AWS Cloud Day Malaysia – New Region and Diverse Vertical Capabilities to Drive Malaysia’s Digital Ecosystem

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A. Amir

Summary Bullets:
• AWS’ new Malaysia region and diverse industrial capabilities will strengthen its market position.
• Industry collaborations will be the key to capturing growing business-led cloud opportunities.

AWS held Malaysia Cloud Day earlier this month and shared its latest plans in the country including a plan to invest $6 billion in the country by 2037. The investment will include a new local region to address the increasing adoption of cloud services in the country as well as various programs to upskill workforce in the country (for more, please see AWS Malaysia Region Will Address Malaysian Cloud Demand but Could Lose Early Market Opportunities to Competitors, March 6, 2023). At the event, AWS also shared various success stories with a number of enterprises across different industries including key players such as Petronas, Pos Malaysia, Bank Islam, Carsome, Axiata, and Astro. This is crucial to showcase AWS’ capabilities not only to offer basic cloud services, but also to work closely with enterprises on their cloud-led digital transformation and help them address business challenges through a wide range of solutions.

Malaysia Enterprise Telecom Update Q4 2022 – Stronger Vertical Play, Wider Enterprise 5G Development

A. Amir

Summary Bullets:

• Leading enterprise telcos, TM and Maxis, continued to build their capabilities with vertical solutions and enterprise 5G.

• While Celcom and Digi added various new capabilities in their enterprise ICT portfolio, the merger could slow down their growth momentum.

Malaysian telcos ended 2022 with several new initiatives in Q4 2022 after a slow development in the previous quarter (for more, please see Malaysia Enterprise Telecom Update Q3 2022 – Slower Development but Steady Performance, October 31, 2022). Telcos continued to expand their vertical capabilities through collaborations with industry players. Besides this, 5G commercial availability and the Celcom-Digi merger will also accelerate the enterprise ICT development in the country, but it could also change the market landscape.

ASEAN 5G Q4 2022 Round-Up: Wider Industry Collaborations, Private Network, and Sustainability

A. Amir

Summary Bullets:

• ASEAN telcos continue to expand their industry collaborations and private network launches to explore market opportunities and monetize their 5G investment.

• Some telcos have started considering 5G green technologies to reduce their carbon emissions and enhance their solution proposition with sustainability messaging.

In Q4 2022, Indonesian telcos are entering the next phase of the 5G development with wider industry collaborations whereas Malaysian carriers have finally launched their services but still focusing on consumers (for more, please see 5G is Finally Available in Malaysia, So What’s Next for Telcos?, December 7, 2022). Meanwhile, telcos in more advanced markets are shifting gears with more advanced initiatives including private 5G networks and ESG.

5G is Finally Available in Malaysia, So What’s Next for Telcos?

A. Amir

Summary Bullets:

• 5G is finally available in Malaysia but there is still a lack of innovations with the service providers.

• 5G monetization may not be critical, but telcos need to expand their initiatives with partners to explore new applications.

5G is Finally Available in Malaysia

Malaysia started its 5G journey as early as 2019, but the service was only widely available in the country in November 2022, after all major telcos except Maxis signed the Access Agreement (AA) with the sole wholesale provider Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB). For more, please see Malaysia 5G Through SPV: One Step Forward and Two Steps Back, March 8, 2021 and 5G War Begins Again in Malaysia as Launch Nears, September 24, 2021. Those service launches were rather late compared to neighboring countries such as Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Currently, Malaysian telcos are focused largely on offering 5G as part of their mobile plans for the mass market. There are limited initiatives with enterprises to leverage the technology to co-develop new solutions. However, with a fast-expanding population coverage from 33.2% in September 2022 to (planned) 80% by 2024, combined with a strong push by the government through various industry initiatives, enterprise 5G development in the country is expected to accelerate within the next two years.

Malaysia Enterprise Telecom Update Q3 2022 – Slower Development but Steady Performance

A. Amir

Summary Bullets:

• Maxis and TM ONE recorded steady growth in the enterprise segments in the first half of the year.

• However, the performance is still below the overall industry growth. Telcos’ mind share is growing but there are still gaps in service capabilities.

The Malaysian enterprise telecom service market has developed rapidly in the last two years. Despite the delay in the 5G wholesale agreement and the Celcom-Digi merger, there were various new product launches, partnerships and acquisitions (see Malaysia Enterprise Telecom Update Q2 2022 – Mixed Developments but Positive Overall Progress, August 11, 2022 and Malaysia Enterprise Telecom Update Q1 2022: Wider Industry Collaborations Despite Stagnant Growth in 2021, April 13, 2022). However, Q3 2022 was a rather quiet period for the local enterprise telecom service market, with no major initiatives announced by the providers. Thus, this update will discuss the top line performance in enterprise services of the major domestic telcos for H1 2022.

ASEAN 5G Q3 2022 Round-Up

A. Amir

Summary Bullets:

• Carriers continue to expand their partner ecosystem with players across the technology stacks to enhance their end-to-end 5G solution capabilities.

