ASX-listed SkyNetGlobal’s plans to copy its digital home networking business model around the world has taken another step, with its Malaysian licensing partner signing contracts to give 3500 flats and offices access to broadband.
The wireless broadband and digital home products provider said in a statement that its Malaysian licensing partner, W Home Communications, had signed broadband provision contracts with eight buildings in Kuala Lumpur.
The eight buildings comprise some 3500 apartments and offices, SkyNetGlobal said.
Vincent Loh, general manager for W Home Communications in Kuala Lumpur, said the company’s initial yearly target had been 2000 apartments. “Which we thought was aggressive, because the service is new here,” he said.
Loh said W Home Communications had began touting for Kuala Lumpur business four months ago. Building owners and managers had been quick to see the advantages of wireless broadband, he said.
“We have already submitted proposals to property management companies representing 42 buildings covering 21,600 units,” Loh said. “We aim to sign at least 100 buildings in the next 24 months.”
Jonathan Soon, the Sydney-based chief executive of SkyNetGlobal, said the deals showed that the W Home proposition could work internationally, where economic metrics and consumer expectations varied widely.
“Progress in Malaysia will also provide greater confidence to our partners in other parts of the world,” Soon said.
SkyNetGlobal’s W Home division provides broadband communications to residential apartment buildings in Sydney and around the world. W Home focuses on ‘last mile’ connectivity using powerline technologies to connect households, SkyNetGlobal said.
Malaysia’s government had mandated that at least half of all Malaysian households must be broadband-enabled by 2009. The nation had 24 million people, of whom 2.9 million currently access the internet using dialup, the company said.
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