Confirming the posting on MalaysianWireless Facebook page yesterday, Celcom Axiata’s holding company Axiata Group Bhd told Bursa Malaysia that it has been allocated 2x20Mhz on the 1800Mhz band and 2x10Mhz on the 900Mhz band.
Celcom has been allocated the following bands:
- 890MHz to 900MHz paired with 935MHz to 945MHz with effect from 1 July 2017; and;
- 1745MHz to 1765MHz paired with 1840MHz to 1860MHz with effect from 1 January 2017.
Full announcement by Axiata to Bursa Malaysia below:
[box type=”note” ]Axiata Group Berhad (“Axiata”) wishes to announce that its wholly owned subsidiary, Celcom Axiata Berhad (“Celcom”) and Celcom Mobile Sdn Bhd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Celcom had on 1 February 2016 received the notices of spectrum reallocation from Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (“MCMC”) for both the 900MHz and 1800MHz bands.
In line with the Government’s decision to optimise the use of spectrum resources, the following frequency bands will be allocated to Celcom by way of Spectrum Assignment:-
- 890MHz to 900MHz paired with 935MHz to 945MHz with effect from 1 July 2017; and;
- 1745MHz to 1765MHz paired with 1840MHz to 1860MHz with effect from 1 January 2017.
Based on the notice from MCMC, Celcom’s spectrum allocation, compared to the current allocation, will be lowered from 2x17MHz to 2x10MHz in 900MHz band, and from 2x25MHz to 2x20MHz in 1800MHz band.
MCMC has also earlier announced that the 900MHz and 1800MHz bands will be assigned for a fee for a period of 15 years. The fee for the specturm assignment is currently being determined. The reallocation takes into account the development of the sector and the nation as a whole and ensures that the spectrum bands are used in the most efficient manner. In this context, MCMC will also address the efficient usage of other relevant spectrum bands, including the 700MHz, 2300MHz, 2600MHz bands, by the end of 2016. Axiata is reviewing the said decision and will issue further announcement(s) if there is any material development on the same.[/box]
On Monday, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) announced that spectrum in the 900Mhz & 1800Mhz bands will be reallocated among 4 Telcos (Maxis, Celcom, Digi & U Mobile) by August 2016 for full implementation by 1 July 2017.
These two bands of spectrum will be assigned for a fee to Maxis, Celcom, Digi and U Mobile for a period of 15 years.
Currently, the spectrum on 900MHz and 1800MHz are being held by the 3 big Telcos; Maxis, Celcom and Digi. It was originally assigned for 2G network. However, for the past few years, it isn’t exclusively used for 2G networks anymore.
At the moment, part of Celcom 3G and Maxis 3G network are currently running on 900Mhz. Maxis, Celcom and Digi have also used 1800Mhz to build its new 4G LTE network around the country.
The 900Mhz spectrum is now being occupied by Maxis, Celcom and DiGi with 32MHz, 34MHz and 4MHz respectively. In the 1800Mhz band, all the 3 Telcos (Maxis, Celcom, Digi) each has a 50Mhz spectrum.
