Government’s announcement to increase digitalisation grant to RM200 million next year is a big step in the right direction
unifi is set to accelerate MSMEs in their digitalisation plans with its complete range of digital-first solutions. This comes after the Government’s announcement to raise the Digitalisation Grant for Malaysian micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to RM200 million next year.
The increase is a big step in the right direction and is expected to have a significant impact on the push for digitalisation especially in a period when businesses are looking at technology to fast track their road to recovery and beyond.
Along this road to recovery, unifi Business has positioned itself to become the preferred digitalisation enabler for MSMEs with its digital-first solutions while playing its part as a responsible corporate citizen in supporting the Government’s push to digitalise MSMEs.
Anand Vijayan, Chief Commercial Officer of Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) said MSMEs should fully utilise this opportunity to accelerate their digitalisation journey and unifi Business is here to support them.
“The decision to raise the digitalisation grant to RM200 million is a big move in the right direction and we’re ready to support the needs of MSMEs in Malaysia that want to accelerate their digitalisation journey.”
“As a government-appointed Technology Service Provider Partner (TSP) under the MSME Digitalisation Grant, we have the complete range of digitalisation solutions for MSMEs in every step of their digitalisation journey,” said Anand during a virtual media briefing session held today.
Since unifi launched its bespoke initiative that leverages on the Digitalisation Grant in August this year, the response from MSMEs have been overwhelming, further strengthening the brand’s position as the digital partner of choice among the MSMEs.
Currently, unifi serves a significant portion of the nation’s MSME ecosystem with more than 375,000 MSMEs subscribed its solutions nationwide.
Under this Grant, MSME entrepreneurs can subscribe to unifi Business Solution packages with savings of up to 50% across 12 months. In addition, unifi is offering prizes worth RM1.5 million to encourage MSME entrepreneurs to start digitising their businesses.
Meanwhile, Mohamad Yusman Ammeran, unifi Head of SME Segment who was also present at the session said feedback from MSMEs showed that digitalisation served as a booster that helped these businesses recover and thrive.
“The pandemic has transformed the business landscape in Malaysia and digitalisation is the way forward. We see a positive impact in the many businesses that we’ve supported during this very challenging period and I’m happy to see that many not only recover but have thrived thanks to our digitalisation solutions despite the challenges,” said Mohamad Yusman.
unifi has a host of solutions to cater to the different needs of individual MSMEs.
These include Microsoft 365 which allows businesses to increase productivity with real-time solutions to connect and collaborate anytime, anywhere. This solution also offers access to files in real time across multiple devices while ensuring a high degree of data integrity.
For new businesses venturing into the digital marketplace, unifi offers a comprehensive Digital Marketing Solution where they can enhance their online presence with increased visibility especially on social media.
Another unifi Business innovation is the cari@unifi Premium Listing site, a solution that allows businesses to reach a wider customer base through online listings and articles on the hugely popular local e-commerce platform, cari@unifi.
In addition, unifi also organises complimentary awareness and training programs for MSMEs to increase their digital proficiency.
On top of that, unifi has business consultants at 83 MSMEs Corners nationwide to provide advice and guidance to business owners – the only technology company in the country to provide such services.
To encourage sign-up for the Digital Grant, unifi is also offering exciting prizes to successful applicants under its “Sign Up & Drive Away” contest. Prizes include nine (9) four-wheel drive (4WD) vehicles during the contest period which will end 31 December 2021. Other interesting prizes include laptops, smartphones and tablets.
For more information on unifi Business Solutions and SME Digitalisation grant offerings, please visit www.unifi.com.my/business/smegrant.
