Now Digi have been considering to get a new partner when they want to get offer a new good service broadband.. Attention to all Digi user, stay tune for the good news.. Read more on

DiGi may get partner to offer broadband service

KUALA LUMPUR: DiGi.Com Bhd is keen to buy a rival or form partnerships to offer high-speed Internet access as the provision of broadband services holds new potential for the celco.

“We are not against acquisitions but are not on the hunt either,” chief executive officer Morten Lundal said after the company’s AGM yesterday.

He said DiGi was in dialogue with several parties whom he did not name and declined to say if talks were under way for a possible partnership with Time dotCom Bhd, which has a 3G spectrum and a virtually unused fibre optic network.

Lundal said DiGi was looking for a long-term solution to obtain a platform to launch its own broadband services and the company was “always having exploratory talks.” DiGi failed in its bid to secure 3G and WiMAX spectrums last year and early this year respectively.

Rivals Telekom Malaysia Bhd and Maxis Communications Bhd offer broadband services. Recently, four new WiMAX licences were issued to help speed up broadband penetration in the country. It is learnt that DiGi approached some of the four winners but it is unclear if the talks could lead to a deal.

Lundal did not say how much the company would spend to buy a rival but this mobile services provider wants to spend nearly RM900mil in capital expenditure this year to upgrade its network, up from RM750mil last year.

DiGi also expects more than RM4bil in sales in the current year ending Dec 31, given the strong net additions in the first quarter and good growth prospects for the rest of the year.

“Our earlier growth forecast was a high single-digit, which would take us to slightly below RM4bil, but we think we can reach growth of above RM4bil,” Lundal said.

For the first quarter ended March 31, DiGi added 473,000 new subscribers. Lundal said: “We are no longer a small celco. We have overtaken Celcom (M) Bhd in terms of prepaid users and are now number two in the prepaid market segment.”

DiGi posted net profit of RM246mil on RM1.01bil sales for the first quarter, up from RM185mil and RM861mil respectively from a year ago.

A capital repayment is on the cards, given that the company has more than RM900mil cash in its coffers although it has yet to determine the timing and amount to be paid.

“We are over-capitalised and have too much money, so we will return capital to shareholders when we find the right method and timing for that,” Lundal said. He also said there were no plans to split the company’s shares. DiGi shares rose 20 sen to RM21.20 yesterday.

During the AGM, which was open to the press – a rarity in Malaysia – Telenor ASA Asia chief and DiGi chairman Arve Johansen told shareholders that Telenor had no plans to take DiGi private. “It will remain listed on Bursa Malaysia,” he said. The Norwegian company has a 61% stake in DiGi.

Telenor has until the end of the year to trim its interest in DiGi to 49%. “Our intention is definitely to be in Malaysia and we would like to keep as big a stake in DiGi as possible. However, we will comply with the target by year-end.

“We can sell the shares to anyone but right now we have not identified anyone yet,” Johansen said.

Source = The Star Online