Telekom Malaysia Berhad (Telekom Malaysia), through its wholly-owned international investment arm, TM International (L) Ltd ("TM International"), announced on Thursday the entry into a joint venture fiber optic backbone project with Multinet Pakistan (Private) Limited (Multinet), said a press release here on Thursday.
In a statement released simultaneously in Islamabad and Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, Telekom Malaysia said the national backbone project which would involve the laying of a very high capacity fiber optic backbone throughout the length and breadth of the country spanning over 4,000 kilometres is expected to be completed in about 18 to 24 months time.
According to details, the backbone will link over 75 major towns and cities in the country and will provide over 10 Gbps of 'bandwidth-on-demand' and 48 strands of 'dark' fiber for the use of other telecom operators and businesses such as Mobile Phone operators, wireless local loop (WLL) operators, long distance international (LDI) and local loop (LL) operators, Cable Television companies, internet service providers (ISPs), Broadband ISP's, Academic Institutions (Schools, Colleges, Universities), Utility companies, Call Center companies, Software Development Houses (ISV's), Banks and Financial Institutions and to other Enterprise and Small business customers as well, the release added.
The release further said the signing and delivery of various agreements by the relevant parties took place in Islamabad, witnessed by Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who is also on a four-day official visit to Pakistan.
"This is our first investment in Pakistan and we are excited about this. In addition to the initial investment, TM International and its partners expect to invest up to dollars 100 million in a nation-wide fiber network, covering a distance of over 4,000 Km, linking over 75 major towns and cities throughout the country in a span of over two years," Telekom Malaysia Chairman Tan Sri Ir Dato Mohammed Radzi Mansor said.
Multinet Pakistan Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Nasser Khan Ghazi said, "The national fiber optic backbone will be a great enabler of all segments of businesses in Pakistan and will greatly influence the continued strong economic growth of the country. We are indeed very excited to be working with a major regional Telecom giant and expect to rollout the infrastructure at an aggressive pace."-PR