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unifi encourages MSMEs to maximise Government Digitalisation Grant and accelerate their digitalisation journey with its suite of digital-first solutions
Government’s announcement to increase digitalisation grant to RM200 million next year is a big step in the right direction unifi is set to accelerate MSMEs in their digitalisation plans with its complete range of digital-first solutions. This comes after the Government’s announcement to raise the Digitalisation Grant for Malaysian micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to RM200 million next year. The increase is a big step in the right direction and is expected to have a significant impact on the push for digitalisation especially in a period when businesses are looking at technology to fast track their road to recovery and beyond. Along this road to recovery, unifi Business has positioned itself to become the preferred digitalisation enabler for MSMEs with its digital-first solutions while playing its part as a responsible corporate citizen in supporting the Government’s push to digitalise MSMEs. Anand Vijayan, Chief Commercial Officer of Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) said MSMEs should fully utilise this opportunity to accelerate their digitalisation journey and unifi Business is here to support them. “The decision to raise the digitalisation grant to RM200 million is a big move in the right direction and we’re ready to support the needs of MSMEs in Malaysia that want to accelerate their digitalisation journey.” “As a government-appointed Technology Service Provider Partner (TSP) under the MSME Digitalisation Grant, we have the complete range of digitalisation solutions for MSMEs in every step of their digitalisation journey,” said Anand during a virtual media briefing session held today. Since unifi launched its bespoke initiative that leverages on the Digitalisation Grant in August this year, the response from MSMEs have been overwhelming, further strengthening the brand’s position as the digital partner of choice among the MSMEs. Currently, unifi serves a significant portion of the nation’s MSME ecosystem with more than 375,000 MSMEs subscribed its solutions nationwide. Under this Grant, MSME entrepreneurs can subscribe to unifi Business Solution packages with savings of up to 50% across 12 months. In addition, unifi is offering prizes worth RM1.5 million to encourage MSME entrepreneurs to start digitising their businesses. Meanwhile, Mohamad Yusman Ammeran, unifi Head of SME Segment who was also present at the session said feedback from MSMEs showed that digitalisation served as a booster that helped these businesses recover and thrive. “The pandemic has transformed the business landscape in Malaysia and digitalisation is the way forward. We see a positive impact in the many businesses that we’ve supported during this very challenging period and I’m happy to see that many not only recover but have thrived thanks to our digitalisation solutions despite the challenges,” said Mohamad Yusman. unifi has a host of solutions to cater to the different needs of individual MSMEs. These include Microsoft 365 which allows businesses to increase productivity with real-time solutions to connect and collaborate anytime, anywhere. This solution also offers access to files in real time across multiple devices while ensuring a high degree of data integrity. For new businesses venturing into the digital marketplace, unifi offers a comprehensive Digital Marketing Solution where they can enhance their online presence with increased visibility especially on social media. Another unifi Business innovation is the cari@unifi Premium Listing site, a solution that allows businesses to reach a wider customer base through online listings and articles on the hugely popular local e-commerce platform, cari@unifi. In addition, unifi also organises complimentary awareness and training programs for MSMEs to increase their digital proficiency. On top of that, unifi has business consultants at 83 MSMEs Corners nationwide to provide advice and guidance to business owners – the only technology company in the country to provide such services. To encourage sign-up for the Digital Grant, unifi is also offering exciting prizes to successful applicants under its “Sign Up & Drive Away” contest. Prizes include nine (9) four-wheel drive (4WD) vehicles during the contest period which will end 31 December 2021. Other interesting prizes include laptops, smartphones and tablets. For more information on unifi Business Solutions and SME Digitalisation grant offerings, please visit www.unifi.com.my/business/smegrant.

TM records steady performance in 1Q2022 with revenue & PATAMI up 2.9% & 4.4%; maintains focus on its growth strategies execution
In the second year of its Transformation, the Group is on track to achieve its 2022 market guidance, focusing on strengthening its core businesses and investing in new growth areas Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) continued its growth trajectory and long-term business sustainability, recording a steady performance in its First Quarter ended 31 March 2022 as compared to the same period last year (YoY). The Group's operating revenue increased by 2.9% to RM2.89 billion, compared to RM2.81 billion in the same quarter last year, driven primarily by increased demand for voice, Internet and multimedia. Despite rising competition to offer converged solutions among telco and other technology players, TM continued to deliver strong customer growth across its operations. Capitalising on its core businesses and investing into new growth areas, TM further ramped up its transformation initiatives, delivering profit after