KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia—Incumbent operator DiGi.com decided against bidding for a third-generation license in Malaysia, but five groups did submit bids for one of the country’s three licenses on offer.
The country’s other four mobile operators did submit bids. Telekom Malaysia and Technology Resources Industries partnered to submit a bid under the name Celcom. Telekom Malaysia upped its stake in TRI earlier this month to about one-third and plans to merge with the operator. In addition, Time dotCom also applied for a license, while Maxis Communications applied for a license under the name UMTS.
An unknown company, E-Touch, also applied for a license.
The licenses are priced at $13.2 million each and will be awarded by July 30. The award process is based on six criteria, including the ability to ensure service rollout and coverage, capacity for infrastructure sharing, providing roaming, financial standing, commitment to industry development, and management and technical expertise.
DiGi.Com said it intends to invest strategically as a mobile virtual network operator in Malaysia.
