The Malaysian regulator has fined in excess of US$ 1.6 million to three WiMax operators for defaulting on rollout obligation. MCMC has forfeited respective Bank Guarantee of YTL e-Solutions ($557,185), AsiaSpace ($498,534) and REDtone International ($586,510) for their failure to meet the 25% population coverage by the end of March.
And that ends the rhetoric of leapfrogging with rapid broadband deployment using WiMax in Malaysia.
The government has issued four WiMax licenses in early 2007 among the non-telecoms entities. It was perceived to be the telecom’s cottage industry. But that has been predictably proven wrong.
Only one – Packet One – among the four WiMax operators deployed its network in few urban pockets. Thanks to the US$15 million cash injection from Intel. But the remaining three remain lame duck. It became so embarrassing that the government kept on threatening to penalize them including cancelling the licenses. Finally, the regulator has lowered its axe and chopped $1,642,229 from the three defaulted operators. Read more.
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