tax and non-controlling interests (PATAMI) for the quarter at RM339.9 million or 4.4% higher than the RM325.5 million recorded in 1Q2021. The Group also recorded lower financial costs subsequent to the early redemption of its RM2.0 billion sukuk in March 2021, as well as lower foreign exchange translation losses on borrowings. The Group has applied the Cukai Makmur statutory tax rate accordingly for the current quarter. Accelerating into the second year of its Transformation, TM brought forward its manpower optimisation to enable earlier realisation of expected benefits to the Group. This, along with foreign exchange impact on trade settlement has led to a 5.0% decrease in EBIT at RM560.4 million for 1Q2022 compared to RM589.7 million in the same quarter last year. Excluding these costs, the Group's underlying EBIT is 14.0% higher at RM650.2 million compared to RM570.5 million in 1Q 2021. Free Cash Flow is lower by 15.1% at RM658.8 million compared to RM775.7 million due to higher CAPEX as the Group continues to invest in business expansion and meeting customers' demands through technology refresh and network delivery, ensuring steady growth. unifi: Double-digit revenue and subscriber growth unifi continued its growth performance, recording revenue increase of 10.6% from RM1.25 billion to RM1.38 billion in the current quarter. Sustained by increasing demand from Internet, voice and sales of devices, with cumulative fixed Internet subscribers increasing by 17.5% against the corresponding quarter last year. unifi remains the largest growth contributor for the Group. unifi will continue to maintain its leadership in fixed broadband and enhance its Fixed-Mobile Convergence (FMC), enriched with TV and streaming content. This reflects its commitment to improve its FMC customer experience with better and seamless service. unifi will also grow its SME digital platform as a one-stop service centre for solutions catering especially to SMEs nationwide. TM Wholesale (TMW): Higher revenue from increased demand for data services TM Wholesale (TMW) also recorded a growth performance for 1Q2022, with revenue increasing by 1.2% from RM631.9 million in 1Q2021 to RM639.5 million, mainly contributed by higher revenue from voice and data services. This was underpinned by increasing demand from High-speed Broadband Access (HSBA) and higher International Voice and Data. To date, TMW continues to enable industry broadband and 4G network via its fibre infrastructure, with the ongoing 5G rollout further strengthening that role. On the international front, it will continue to serve other OTTs and hyperscalers with connectivity and data centres, while regionally, TM Wholesale aspires to establish Malaysia as a digital hub for ASEAN via new submarine cables, enhanced data centre solutions and edge computing. TM One: Renewed focus on growing B2B digital solutions market TM One, the Group's enterprise and public sector arm, recorded a 7.4% decrease in revenue from RM925.2 million to RM856.8 million in 1Q2022 due to decline in data services revenue. Strengthening and growing its B2B digital solutions, TM One has focused its efforts on high potential industry verticals, namely healthcare, manufacturing, education, oil & gas, banking, financial services & insurance (BFSI) and public sector. It has entered a partnership with Tune Protect and Huawei Malaysia that saw Tune Protect becoming the first organisation in Malaysia to host an insurance core system on public cloud (Cloud αEdge). Commentary and Outlook from Imri Mokhtar, TM Group Chief Executive Officer "With our economy and borders reopening, TM is powering Malaysia's journey on its road towards recovery, by ensuring the vision of an inclusive and extensive Digital Malaysia becomes a reality. "Into the second year of our Transformation, we are focused on strengthening our core business while investing into new growth areas to meet customers' demands. In ensuring sustainability in the long run, we continue to grow our profitability to invest and seize opportunities arising from digital acceleration. "One of these opportunities is in the exciting space of digital solutions and services for enterprises. Building on TM One's existing capability and relationships with enterprises and the public sector, we will deliver speed and agility through our new digital arm Credence: a corporate start-up led by technology leaders. "unifi continues to better its fixed broadband and Fixed-Mobile Convergence value proposition to improve customer experience, while expanding our offerings to provide quality entertainment to customers at home or on-the-go. "We have also achieved some key milestones in our sustainability efforts. TM One has successfully secured the Green Electricity Tariff from Tenaga Nasional Berhad for its data centres in Kuala Lumpur, Cyberjaya and Johor Bahru, contributing to a lower carbon footprint as the demand for cloud storage inevitably increases. This is in addition to the existing Green Building Index (GBI) certification earlier obtained for its core data centres. TM's broader ESG commitment also remains consistent with Malaysia's initiatives towards achieving net-zero Greenhouse Gas emission for the country by 2050. "Meanwhile, TM Wholesale continues to establish Malaysia as a regional digital hub via new submarine cables, edge computing, data centres and supporting international connectivity. On the domestic front, TM Wholesale continues performing its role as the enabler for industry broadband, 4G and 5G network via fibre infrastructure that will transform the nation's connectivity capabilities."

TM to accelerate fibre deployment in Sabah, targeting 58% state coverage by 2025
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