DiGi to expand network further

DIGI.COM Bhd, which has invested RM700mil to RM750mil on its telecommunication network this year, will further beef up its investment next year partly to drive its marketing ambitions to spur its mobile Internet business.

DiGi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd chief marketing officer Albern Murty says this will involve segmenting the customers and providing different packages to meet their needs.

“The investment of between RM700mil and RM750mil this year is part of our telecommunication network investment to provide customers with better Internet experience and to differentiate ourselves from other telco players in the market. We will continue to upgrade the company's network for better speed and data, including long-term evolution or 4G services, in 2013.

“Today, we have 3G sites covering about 60% of the population, and DiGi hopes to push it to about 70% in the first half of next year. For data, the coverage is about 95% of the population, including both 2G and 3G sites,'' he tells StarBizWeek in a recent interview.

For prepaid customers, he says, it plans to continue delivering “Internet for All” by providing the right plans for the different needs in the market, and build with Internet, among others. For postpaid, DiGi will focus on mobile Internet services, smartphones and roaming offerings.

Besides providing data access, Murty says the company will roll out packages with competitive pricing to various segments of the market that will involve both “above-the-line” and “below-the-line” campaigns regardless of the technology being deployed.

Among the successful mobile Internet campaigns rolled out by the company this year were the postpaid plan that offered unlimited Internet roaming at a flat rate when roaming in certain countries and the lowest tablet plans in the market at RM15 a month with Internet quota of 500MB for postpaid customers.

Its data revenue grew by 3.4% in the third quarter of this year compared with the second quarter (of this year) driven by strong mobile Internet usage, aided by higher take-up of its DG Smart Plans and smartphone bundles.

For prepaid users, one of the successful ones is the DiGi Easy Prepaid's Refreshed its Buddyz proposition that includes 24-hour free calls, SMS to three Buddyz and free Facebook access. DiGi is the only mobile operator to offer free FB access to prepaid and postpaid customers via Opera Mini browser.

According to Murty, plans are underway to expand the number of DiGi stores nationwide next year as part of company's strategy to meet the greater demand and needs of customers.

He says it plans to invest close to RM30mil in upgrading internal systems and building new retail outlets. By end of next year, he adds, there will be between 25 and 30 DiGi Stores and 120 and 150 DiGi Store Express. By end of 2012, he says the company targets to have 22 DiGi Stores and 50 DiGi Store Express.