Maxis rules out buying rival Time dotCom's fixed line assets
The country's top mobile phone company Maxis Communications Bhd today said it will not acquire rival Time dotCom Bhd's fixed line assets.
"There's no plan of buying Time dotCom's fixed line assets," Jamaludin Ibrahim, Maxis chief executive officer said.
The two companies are working together to jointly market fixed line services, with the aim of leveraging each's under-utilised fixed line assets, he said.
Jamaludin also said Maxis has no plans to acquire Time dotCom's fibre optic network.
Time has the smallest market share, though it owns a 5,200 kilometre fibre optic network.
On Maxis' plan to purchase Time dotCom's cellular business, Jamaludin said that based on the acquisition of the spectrum alone, Maxis expects to save up to 10 percent of its total capital expenditure for the next three years.
"There's no plan of buying Time dotCom's fixed line assets," Jamaludin Ibrahim, Maxis chief executive officer said.
The two companies are working together to jointly market fixed line services, with the aim of leveraging each's under-utilised fixed line assets, he said.
Jamaludin also said Maxis has no plans to acquire Time dotCom's fibre optic network.
Time has the smallest market share, though it owns a 5,200 kilometre fibre optic network.
On Maxis' plan to purchase Time dotCom's cellular business, Jamaludin said that based on the acquisition of the spectrum alone, Maxis expects to save up to 10 percent of its total capital expenditure for the next three years.
Maxis has budgeted some RM3 billion in capital expenditure for the three-year period, he said.
Due diligence
Maxis commenced due diligence today on TimeCel Sdn Bhd, the unit holding Time dotCom's cellular operations, Jamaludin said.
The Maxis chief said while due diligence was expected to take six to eight weeks, the acquisition is likely to take another four months to complete.
Last week Maxis signed an agreement to buy Time dotCom Bhd's mobile unit in a deal worth up to RM1.6 billion.
Maxis' present subscriber base stands at 2.8 million and it has a strong desire to maintain its pole position.
The TimeCel acquistion would provide Maxis with an additional 650,000 cellular users as well additional bandwidth.
Listed in July, Maxis' major shareholder is Usaha Tegas Sdn Bhd, a company controlled by tycoon Ananda Krishnan, who built the world's tallest buildings, Kuala Lumpur's Petronas Twin Towers.
