Digital Solutions. Growing from strength to strength, TM R&D has won multiple global awards and generated more than 2,800 Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) and 1,400 digital assets to date. TM R&D’s innovations are developed in-house and cut across multiple industries such as Utilities, Retail, Agriculture, Healthcare and Education, with safety and productivity as its top priority.
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TM Named Official Partner of the National Sepak Takraw Team, Reaffirming Commitment to Malaysia’s Sports Development
KUALA LUMPUR, 5 May 2025 – Telekom Malaysia Berhad (“TM” or “the Group”) has been officially announced as the Official Partner of the National Sepak Takraw Team, in a partnership with Persatuan SepakTakraw Malaysia (PSM). This strategic collaboration reinforces TM’s commitment to nation-building and Malaysia’s sports development. The partnership was formalised recently in a document exchange ceremony held at Seri Pacific Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, attended by Dato’ Mohd Sumali Reduan, President of PSM, and Nor Fadhilah Mohd Ali, Chief Corporate Officer of TM. Through this two-year collaboration, TM will play a key role in advancing Malaysia’s sports development agenda by supporting the National Sepak Takraw Team’s participation in major regional and international tournaments, including the Asia Cup 2025 in Kuala Lumpur, the SEA Games 2025 in Bangkok, and the ISTAF World Cup 2026. Sepak Takraw, a sport deeply rooted in Malaysian culture, is gaining renewed popularity among the youth, with a growing fan base across Malaysia and ASEAN. Its strong heritage, rising appeal, and international recognition inspire TM to uplift the sport as part of its nation-building efforts. To further promote the sport and broaden its reach, TM will provide live broadcast coverage of the Asia Cup 2025 through its Unifi Sports Channel 701 on Unifi TV. The channel is available to all Unifi TV Pack subscribers, allowing them to stream the matches live and helping to inspire greater appreciation for this traditional sport among Malaysians. Amar Huzaimi Md Deris, TM Group Chief Executive Officer said, “This partnership reflects our commitment to supporting local sports development and nurturing national talent. Sepak Takraw is a sport deeply rooted in our heritage, and we are proud to contribute to its growth at both the local and international levels. “As we progress towards becoming a Digital Powerhouse by 2030, TM remains committed to making a meaningful and inclusive impact on communities, not only through digital technology, but also by empowering unifying platforms like sports. This initiative reflects our nation-building efforts to inspire the younger generation and strengthen our national identity,” concluded Amar. Meanwhile, Dato’ Mohd Sumali Reduan, President of PSM remarked, “We are proud to welcome TM on board as our official partner. TM’s support comes at a crucial time as we elevate Malaysia’s standing in Sepak Takraw regionally and globally. With their involvement, we aim to deliver strong performances in upcoming tournaments and nurture future champions.” By aligning with a sport that symbolises agility, teamwork, and national pride, TM continues its legacy of uplifting Malaysian sports while fostering a spirit of unity and excellence. This collaboration not only strengthens TM’s role as a nation-builder but also reaffirms its commitment to touching lives and empowering communities through meaningful initiatives beyond technology.
Innovating Malaysia's healthcare through 5G and digital solutions
TM One’s 5G and digital infrastructure reflects its commitment to enable smart hospitals and remote care capabilities TM One, the enterprise and public sector business solutions arm of Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) recently previewed the innovative future of Malaysia’s healthcare sector, powered by 5G technology and digital solutions. Collaborating with Siemens Healthineers Malaysia, TM One shared its vision at the inaugural 5G in Healthcare Symposium, organised by the Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia (APHM), where they showcased next-level innovations for the healthcare system, made possible by 5G connectivity. This gathering of healthcare providers highlighted the multiple benefits gained from digital transformation in the sector, including enhanced patient care and operational efficiencies, among others. The digitalisation of this essential sector has also proven to be particularly timely and effective in delivering health care during and post pandemic. Shazurawati Abd Karim, Executive Vice President of TM One explained the significance of 5G to Malaysian healthcare, stating that: “5G will positively impact the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), and enable life-saving medical innovations that reflect the needs of a post pandemic society. This includes remote medical learning and remote patient monitoring, among others. Together with our partners, which includes global technology companies as well as leading local companies, we are primed and ready to help Malaysia’s private hospitals co-create solutions that will save lives and bring value to their stakeholders.” “Aside from real-time speed and breakthrough connectivity, today’s digital healthcare ecosystems depend on robust and secure infrastructure essentials. Collecting and sharing of digital patient records and hospital data requires world-class data security to mitigate cyber threats and to comply with stringent regulatory requirements. TM One’s services can be integrated with private 5G networks and offers enhanced data protection and encryption to safeguard both patients and hospitals. This will encourage patients towards adopting digital healthcare services, potentially enabling them to seek treatment earlier and save lives,” she said. Amongst the technologies demonstrated was VRAR (virtual reality/augmented reality) using a Microsoft HoloLens device, which utilises mixed-reality experiences with 3D data processing, analytics, visualisation, and simulation applications. This technology aims to humanise