KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 27 — Mobile Internet player Green Packet will branch into Singapore by buying over a dormant telecommunications licence from Pacnet for US$2.04 million (RM6.8 million) in cash.
The company has agreed with Pacnet to transfer its existing facilities-based operator (FBO) licence and the corresponding wireless broadband access (WBA) spectrum rights to its new Singapore subsidiary Packet One (P1).
According to records from the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), Pacnet had forked out nearly S$2.5 million (RM6 million) in June 2005 as the first payment for its 10-year WBA spectrum. Nine more annual instalments ranging from S$69,188 to S$84,298 were due to the IDA from 2006 to 2014.
Four years ago, Pacnet and five other service providers — Singapore Telecommunications, StarHub, MobileOne, QMax Communications and DoCoMo InterTouch — had invested close to S$10 million for these licences.
They gave the firms the right to offer wireless broadband services over the 2.3GHz (gigahertz) and 2.5GHz frequency bands using technologies such as WiMax (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access).
Unlike Wi-Fi hotspots which provide patchy coverage and are confined to small areas, broadband offerings using these IDA-assigned spectrums are supposed to cover a range of tens of kilometres and offer users a viable high-speed alternative to fixed-line Internet access.
Green Packet already offers WiMax services in Malaysia and it plans to use the new spectrum to offer the additional perk of Internet roaming for its customers in Singapore.
The company will also allow telcos to tap its wireless Internet infrastructure to offload the burden on their networks, or to bundle mobile broadband services with their fixed-line packages, according to a Green Packet statement.
“We are planning to launch 4G (fourth-generation) WiMax services in Singapore in the second half of 2010. We will be looking at multiple market segments including vertical services which can benefit from high bandwidth and wireless reach,” said Michael Lai, CEO of Packet One Networks Malaysia.
“With great demand for high bandwidth wireless broadband and a ubiquitous experience, we believe there is tremendous potential for WiMax in Singapore,” he told BT.
If its plans take off, the firm would become only the second local WiMax player to introduce large-scale commercial services.
QMax is the only one out of the six WBA licensees offering full-fledged wireless broadband packages using its assigned spectrum. The rest are using the network for testing purposes or for niche consumer and business offerings.
“The transfer of this WBA spectrum right and FBO licence in Singapore to P1 is in line with our strategy of divesting non-core assets and growing our partner network to better serve our customers,” said Jacques Grezaud, country manager of Pacnet Singapore.
The Green Packet-Pacnet deal is subject to IDA’s approval. — Business Times Singapore
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