Convergence is one of the greatest wonders of modern life. At its simplest, it means the transition from an analogue world to a digital one. With convergence, all it takes is a click of a mouse and information will be transmitted over the converged digital platform.

The potential and opportunities of convergence is limitless. Thanks to convergence, we can digitise almost everything including text, sound, speech, film, graphics, animation and music. In this format, information can be then be transmitted over the converged digital platform.

As the country’s leading telecommunications provider, Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) has always been at the forefront of the digital revolution.

From a history in providing merely voice services, TM embarked on its first dial-up Internet service in 1996. TM then made its foray into broadband in 2001 with the introduction of its signature brand, Streamyx; which became an instant hit.

Broadband has transformed and revolutionised the lifestyle of Malaysians.

From then on, TM never looked back. In 2003, TM deployed its first wireless broadband Internet access service using Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) technology, aptly called Streamyx Zones (formerly Streamyx Hotspot).

TM has since expanded its WiFi network to more than1,200 locations nationwide making it the country’s largest and most established wireless access network. For increased mobility and customer convenience, the service was also converged with its then mobile unit, Celcom with the introduction of its Mobile Wifi service in November 2004.

With the increased usage of broadband and the need to have faster access to data and information, TM in 2004, took another step forward by introducing the country’s first 1.0Mbps broadband package. This is further improved to 2.0Mbps in 2006 and then 4.0Mbps in 2007.

Currently, TM has the largest and widest fixed telecommunications infrastructure network in the country with 1,018 exchanges broadband- enabled, making the service readily available for more consumers. The company now serves 1.5 million broadband customers nationwide.

With the availability of broadband access highways, TM has also debuted on its Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) service trials in Penang.

As the leading broadband company, TM constantly look for ways to enrich its customers’ experience through converging broadband connectivity, content and communications, so that it serves as a catalyst towards a converged lifestyle for Malaysians.

Hence, in April 2006, TM introduced its first triple-play package by offering its subscribers not just the benefit of fast broadband connection but the chance to enjoy free or discounted calls via its voice over broadband service (VOIP) as well as explore a variety of broadband content from Bluehyppo.com and Netmyne.com.

TM’s foray into the content space is offered mainly through its lifestyle portal www.bluehyppo.com which offers a variety of different online channels and services, covering areas such as music, movies, education (B-Smart), online newspapers (e-browse) and social networking, and has more than 1.3 million registered members.

Netmyne.com is a business portal that serves the informational and communication needs in the current highly competitive business environment.

This portal acts as a specialised online destination for TM’s business and application-centric services and will offer all the resources, information and business solution to grow and build a business from a single point of reference.

TM also ventured into managed application, communications and hosting services which include customer relationship management, e- health, sales force automation, enterprise resource management, conferencing and collaboration, messaging, and fixed-mobile convergence services. TM also provides managed hosting services via its Information Security Management System standards BS7799 certified data centres which allow companies to co-locate their servers in a controlled environment.

In May 2007, TM debuted its new METRO.e service for businesses. It offers high-speed connectivity access from 4.0Mbps to 1Gbps, making it a compelling alternative for businesses that need robust secure high-speed connectivity.

The increasing demand for converged services and its provisioning through vehicles such as high-speed broadband (HSBB) makes it imperative for telcos such as TM to move into transforming its legacy networks into next generation network (NGN) where the ability to deliver converged services is made possible by a single multipurpose IP-based network.

Today, HSBB is almost upon us. The era of teleworking, digital homes and telehealth is just around the corner for Malaysians. HSBB is a premium broadband service with speeds of 10Mbps to 100Mbps for residential customers and up to 1Gbps for businesses delivered via fibre optic infrastructure.

Its benefits are manifold. HSBB will be a key national infrastructure initiative with huge economic and social impact. Besides contributing to economic growth, it will enhance the nation’s competitiveness in the region; help attract foreign direct investment as well as accelerate the nation’s ICT and high-tech aspirations and agenda through an enhanced knowledge capital workforce.

HSBB will also act as a catalyst to spur the development of the local content and application ecosystem by enhancing consumer experience and developer productivity.

It will attract international content providers to relocate their operations to Malaysia, thus helping the country to save costs in the long run for consumers and businesses. HSBB will enable the next phase of productivity and knowledge-based growth of our enterprises through the availability of new applications i.e. managed services and converged solutions; real-time integration with business partners; ability to tap into the global virtual markets and more flexibility.

More importantly, consumers will be able to enjoy an exciting lifestyle with a variety of services such as high-speed Internet access, file sharing, e-commerce, e-government, e-learning, infotainment, virtual shopping, distance education, video- conferencing, web browsing, IPTV and high resolution video on demand.

HSBB will also make teleworking a realistic choice as transfer of data can be carried out efficiently and the use of real-time interactive applications such as video conferencing will become a muchused tool.

With digital convergence brought about by HSBB, businesses will be able to improve their efficiency through new applications in managed services in accounting, supply chain or customer relationship management and can enjoy better integration with business partners worldwide.

From a social perspective, HSBB will spur the development of an IT-savvy society, with knowledge capital development that will help in bridging the digital divide.

As one of the key players among the licensees, TM is happy to play its role in contributing towards meeting the government’s national aspirations to achieve 50 per cent household broadband penetration targets by 2010. As a convergence facilitator, TM is in the driver’s seat. -NST

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