the diagnosis and treatment identification process and will improve the productivity of healthcare personnel by accelerating their time-to-diagnosis, surgical accuracy and reduce time-to-care which will result in improving overall patient experience. TM One also showcased a virtual medical consultation solution powered by REMEDi, a digital healthcare technology developer. Through high-speed, low-latency 5G, the solution will provide enhanced video images and sound quality for safer diagnosis of patients and effective troubleshooting. In addition, this solution can be conveniently deployed anywhere, matching the current shift towards online examinations and telemedicine. Speaking about the event, Datuk Dr Kuljit Singh, President of APHM said, “The 5G in Healthcare Symposium was a great platform for our partners, TM One and Siemens Healthineers to demonstrate the future of Malaysia’s private healthcare, providing a guide on how to transform hospitals by leveraging 5G. This sharing was truly valuable to the symposium participants.” “Having these esteemed digital leaders provided a clearer idea to the industry of how they can transform their institutions. We are both excited by the potential offered by 5G technology and confident of the expert support offered by our partners as the industry continues its digital transformation journey in delivering superior healthcare service to our patients,” he enthused. Rod Frazer, Managing Director of Siemens Healthineers in Malaysia commented, "The opportunity to aggregate healthcare data and leverage this to support the day-to-day decisions of patients and clinicians is the game changer in healthcare delivery and cost effectiveness. To shape this future, it is vital not only to work on ideas that will change the way we think about the healthcare sector in the long term but also to identify current developments such as 5G connectivity, which has the potential to transform the market. Siemens Healthineers is excited to collaborate on this initiative with APHM and TM One to facilitate such discussions in the country.” TM One’s suite of robust and secured digital infrastructure solutions enable organisations to harness the power of AI and IR 4.0 to take their transformation forward. TM’s recent partnership with Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) to provide extensive fibre coverage for DNB’s 5G network emphasises its commitment to provide 5G infrastructure to support the digital aspiration of all Malaysians, including the digitalisation the nation’s private healthcare industry to support the vitality and wellbeing of the rakyat. For more details about TM One Healthcare solutions, visit www.tmone.com.my/industry/healthcare/
ACES Awards 2022 recognises TM R&D as the innovative tech company of the year
In recognition of its transformative approach to software and technology that can lead to the creation of new approaches and prospects Telekom Research & Development Sdn Bhd (TM R&D), the innovation arm of Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM), recently won the Innovative Tech Companies of the Year Award at the Asia Corporate Excellence and Sustainability Awards (ACES) 2022, organised by MORS Group. The award was conferred to TM R&D in recognition of its transformative approach to software and technology, demonstrating that its tech innovations can lead to the creation of new approaches and prospects. Dr Sharlene Thiagarajah, Chief Executive Officer, TM R&D accepted the award from Shanggari B., Chief Executive Officer of MORS Group and Luis Nieto, one of the juries for the ACES Awards 2022. “This is a proud moment for the TM R&D team. Winning this award illustrates that we are on the right track. The transformative approach in our work will help propel Malaysia to be a nation of producers, instead of consumers. Our ability to produce will lead to greater sustainability of our country,” Dr Sharlene expressed her gratitude on receiving the award. “Our achievements are shaped by the discipline, focus and determination we have instilled, and I would like to thank our team for their commitment towards excellence.” TM R&D is a world-class R&D company that helps businesses solve operational issues and co-create solutions for the global market. It focuses on intelligent platforms, IR4.0 technologies and connectivity to create smarter business ecosystems. The company strives to stay relevant with new innovative solutions that the market cannot do without and takes on projects that provide multifold benefits to organisations. Among its strengths is the local in-house talents that can make, create and innovate as well as provide thought leadership on infrastructure for the future. Acknowledging that nurturing talent is crucial to the business, TM R&D also offers emerging skills learning and development programmes such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning, Data Science & Analytics and Data Engineering for its employees. Because its products and solutions are developed in-house, TM R&D is able to customise its innovations based on customers’ needs, addressing their specific pain points and meeting their customers demand (B2B2C) – embracing the Group’s aspiration of becoming a human-centred TechCo. Every product and solution that is developed contains embedded security, analytics and AI hence expanding its functionalities and delivering maximum benefits to the users. TM R&D’s main aspiration is to create and deliver the next Unicorn for TM and ultimately for Malaysia. To support this, it holds fast to the three (3) pillars of its business, which are exploratory research, co-creation with industry, and commercialisation thus making life and business easier with smarter ecosystems to enrich humanity and bring progress to nations. The ACES awards is among the most prestigious accolades that recognise inspiring leaders and sustainability advocates cross-industry across Asia. The awards value services and achievements of businesses of any nature respected for their contributions to their communities and the world. For more info about ACES Awards, visit https://www.acesawards.com/.
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