Maxis out to regain lost ground
By Goh Thean Eugohtheaneu@nstp.com.my
2009/11/20
After losing market share early this year, Malaysia's biggest mobile operator, Maxis Bhd (6012), is ready to regain lost ground and grab pole position in growth areas like mobile broadband.
It was the first to offer third-generation (3G) services, which enable users to surf the Internet faster using their handphones, among other things, but it is now second to Celcom (Malaysia) Bhd in that market. As at June 30 this year, Maxis had 171,200 mobile broadband customers, while Celcom had more than 420,000 customers.
"It's still too early to declare leadership in this segment as there's still tremendous growth potential in mobile broadband. Clearly, we want to be the broadband leader," Maxis chief executive officer Sandip Das said.
To be number one, it has budgeted RM1.2 billion to spend this year and plans to invest another RM1.2 billion next year. Most of the money will be spent to improve 3G quality and coverage.
Maxis also saw its mobile subscriber market share fall to 40 per cent in the second quarter of the year, against 41.4 per cent last year. Although it is still the clear leader in this space, industry executives said Celcom was getting closer. Celcom's share is up to 34 per cent this year from 30.8 per cent in 2007.
The decline was due to two main factors, Sandip said. First, Maxis put its mobile broadband sales on hold due to a network upgrade. Then, there was poor response to a plan that charged users in 60-second blocks. That has since been changed.
Sandip believes Maxis has put the past behind.
"Companies get bruised once in a while, but champions are companies that come back from such situation," he said.
When it modernised most of its 3G network, it counter-attacked with new mobile broadband packages.
"We are now ready. We have a daily pass, a weekly pass as well as a monthly pass; it's packages for all segments. Of course, we are seeing our sales going up as well," said Sandip.
He believes that the key to being top in mobile broadband lies with customer experience.
"I can stand in the middle of the street and sell 500,000 mobile broadband packs in one day. But it is pointless if the customer experience is not there," he said.
"It's still too early to declare leadership in this segment as there's still tremendous growth potential in mobile broadband. Clearly, we want to be the broadband leader," Maxis chief executive officer Sandip Das said.
To be number one, it has budgeted RM1.2 billion to spend this year and plans to invest another RM1.2 billion next year. Most of the money will be spent to improve 3G quality and coverage.
Maxis also saw its mobile subscriber market share fall to 40 per cent in the second quarter of the year, against 41.4 per cent last year. Although it is still the clear leader in this space, industry executives said Celcom was getting closer. Celcom's share is up to 34 per cent this year from 30.8 per cent in 2007.
The decline was due to two main factors, Sandip said. First, Maxis put its mobile broadband sales on hold due to a network upgrade. Then, there was poor response to a plan that charged users in 60-second blocks. That has since been changed.
Sandip believes Maxis has put the past behind.
"Companies get bruised once in a while, but champions are companies that come back from such situation," he said.
When it modernised most of its 3G network, it counter-attacked with new mobile broadband packages.
"We are now ready. We have a daily pass, a weekly pass as well as a monthly pass; it's packages for all segments. Of course, we are seeing our sales going up as well," said Sandip.
He believes that the key to being top in mobile broadband lies with customer experience.
"I can stand in the middle of the street and sell 500,000 mobile broadband packs in one day. But it is pointless if the customer experience is not there," he said.
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