KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 24): Being a cloud service provider (CSP), Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) will provide the core infrastructure of the cloud platform and the end solutions.
“We will be working with the managed services providers (MSPs).
“This is an arrangement that is the norm in various CSP roles. For example, TM is also playing that role with other international service providers,” said TM chief executive officer Imri Mokhtar during a quarterly result briefing.
He noted that the telco group will leverage its twin data centres, namely the Klang Valley Core Data Centre (KVDC) and the Iskandar Puteri Core Data Centre (IPDC).
When asked whether TM will be playing a role in the government’s special purpose vehicle (SPV)-driven 5G rollout, he said the government has yet to reveal details on how the implementation will be done.
He said it is still at a preliminary stage and that the group “only knows as much as the media” on the matter, although he said TM is ready to provide its fibre network for a cost-effective rollout of 5G infrastructure.
To recap, the government has given conditional approvals for Microsoft, Google, Amazon and TM to build and manage hyper-scale data centres as well as for the provision of hybrid cloud services.
Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the investments from these CSPs will total between RM12 billion and RM15 billion over the next five years.
The government has also proposed to appoint three local ICT companies as MSPs to work with the CSPs to manage CSP services for public-sector agencies in order to strengthen the capabilities of local companies. The ICT companies are Enfrasys Solutions Sdn Bhd, Prestariang Systems Sdn Bhd and Cloud Connect Sdn Bhd.
As part of the government’s Cloud First strategy under the MyDigital blueprint, the government is aiming for the migration of 80% of public data into the hybrid cloud system by end-2022, he said.
TM announced a 61% increase in its annual profit to RM1.02 billion in the financial year ended Dec 31, 2020 (FY20). The sharp rise in earnings was underpinned by lower tax charges as well as contribution from the group's share of improved performance of subsidiaries with non-controlling interests.
Its annual revenue fell 5.2% to RM10.84 billion in FY20 from RM11.43 billion posted last year due to lower revenues from all lines of products.
TM has declared a final single-tier cash dividend of 7.5 sen to its shareholders. Cumulatively, TM has proposed 14.3 sen for FY20 versus 10 sen in FY19.
For the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2020 (4QFY20), TM posted net profit of RM259.44 million versus a net loss of RM51.09 million a year ago. Quarterly revenue was 1.1% lower at RM3 billion from RM3.03 billion a year earlier, underpinned by lower revenue in its voice, data and non-telecommunication services, noted the company in a filing with Bursa Malaysia.
Its earnings per share jumped to 6.87 sen in 4QFY20 compared with loss per share of 1.37 sen a year earlier.
Notably, the share price of the company has doubled from a year ago as investors remained upbeat on the outlook of the telco. The stock has risen 15.3% year-to-date.
Today, the counter fell 21 sen or 3.26% to RM6.24, giving a market capitalisation of RM24.38 billion at the time of writing.