Acasia set to make inroads into ASEAN telecoms market
By I. Christianto
SINGAPORE (JP): Acasia Communications Sdn. Bhd, a joint venture of six major ASEAN telecommunications carriers, is set to make major inroads into the telecommunications businesses of its regional and global customers in Southeast Asia.
The new company's chief executive officer, Zamzamzairani Mhd. Isa, said here yesterday that Acasia, in Kuala Lumpur, offered corporate customers a portfolio of services including intra- regional private leased services to support their business operations in the region and globally.
"In supporting our partners to better serve the increasing business communications needs of their customers, Acasia will seek to expand its range of services, with an eye to migrating toward broadband services in the near future," he said after the company's official launch.
Zamzamzairani said the partners could also offer a "one-stop- shop", with any one of them acting as the single point of contact for customers to design, implement, manage and enhance their corporate network regionally and globally.
"Acasia is also collaborating with the partners to develop an ASEAN Internet backbone. When implemented, this will enable regional Internet traffic to be carried on Acasia's single- platform network," he said.
He said Acasia had six customers including Motorola, Deutsche Bank, SBC Warburg and Lintas Arta.
Citibank and another company were expected to subscribe soon, he said.
The market for value added telecommunications service was now US$400 million and would reach $600 million in 2001, he said.
Acasia could tap 10 percent of the market share by 2001, he said.
He said Acasia was incorporated with $8 million. He said it had awarded a contract to Nortel, a Canadian telecommunications equipment maker, to build a data network linking six ASEAN countries.
Acasia is equally owned by Communications Authority of Thailand, Jabatan Telekom Brunei, PLDT of the Philippines, PT Indosat of Indonesia, SingTel of Singapore and Telekom Malaysia.
Zamzamzairani said Acasia was formed under the auspices of ASEAN Telecom Holdings, an alliance of major international telecommunications carriers of ASEAN which groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
"Backed by the technological expertise and infrastructure support from its alliance members, Acasia partners are able to provide differentiated and cost-effective telecommunications solutions for regional and foreign-based multi-national companies in the ASEAN region."
"In short, ASEAN business communications' needs can be seamlessly served across the region through any one of the Acasia partners, in other words, one ASEAN, one service," he said.
He said Acasia was still talking with Vietnam Telecommunications International about its participation in the alliance.
"Meanwhile we are still waiting for the formal acceptance of three other countries (Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar) in ASEAN, to invite them to join Acasia."