• These initiatives will strengthen providers’ mind share and enable them to capture the early market opportunity through use case co-creation and commercialization.

The previous quarter saw wider partnerships between carriers and IT providers to further expand their enterprise 5G initiatives including AIS with Singtel and NCS, Maxis with HPE, M1 with Accenture, Celcom with HeiTech and IOH with Tech Mahindra (for more, please see ASEAN 5G Q2 2022 Roundup: Wider Partnerships Between Carriers and IT Providers, August 3, 2022). In Q3 2022, ASEAN carriers continued to expand their partnerships with leading technology players to launch innovation facilities and drive industry collaborations with enterprises across different verticals. This includes Singtel and Intel’s partnership on MEC Incubator, AIS and ZTE’s collaboration on 5G Center and Maxis’ wider 5G Alliance.

Hyperscalers’ Move in ASEAN – How It Will Change Domestic Telcos’ Strategy

A. Amir

Summary Bullets:

• Hyperscalers are making a move in ASEAN, expanding their footprints in key markets.

• Telcos will need to redefine their product and go-to-market strategies in the cloud, edge, and enterprise 5G.

Hyperscalers Are Making a Move in ASEAN
Leading hyperscalers are aggressively expanding their presence globally, with ASEAN being one of the key markets (for more, please see ”Hyperscalers Making a Move in ASEAN,” September 27, 2022). From Singapore, hyperscalers expanded to Indonesia and are now further expanding their footprints in the other key ASEAN countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines. Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced its Local Zones in the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam; Google Cloud is building new regions in Malaysia and Thailand; Alibaba Cloud opened new regions in the Philippines, and Thailand and has the widest presence in ASEAN; and Microsoft is planning to open new data centers in Indonesia and Malaysia. The move was driven by the growing demand for cloud services in the region accelerated by the pandemic. ”GlobalData Global IT Customer Insight 2022” shows that 75% of 166 ASEAN enterprises have increased their spending on cloud in 2022 while ”GlobalData Market Analyzer” (last viewed in September 2022) estimates that the cloud market in the region will double in the next five years from $16.3 billion in 2021 to $33.8 billion in 2026.

Malaysia Enterprise Telecom Update Q2 2022 – Mixed Developments but Positive Overall Progress

A. Amir

Summary Bullets:

• There were mixed developments in the telco enterprise ICT space.

• Despite positive progress, telcos should further expand their ecosystem partners for advanced technologies and wider collaborations.

There were mixed developments by Malaysian carriers in Q2 2022, from Maxis’ new 5G alliance, TM’s new solution arm (Credence), TIME’s partnership with Fortinet and its plan to sell its data center business and MCMC’s approval of the Celcom-Digi merger.

1. TM Launched Credence: After acquiring VADS and streamlining its enterprise business under a single brand, TM ONE, TM launched a new entity, Credence, as its cloud and digital service arm. As a new entity, Credence could innovate faster and capture the high-growth ICT market opportunity in the country. However, there could also be brand and back-end integration challenges. For more, please see TM Launched Credence, a New Enterprise Digital Business Arm to Redefine Its Position in the ICT Market, July 8, 2022.

ASEAN 5G Q2 2022 Roundup: Wider Partnerships Between Carriers and IT Providers

Summary Bullets:

• There were growing collaborations between carriers and IT providers that mutually benefit both parties.

• These partnerships will accelerate enterprise 5G developments in the region, but could also lead to challenges such as go-to-market and customer ownership.

Compared to the previous quarter (for more, please see ASEAN 5G Q1 2022 Roundup: Beginning of 5G Network Slicing and the Platform Play, April 8, 2022), there were a lot more initiatives on enterprise 5G driven by telcos and other industry players in Q2 2022. Telcos continued to enhance their 5G and service capabilities through partnerships with IT providers, including AIS with NCS, Maxis with HPE, M1 with Accenture, Celcom with HeiTech, and Indosat Ooredoo Hutchinson (IOH) with Tech Mahindra.

Malaysia Enterprise Telecom Update Q1 2022: Wider Industry Collaborations Despite Stagnant Growth in 2021

A. Amir

Summary Bullets:

• Telcos continued their momentum in expanding their enterprise ICT capabilities through collaborations with government agencies, but there was limited involvement from technology and industry players.
• The business was stagnant in 2021 due to the decline of legacy services. 2022 will be more challenging for telcos as businesses are returning to the physical workplace.

Malaysian telcos started their 2022 enterprise ICT initiatives with public-private collaborations.  TM partnered with Technology Park Malaysia (TPM) and Huawei to develop MRANTI, an e-service platform to drive technology commercialization, while Maxis announced its collaboration with MIMOS and Huawei to build a 5G and AI hub to co-develop new enterprise use cases.  This quarter also saw 2021 financial results reported by major enterprise ICT telecom providers such as TM and Maxis.  For updates on the previous quarters, please see “Malaysia Enterprise Telecom Update Q4 2021 – Acquisition Season for Telcos” (January 12, 2022).