Celcom

Celcom started its operation as Cellular Communications Network (Malaysia) Sendirian Berhad on 5 January 1988 with Fleet Group Sdn. Bhd., owned by Fleet Holdings Sendirian Berhad, (now primarily known as Ikral Capital Sdn. Bhd.) the owner of Tun Dr. Daim Zainuddin (then-parent company of TV3, NSTP, and Bank of Commerce Berhad/BCB) and Telekom Malaysia as shareholders. Subsequently, Telekom Malaysia sold its 51% shareholding to the Technology Resources Industries, a company owned by Tan Sri Tajudin Ramli. Fleet group's share was transferred to the which was later sold to TRI. In the initial years, Celcom experienced 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 company in Malaysia. Rosli 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.

Celcom was originally listed on the Bursa Malaysia, but after the merger with Telekom Malaysia Berhad, it has since remained private.

Owing to the inferior management of its former management, Celcom was found liable by an arbitration panel in Switzerland for infringing an agreement signed with Deutsche Telekom AG's unit, DeTeAsia in 2002. The tribunal ruled that Celcom was liable to pay DeTeAsia US$177.2 million in principal plus US$16.2 million in interest as well as other legal and arbitration costs. The total sum was about RM740 million, leaving Telekom Malaysia to intensify its efforts at recovering monies from Celcom's previous owners.

Background

On 21 June 2021, Axiata and Telenor agreed to a potential merger of Celcom and Digi to create a stronger telco in Malaysia, coming after advanced discussions that took place two months earlier. The deal was approved by both Celcom and Digi shareholders on 18 November 2022. The merged company is named CelcomDigi. At completion, Axiata and Telenor hold equal ownership of 33.1% each in the newly merged company. The merger was completed on 30 November 2022 and the company began its operation the next day.

Coverage, Products, and Services

Celcom operates 2G EDGE, 4G LTE, 4G LTE-A and 5G NR networks.

Celcom has broader and more extensive coverage nationwide in Malaysia, compared to other cellular operators. In 2006, Celcom claimed its dual-band GSM (900/1800 MHz) coverage had reached over 98% of Malaysia's populated area, and 100% through satellite coverage.

In 2006, Celcom launched the first 3G service in Malaysia, covering most major towns where there is a Telekom Malaysia telephone exchange and either HSDPA or EDGE services within 15-mile (24 km) radius (GSM UMTS maximum allowed range) with GPRS as basic data coverage.

In 2013, the 4th generation standard of FDD-LTE was deployed gradually nationwide. The initial license is only on the 2,600 MHz band. In the second quarter, its 1,800 MHz band has been redeployed to cater for both 2G and 4G.

Demerger from Telekom Malaysia

On 28 September 2007, Telekom Malaysia announced a revamp of its mobile communication units which include Celcom. The revamp plan was to group Celcom under TM International, which houses other TM regional mobile units and defines it as a separate business entity. The restructuring exercise was completed by Q1 2008 and the new business unit listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange by Q2 2008.

TM International was renamed as Axiata Group as part of a telecom consortium in Southeast Asia. Its stock exchange code is AXIATA.

Merger Possibility with Telekom Malaysia

In January 2018, Celcom Axiata Berhad CEO Michael Kuehner said the proposed merger between Telekom Malaysia and Axiata Group 'made sense', but it is still up to the shareholders to make the final decision.