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MiTV CORPORATION SDN. BHD. (MiTV) and Celcom (Malaysia) Berhad (Celcom), TM’s cellular arm, today signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enter into a nationwide Domestic Roaming agreement that allows MiTV’s 3G mobile communication subsidiary carrying the prefix 018 to utilise domestic roaming throughout Malaysia, by tapping into the extensive mobile communication network of Celcom, who has the widest coverage in the country. It is anticipated to be the first such agreement of its kind in the country, allowing customers to enjoy complete nationwide mobile coverage at no additional cost.

The signing ceremony of the MoU between MiTV 018 and Celcom was officiated by the Minister of Energy, Water and Communications, Dato’ Seri Dr. Lim Keng Yaik and witnessed by Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) Chairman Datuk Dr. Halim Shafie. Chairman of MiTV, Dato’ Ir. Hj. Rosman Ridzwan signed for MiTV, whilst CEO of Celcom, Dato’ Sri Shazalli Ramly signed for Celcom. The signing was witnessed by Kenneth Chang, Executive Director, MiTV and Azwan Khan Osman Khan, Celcom’s Senior Vice President, Corporate Strategy and Development.

In addition, Celcom welcomed MiTV 018’s upcoming 3G mobile service by sealing the Access Agreement between the operators ensuring seamless interconnectivity of service between networks.

MiTV, a recent recipient of the high-speed IMT-2000 (UMTS/3G) spectrum assignment from MCMC, will utilise the mobile number prefix “018” for its upcoming yet to be named service.

Through the upcoming agreement, MiTV 018 will leverage on the strength of Celcom's unmatched coverage in providing true Malaysia wide coverage in all 14 states. This is a notable difference from the recently announced inter-operator domestic roaming initiative which is focused on limited sites in selected rural areas.

This will allow MiTV 018 customers to take advantage of Celcom’s widest nationwide coverage and roam into Celcom’s network in areas where MiTV does not have coverage to make voice calls and send SMSes. To date, Celcom has the widest network of any mobile network operator in the country, covering 97 per cent of the populated areas in Malaysia, including Sabah and Sarawak.

The forthcoming agreement will enable MiTV 018 to offer full nationwide coverage immediately upon the successful launch of its commercial 3G service targeted for later in the year. Concurrently, MiTV will also aggressively roll out its own HSPA enabled mobile network at launch offering higher speed and bigger bandwidth to encourage increased data and application usage to its 018 customers.

Domestic roaming is very similar to international roaming in that it allows customers to be connected in areas where their provider has yet to build its own infrastructure by “riding” on the existing network of a roaming partner that has coverage within that area.

In his address, Dato’ Seri Dr. Lim Keng Yaik commended both operators in taking the initiative to carry out the partnership, which he considers as a bold step towards offering consumers a new level of mobile service quality.

“This partnership is a step forward for the industry as a whole and works both ways in allowing the telcos involved to continuously provide a truly nationwide coverage for an increasing number of demanding mobile consumers,” Keng Yaik said.

He also added that this initiative is in line with global trends, as domestic roaming is commonly practised amongst new 3G entrants around the world to boost their coverage at launch.

“The rapidly growing and evolving mobile communication market today requires that operators seek strategic partnerships such as this to progress and stay competitive. This trend can be seen in nearly all prominent communication markets globally,” he added.

Speaking at the ceremony MiTV’s Chairman, Dato’ Ir. Hj. Rosman Ridzwan expressed his delight at the successful partnership between Celcom, Malaysia’s widest coverage mobile operator, and the yet to be named “018” 3G network, citing that the continuous network coverage will satisfy the needs of consumers that need to constantly stay connected.

“The seamless integration of networks of both companies will deliver an unparallel level of mobile communications to the end user. For an increasing number of mobile consumers who constantly need to stay connected, this is a much welcomed development,” he said.

He also reiterated that MiTV’s highly motivated team of experienced professionals are actively building a solid, next-generation mobile network infrastructure supported by an impressive list of innovative content, applications and services, further reinforcing MiTV’s commitment to launching, establishing and sustaining a formidable mobile communications company in Malaysia later this year.

“Our commitment is to provide content, applications and services never before seen in Malaysia. We have a young, creative and enthusiastic team with a considerable amount of experience developing very special and attractive products, services and packages in time for our launch this year,” Rosman elaborated.

Welcoming Celcom’s latest partnership with MiTV, Dato’ Sri Shazalli Ramly, CEO of Celcom, commented, “Through this collaboration, Celcom stands to empower MiTV’s 018 customers by taking their current services to the next level - offering them the convenience of immediate national coverage on Celcom’s network, which is the widest and the best in Malaysia.

He also emphasized that MiTV customers will be able to enjoy the same quality of service as Celcom customers, as well as the benefits of roaming on a network that extends to the most remote areas in Malaysia, such as the small islands and even at the summit of Mount Kinabalu.

“By joining forces with MiTV, Celcom is also welcoming the launch of new operators which is in line with the government's objective of fostering greater competition and consumer choice,” concluded Shazalli.