Telecom CEO of the Year | Jamaludin Ibrahim, Axiata |
| Last year's winner: | Terry Clontz, StarHub |
With a new name and brand identity, 2009 was a watershed year for the Axiata group after executing on its post-demerger strategy with "clockwork precision to end the year on a high."
"We strengthened our management teams across most operating companies and improved our operating model, especially in the areas of performance management, HR management, financial disciplines and governance," said president and group CEO Jamaludin Ibrahim.
Axiata more than tripled its profits last year, which soared 232% year-on-year to $513 million (RM1.65 billion), and turned free cash-flow positive for the first time.
Jamaludin said the company's cost reduction programs are on track and the company continues to explore further ways to reduce costs. "We also improved our balance sheet last year, with the completion of the rights issue."
The strong financial results across the group, he said were the result of a structured transformation program, starting from the demerger in April 2008, covering its brand, strategy, people, processes and technology.
He pointed out that the key to its growth varies from country to country.
"In Malaysia the main drivers were our segmented strategy, especially in areas where we were under represented and mobile broadband. In Indonesia and Bangladesh, however, the main drivers were subscriber and MOU growth, through a yield management strategy and improvements in our sales and distribution, respectively."
With networks becoming more of a commodity, he said operational excellence is critical going forward, not just in the area of voice, but increasingly in the area of mobile broadband, where usage is increasing at an exponential rate.
"The challenge is not just about providing the 'best bit pipe', but also being able to innovate and deliver value for the content and services that are delivered over the network, which are increasing being provided by third parties. This requires a fundamental change in the way we do business, moving toward a 'smart pipe' or value-added enabler where we provide enablement for third-party services rather than needing to develop and provide such services ourselves."
Best Regional Mobile Carrier | Axiata (Malaysia) |
| Last year's winner: | New category in 2010 |
| Name: | Axiata |
| Business segments: | Mobile operations in eight countries, non-mobile activities in Thailand and Pakistan |
| Chairman: | Tan Sri Dato' Azman Hj. Mokhtar |
| Key shareholders: | Khazanah Nasional Berhad (44.5%), Employees Provident Fund Board (16.5%) |
| Key stats (2009): | EBIDTA $1.6b (RM5.2b), up 18% year-on-year, revenue $4.07b (RM13.1b), up 15% from 2008, margin 39.3%, up 1%; 120m subs, up 34% |
The scale of its regional network, Jamaludin said, brings synergies that are key to its organic development and enabled it to cut costs, particularly in procurement and technology, by $218 million last year.
"We have centers of excellence and have set up best practices in key areas such as network optimization, HR, pricing and cost management."
Its wide coverage also has allows it to launch strategic, group-wide marketing initiatives, such as data roaming and group-wide IDD offers.
Looking at how telcos will evolve over the next few years, Jamaludin said all signs point to the explosion of wireless data and the impact on operators' networks and bottom-lines.
"Today smartphones are much more than phones... These feature-rich devices provide amazing new subscriber capabilities, but they also challenge carriers to question how to monetize these capabilities as carrier revenue does not necessarily benefit from some of these advanced features," he said.
"In light of this, we need to continuously innovate. If we stop innovating, we will lose market share to the non-traditional competitors."
Telecom CEO of the Year
What the judges said: "For successfully taking the company public and achieving outstanding financial performance in difficult market conditions"
Best Regional Mobile Carrier
What the judges said: "With operations in ten countries, strong financial results and market-leading performance from its key businesses"
Winners' list:
- Best Asian Telecom Carrier - Softbank Mobile (Japan)
- Telecom CEO of the Year- Jamaludin Ibrahim, Axiata (Malaysia)
- Best Mobile Carrier - Celcom Axiata (Malaysia)
- Best Fixed-Line & Broadband Carrier - Hong Kong Broadband Network (Hong Kong)
- Best Emerging Markets Carrier - Tata DOCOMO (India)
- Best Regional Mobile Group - Axiata (Malaysia)
- Best Converged Services - SK Telecom (Korea)
- Best Content Strategy - PCCW (Hong Kong)
- Best Managed Services Provider - BT Asia-Pacific (UK)
- Best International Wholesale Carrier - Hutchison Global Communications (Hong Kong)
- Most Disruptive Technology- iPhone (Apple)
Related video: Celebrating Asia's telecom champions