‘Malaysia to pick WiMax winners this month’

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will announce at least two winners of licences to operate wireless broadband WiMax services by the end of this month, a business weekly said.

The Edge, citing unnamed sources, said the evaluation process on the bids has been completed and industry regulator Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission would meet soon to decide on the winners. The announcement will end months of speculation on which companies will be allocated the 2.3 GHz spectrum.

Seventeen firms applied for the high-speed WiMax spectrum. They include state-controlled telecommunications firm Telekom Malaysia and mobile phone services operators Maxis Communications and DiGi.Com.

Malaysia, scrambling to boost Internet transfer speeds and catch up with its more technology-savvy Asian neighbours, has said it aims to launch the service this year.

Up to four blocks of 2.3 GHz spectrum are up for grabs, but Communications Minister Lim Keng Yaik has said he was inclined to award two blocks first and release the rest later. Lim also said the government would only award the spectrum to companies that have the financial means and operational capabilities to undertake a national roll-out. reuters

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