To: Secret_Agent_Man who wrote (11850 ) 6/8/1998 7:00:00 PM From: Rick Jamison Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 50264
Archive from our partner PT Indosat and their alliance. Please read the bold part. April 24, 1996 By Mokhtar Hanafiah _________________________________________________________________ KUCHING: Asean Telecom Holdings Sdn Bhd, the co-operative alliance among Asean's major international telecommunication carriers, is expected to be fully operational by the second half of next year. The company was launched by Energy, Telecommunications and Posts Minister Datuk Leo Moggie here yesterday. It consist of five partners -- the Communications Authority of Thailand, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co, PT Indosat, Singapore Telecom and Telekom Malaysia -- each having an equal share in the company. Telekom general manager for global business communications, Zamzamzairani Mohd Isa said a business and marketing arm of Asean Telecom Holdings, Acasia Communications Sdn Bhd, had already been formed. Both Asean Telecom Holdings and Acasia would be headquartered in Kuala Lumpur. "Acasia will undertake joint marketing activities to provide a one-stop-shop facility to customers," he said. "The facility provides the necessary support for partners to be the 'single point of contact' for customers to order, install and maintain the services to meet their telecommunications needs in the region." Zamzamzairani, who is also the chief executive officer of Acacia, said the company would also develop, manage, enhance and support corporate telecommunications services for its members. "Business customers and multinational companies in the region will be able to enjoy services like single-end ordering and billings and single-point fault reporting," he said. "Acacia's one-stop-shop services concept will also include the co-ordination of total solutions for its customers." Zamzamzairani said that Asean Telecom partners would initially be able to offer intra-regional corporate telecommunications services, intra-regional very small aperture terminal (VSAT) services and facility management/telehousing. Others in the pipeline are corporate voice services while potential products are virtual private networks, corporate data networks and other value-added services. Zamzamzairani, who did not reveal the paid-up capital of the two companies, said the partners were committed to make the venture a success. "Initially, it would not be big before we have firm plans. "More equity will however be put into Acacia to enable it to embark on its marketing operations," he added. He said more business units of Asean Telecom were expected to be formed and would likely be located in Asean countries. Zamzamzairani also said that Brunei and Vietnam were expected to join Asean Telecom soon. "Jabatan Telekom Brunei is expected to join our board meeting next month while the Vietnamese party has shown interest and has inquired about Asean Telecom," he said. He said even with the new members Asean Telecom would maintain an equal equity structure between its partners. He said Asean Telecom board members would meet after the launching ceremony to decide on the chairman for the company. Press reports early last year said the Asean venture would involve an initial investment of US$400,000 (RM1 million).