TM BIG WINNER AT PIKOM ICT LEADERSHIP AWARDS 2011 - CONTINUES TO RECEIVE INDUSTRY AND REGIONAL ACCOLADES

Kuala Lumpur 2 December 2011

Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM)’s transformation journey continues to receive external recognition when it was honoured as ICT Organisation of the Year at PIKOM’s 25th Anniversary Gala Dinner and ICT Leadership Awards 2011 held in Kuala Lumpur recently. At the same awards presentation ceremony, Dato' Sri Zamzamzairani Mohd Isa as Group Chief Executive Officer of TM, was also named the ICT Personality of the Year.

The awards were presented by YB Datuk Seri Panglima Dr. Maximus Johnity Ongkili, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation.
Datuk Seri Dr. Maximus Johnity Ongkili, Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation presenting Dato’ Sri Zamzamzairani Mohd Isa, Group Chief Executive Officer, TM, with one of the two awards clinched by Telekom Malaysia Berhad at PIKOM’s 25th Anniversary Gala Dinner and ICT Leadership Awards 2011, while Woon Tai Hai, PIKOM Chairman (left) and Shaifubahrim Saleh, PIKOM President (right), look on.

On receiving the awards, Dato’ Sri Zamzamzairani shared, “It is indeed an honour to be recognized as ICT Organisation of the Year and ICT Personality of the Year. These awards will motivate us to continuously improve our services and value proposition to our customers, as they further cement TM’s position as the leading integrated communications solutions provider in Malaysia, and also as the country's broadband champion. As such, TM reiterates our focus on stakeholder value creation in this highly competitive environment. This is also testament to our commitment to deliver an enhanced customer experience via continuous customer service quality improvements and innovations, whilst focusing on increased operational efficiency and productivity

“TM has embarked on a journey to transform from a legacy based network towards becoming an ‘Information Exchange’ where the Company continues being the catalyst for everyone to connect, communicate and collaborate towards an enriched and integrated digital lifestyle.

HSBB, and UniFi, are “game changers” in the way telecommunications service providers operate in the future. Infrastructure sharing, as already evident from our collaborations with industry players – is certainly the norm and TM believes this is ultimately for the benefit of Malaysian consumers as well as bringing the nation closer to its aspirations. True to our promise as a neutral and open service provider in creating a level playing field, we have thus far signed with three (3) service providers to provide HSBB wholesale services. In this day and age of multiple screens and devices, be it phones, tablets or TVs, consumers are now being entertained and are interacting with each other in a multitude of ways. The old paradigm of fixed versus mobile access is becoming increasingly irrelevant due to consumer behaviour, the lines are blurring and we need to provide content via multiple access and devices, thus the need to collaborate,” he added.

TM’s next step is to stack up the current services with innovative applications to provide an ever enriching customer experience be it with the consumer products and services or with the business/enterprise offering.

TM is leveraging on its infrastructure, collective expertise and reach to improve its footing in ICT and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) services for the business/enterprise segment via its ICT arm, VADS Berhad. The offering of new and innovative managed services such as Managed TelePresence and Cloud Computing services as well as the construction of the first TelePresence Exchange (TPX) in Malaysia may serve as the catalyst for local SMEs and Enterprises to go regional and global.

TM is also positioning itself to be the regional IP hub of choice by leveraging on its extensive global network infrastructure and assets to meet increasingly sophisticated demand of global carriers and enterprise customers. The Company recently entered into a collaboration to set up a massive distributed global server network that works together to intelligently place content closer to web users. With this, rich media content will be made available to users on demand, anytime, anywhere. This is in line with plans to expand its data centre footprint aimed at fulfilling the objective of positioning Malaysia as a world-class data centre hub.

Held as a celebration of PIKOM’s 25 years of existence in spearheading the ICT industry, the ICT Leadership Awards was conceptualized in year 2008 to honour individuals and companies that demonstrate ICT best practices in their industry, with the commitment and innovative business strategies required to advance in Malaysia and globally.

Prior to this, PIKOM has been organizing the PIKOM-Computimes ICT Awards since 1989 which later evolved to become PIKOM National ICT Awards to honour outstanding Malaysian ICT companies, products and individuals in the field of ICT for their contribution to the industry and society. In 2008, the awards have been merged with the MSC-APICTA Awards.

In 2007, TM’s ICT and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) arm, VADS Berhad was bestowed as the ICT Service Provider of the Year at PIKOM National ICT Awards 2007. The award was presented to an outstanding Malaysian ICT service provider that displayed strong financial performance and has rendered services above and beyond the expectations of the customer.

Founded in 1985, PIKOM, The National ICT Association of Malaysia was formed with the objective of creating an environment that is conducive to the health, prosperity and competitive nature of the ICT industry. Its membership comprises companies involved in a whole spectrum of ICT products and services. In line with this, PIKOM aims to be a catalyst for the growth of the ICT industry in Malaysia, thus positioning it to be the voice of the Malaysian ICT industry.

These two awards came almost immediately after TM’s sweep at the recent National Annual Corporate Report Awards (NACRA 2011) where TM bagged the Platinum Award for Overall Excellence category for its Annual Report while also bringing back four (4) other awards in various categories including Industry Excellence, Corporate Social Responsibility, Best Bahasa Malaysia version and Best Design.

TM also clinched "Best Wholesale Ethernet Service APAC 2011" awarded by Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) at the Carrier Ethernet Service Provider Awards APAC 2011 in Singapore. The award recognises TM’s excellence and leadership in developing Wholesale Ethernet Services in supporting the domestic carriers’ requirements in Malaysia within the Asia Pacific region including Japan, Australia and New Zealand. TM’s Network has received MEF certification earlier this year - the second in South East Asia. This MEF recognition goes beyond the wholesale aspect, and is also a statement to the quality of TM’s Metro E infrastructure, which supports all its services, including retail.

In addition, Rozalila Abdul Rahman as the Chief Marketing Officer of TM was also bestowed the inaugural Malaysian Women Marketeer Award along with three other winners by the Institute of Marketing Malaysia (IMM) and the World Marketing Association. The award recognises the performance and contribution of women marketers to the development and success of the marketing industry in Malaysia.