Rebranding for TM Cambodia Its subscriber base to further expand strongly

PHNOM PENH: TM International (Cambodia) Co Ltd (TMIC) yesterday rebranded its cellular operation and expected the company to continue registering strong growth in subscribers.

The new brand identity, hello, will spearhead TMIC’s aggressive move to increase capacity through the setting up of more base stations throughout Cambodia and revamp its distribution network by introducing more hello points there.

The hello point is modelled after Telekom Malaysia Bhd's TM Point in Malaysia.

“The launch of the new hello identity is not only important but necessary to bring the brand to another level of business excellence,” said TMIC chief executive officer Yusoff Zamri.

Minister of Ministry Posts and Telecommunications of Cambodia (3rd from right) unveiling the new brand identity 'hello'. Next to him is Dato' Yusof Annuar Yaacob, CEO of TM International and Ir. Prabahar Singam, Director of TM International Cambodia (right).

“The change is timely to inject a fresh approach into the company as this marks the second year that TM International acquired full ownership of TMIC,” he said.

TM International bought 49% of TMIC from Thailand’s Samart Corp to fully own the Cambodian cellular company.

The rebranding encompasses not only a logo change but also an investment of US$150mil in the next two years to upgrade TMIC's network capacity and add 500 base transceiver stations for increased coverage in rural and urban Cambodia.

The expansion would see TMIC having close to 800 base stations, and bring its cellular service to 80% of the country’s population.

The company invested US$50mil last year to boost capacity to serve 500,000 customers. It had 283,000 customers at the end of third quarter this year.

Yusoff expects subscriber growth, which came in at 50% for TMIC’s 2006 financial year, would grow by an even higher rate in the current year ending December.

In a statement, TMIC said the new identity was also a strategic initiative to move the brand away from the previous shareholding arrangements with Samart.

“It signifies the change that the company is going through and moving forward,” the statement said.

TMIC said 150 frontline staff would undergo intensive training to improve their service delivery, adding that all 700 staff members would be trained by the end of the month.

Eight hello points would be changed and two more would be established by next year. All hello points in the country would be rebranded by next year.

The rebranding also aims to keep TMIC competitive and fresh as it prepares to take on more mobile operators that are expected to enter the Cambodian market as well as grow its current market share of about 18%.

Speaking to the media after the unveiling of the new identity, TM International Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Datuk Yusof Annuar Yaacob said that to increase market share, distribution needed to be fixed and owned by operators.

TMIC has one of the highest average revenue per user (Arpu) of US$9 per customer among the countries in the TM International stable. Its average Arpu is between US$4.50 and US$5.50 per customer.

The penetration rate in Cambodia is 15%.

TM International also hopes to increase its roaming partners to 450 by next year from 181 now.