TM inks Smart C-RAN agreements for Smart Putrajaya project

By Digital News Asia May 5, 2017

Agreements signed with webe and Touch Mindscape as well as Perbadanan Putrajaya
The collaborations will facilitate the establishment of a digital ecosystem for Putrajaya

TM inks Smart C-RAN agreements for Smart Putrajaya project

IN SUPPORTING the Government's aspiration of establishing a greener, smarter, safer and connected city, Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) on May 4 announced the deployment of its new solution of cellular network architecture, namely the Smart Centralised Radio Access Network (Smart C-RAN) for Smart Putrajaya project via its collaboration with Touch Mindscape Sdn Bhd (TMS).

TM Global Wholesale executive vice president Mohamad Rozaimy Abd Rahman signed the agreement on behalf of TM while TMS was represented by its director, Raja Mufik Affandi Raja Khalid.

With the agreement in place, TM and TMS will work closely in providing a common infrastructure to Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) for the provision of Smart C-RAN services in Putrajaya.

TMS will provide not only the street pole structures but also telecommunication equipment, entailing the common sharing of antenna and other specialised equipment.

At the same event, TM also signed a separate Smart C-RAN Service Agreement with TM Group's Mobility Centre of Excellence, webe digital sdn bhd (webe).

The agreement was signed by Rozaimy on behalf of TM, while webe was represented by its chief executive officer and executive director Azizi A Hadi. With the agreement, webe becomes the first mobile network operator subscribing to the Smart C-RAN service.

Prior to this signing, TM had signed a collaborative agreement with Perbadanan Putrajaya (PPj) which is also a Master Agreement for the Smart Putrajaya project.

These collaborations bode well towards establishing a digital ecosystem for Putrajaya with PPj as the local authority, TMS as the technology partner and webe as the mobile network operator.

Acknowledging the strategic synergies of the agreements, Rozaimy said, “These strategic agreements harness the strengths of each party in ensuring the success of the Smart Putrajaya project. Particularly compelling, the collaborations will facilitate the establishment of a digital ecosystem for Putrajaya by providing better mobile and WiFi access for its communities, with the potential adoption of smart city solutions in the future.

“We will continue to deliver relevant convergence communication services and solutions to Malaysians via the five pillars of Smarter Living, Smarter Businesses, Smarter Cities, Smarter Communities and a Smarter Nation - to cater to individual lifestyles and businesses alike, in tandem with our vision ‘To Make Life and Business Easier, for a Better Malaysia’.”

TM’s Smart C-RAN is a new solution of cellular network architecture for future mobile network infrastructure, particularly on Radio Access Network (RAN).

It provides a centralised RAN architecture that supports 2G, 3G and 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems and future wireless communications standards, addressing huge capacity requirements, space constraints as well as preserving the aesthetic values of urban cities.

To date, TM has successfully completed its Smart C-RAN pilot site and currently is in the process of deploying the remaining sites as agreed between TM and PPj.

Putrajaya was selected as the first cluster for the Smart C-RAN deployment with a projection of more than 60 sites being taken up throughout the contract period. TM is also in the midst of rolling out Smart C-RAN solution nationwide together with its partners.