Celcom
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| Industry | Mobile telecommunication services |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1988 |
| Headquarters | Celcom Axiata Tower 82 Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz, 53100, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
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Key people
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Datuk Seri Shazzalli Ramly, CEO(until 1 September 2016) Michael Kuehner (CEO)(beginning 1 September 2016) |
| Services | 2G, 3G, 4G and satellite mobile network |
| Owner | Axiata Group Berhad |
| Website | www |
Celcom Axiata Berhad, DBA Celcom, is the oldest mobile telecommunications provider in Malaysia. Celcom is a member of the Axiata group of companies. Being one of the very few companies in Malaysia to originally obtain a cellular phone license, it successfully introduced mobile telephony in Malaysia through its ART-900 (Automatic Radio Telephone) service, using first generation (analogue) ETACS (Extended Total Access Communication System) specifications of the United Kingdom, a derivative of the US-AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System) technology. The ETACS ART-900 was started using the prefix "010". Celcom now uses the dialling prefix identifier of "013" and "019" and offer digital GSM (Groupe Speciale Mobile), an originally European standard, now largely a world standard for mobile communications. The original frequency band for GSM is 900 MHz, and was soon extended to 1800 MHz to cater for a much wider bandwidth requirements. The 2100 MHz band is used for their dual-channel HSPA+ network. Celcom is also licensed and has been operating FDD-LTE on 1800 MHz and 2600 MHz.
Through the Mobile Numbering Portability by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, CELCOM also provides Virtual Mobile Operator services. Celcom also provides rural communications services using CDMA Technology and Satellite Phone.
Celcom started its operation as STM Cellular Communications in 1988 with Fleet Group and Telekom Malaysia as shareholders. Subsequently, Telekom Malaysia sold its 51% shareholding to the TRI group which was controlled by Tajudin Ramli. Fleet Group's share was transferred to the Time Engineering group which was later sold to TRI. In the initial years Celcom experienced a tremendous growth in subscriber base and network coverage under the stewardship of Rosli Man, the President of the company. It was during his tenure that Celcom turned into the leading cellular companies in Malaysia. Man left Celcom in 1996.
When the cellular phone market was opened up in 1995, Celcom upgraded to the GSM900 service and quickly grew to become the largest mobile phone company in Malaysia. Competition soon set in, and several digital mobile carriers competed for market dominance of the cellular phone industry.
During the 1997 Asian financial crisis, Celcom's owner, Tan Sri Tajudin Ramli suffered a debt crunch, and his shareholding in Celcom was seized by Danaharta, the national asset restructuring company. Failure to resolve his debts resulted in the controlling stake in Celcom being sold to Telekom Malaysia, the government-owned incumbent fixed line operator in 2003. Telekom Malaysia proceeded to merge Celcom with its own mobile-operator subsidiary TMTouch through a reverse takeover of TMTouch.
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Wikipedia