KUALA LUMPUR: YTL Communications Sdn Bhd (YTL Comms), which is gearing up for the launch of its 4G mobile Internet services next month, is expected to unveil its own mobile phones soon.

“We are working on our own Android platform phones and it is likely to be introduced in three months,” said executive director Datuk Yeoh Seok Hong.

He said this at a signing ceremony to appoint ECS ICT Bhd as a distributor of YTL Comms’ 4G devices.

Although details on the mobile phones remain sketchy, market talk has it that YTL Comms was working on a number of WiMAX devices and had outsourced the production of its mobile phones to a smartphone manufacturer.
Wing K. Lee (left) exchanging documents with Foo Sen Chin. With them are Datuk Yeoh Seok Hong (second from left) and ECS ICT chairman Datuk Teo Chiang Quan

It is not known if the mobile phones will be under the YTL brand.

YTL Comms is expected to launch the name for its 4G mobile Internet services early next month, to be followed by the launch of the services on Nov 18. The group will embark on a series of roadshows later.

Yeoh remained tight-lipped on pricing, saying the services would be “affordable”.

However, he hinted that YTL Comm’s pricing plan might do away with the usual monthly commitment packages currently available in the market.

YTL Comms chief executive officer Wing K. Lee said the group had acquired some 2,500 base stations from Samsung and had about 1,000 yet to be deployed.

He said it may complete the deployment of all the base stations next year.

However, Lee said YTL Comms would review the density of the usage from time to time and add more base stations if needed.

ECS managing director Foo Sen Chin expects the distributorship agreement would contribute significantly to the company’s earnings.

ECS has about 2,500 information and communications technology-related resellers comprising retailers, system integrators and dealers.

For the six months ended June 30, ECS posted a net profit of RM13.5mil on revenue of RM626.2mil.