CelcomDigi Berhad today said that the company has kickstarted its full-scale programme to build Malaysia’s future digital network by integrating and modernising the largest 4G network in Malaysia with the latest LTE and 5G-ready technologies.
It is one of the largest network deployment projects in the country involving a total of 18,000 sites, following the successful merger of Celcom and Digi earlier in December 2022.
The new digital network will integrate the two existing networks that have a combined coverage footprint of 96.4% for 4G LTE and 90.3% for 4G LTE-A, and both are also the most awarded networks in Opensignal’s latest industry report – Malaysia: Mobile Network Experience Report March 2023.
Chief Executive Officer Datuk Idham Nawawi said that this new integrated and modernised network will leverage the strengths of the merger between Celcom and Digi.
We are excited to embark on this project for the country, to build the largest, most modern digital network using the latest in mobile telecommunications technology.
He said that they have successfully deployed pilots in five clusters recently, namely in Sitiawan, Rawang, Bercham, Port Dickson, and Kuantan, and the upgrades were managed without any disruption to customer experience.
“We are committed to build a faster, more robust network to provide Malaysians with an unrivalled digital experience, built on the highest standards of connectivity, speed, reliability, and stability. Together with our wide menu of product offerings, we hope to enable customers with the best combination of choice, value and network experience to power their increasingly digital lives.”
CElcomDigi wants to Elevate the service experience
The company will integrate and modernise the network by clusters, with activities focused on coverage and capacity expansion efforts, upgrading sites with the latest 4G and 5G-ready technologies such as massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) and multiband remote radio units (RRU) to name a few, as well as streamlining overlapping sites to eliminate duplication.
They said that they will maximise its spectrum portfolio to create a multilayer, multiband network, which includes nationwide deployment of the 900Mhz spectrum at all sites to improve coverage and indoor service quality.
They further claimed that when completed, the new network will offer customers a significantly elevated quality of experience almost everywhere across the country, improving reach from 96% to 98% of Malaysians nationwide.
Upgraded sites and capacity expansion will make for a faster, more efficient network engine with enhanced capabilities to deliver higher throughput, which means customers with faster and more reliable connectivity, for supporting bandwidth-intensive applications and enabling smooth performance across multiple devices concurrently.
This future-proof network will strengthen CelcomDigi’s ability to better meet customer expectations, stay competitive, and keep pace with the data demands of an evolving digital landscape, simultaneously paving the way for 5G.
The company said that the modernised network will be a critical piece in driving CelcomDigi’s ambitions to be the new digital growth engine for the nation.
CelcomDigi also plans to re-invest 15%-18% of total revenue in capital expenditure to support both existing networks and the new integrated and modernised network.
This is done to keep a strong pace of integration execution to complete the network exercise in the next two and a half to three years’ time.
