As the country continues to stress on digital connectivity and inclusion to bring the people into the new digital economy, Naza Communications Sdn Bhd (NCSB) is best placed as a game changer that will make this future possible with its willingness to explore new ways to address industry concerns all this, while also bridging connectivity gaps in the country in a cost-effective manner.
Deemed a promising business within the Naza Group of Companies, Naza Communications is a company that specialises in providing innovative and holistic solutions for telecommunications connectivity through towers, micro cell sites and other telecommunications solutions. To date, it has erected 200 towers across the country, at an investment tune of RM20 million and plans to build 1,000 towers in the next five years.
NSCB Chief Executive Officer, Al-Fazirul David Abdullah is exploring new and innovative approaches to achieve these. He says, “One of the three main agenda for NCSB is nation building, where we aim to bridge the communications gaps of the country by rectifying telecommunications “blind spots” in rural, suburban and urban areas – sight or means of connectivity to the people or businesses in these areas – indirectly enabling increased revenues for all. For this, NCSB is working with the Government, regulators, local authorities, agencies and telco/non-telco players.”
It’s other two agenda are enhancing technology advancement and growing its business footprint in the country. For this, the company is looking beyond traditional tower play and is set to become more of a technology player by reinventing the industry, i.e. exploring and creating a diverse range of products, as well as exploring new ways of doing business, and forming new revenue sources for the company. Focused on growing the business further, Fazirul believes its footprint growth can be done strategically via collaborations, acquisitions and organic growth. It is open to work with non-traditional technology players or any interested parties to realise this objective.
With a need for modernisation and innovations in the industry, the company believes that the it can use its technology, industry know-how and solutions to connect the underserved areas in the country and bring them into the digital world, as it challenges industry norms to do so. Looking at the telecommunications market potential in the country, Fazirul sees the market growing with plenty of room for expansion. While technology adoption has happened rapidly across the country with even school children in kampungs these days carrying mobile phones, coverage is still a problem with infrastructure lagging or not growing in tandem.
Besides banking on its own holistic and integrated solutions, visionary Naza Communications is also open to collaborations with like-minded companies to achieve its goal. With all these strategies and plans in place, NCSB is set to increase its footprint in the country with a target roll-out of 300 to 600 towers by 2019, by optimising upfront investment and maximising roll out.
