Maxis sees 50pc revenue from non-voice by 2013

MAXIS Bhd (6012), the country's largest mobile operator, expects half of its revenue to come from non-voice services by 2013, driven by smartphones and higher demand for data, its top official said.

Non-voice services, like text messages, ring tone and game downloads as well as Internet surfing, made up about 32 per cent of Maxis' total revenue as at end-September 2009.

"If we continue to see the uptake we are experiencing, if there are more (mobile) devices that support it (Internet surfing), then I believe 50 per cent of our revenue will come from non-voice by 2012-2013," said Maxis chief executive officer Sandip Das.

One of the main growth driver will be its non-text messaging services, such as mobile content downloads and surfing. The segment accounts for a third of the group's non-voice revenue, from about 12 per cent five years ago.
"The mobile content market is very important for us. Today, users have gone beyond just voice, and mobile contents have developed to serve different segments of the society," said Sandip.

He was speaking to the media after the prize-giving and closing ceremony of Maxis Mobile Content Challenge 2009 in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

This year, the grand prize of RM60,000 was awarded to Team UTMobile from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia for their "Flyer: On-The-Fly Flash Composer and Community".

This is a system that allows users to create electronic Flash cards on the go by selecting images, text and audio through a mobile portal or short messaging system (SMS) request.

Maxis also awarded prizes of RM10,000 to three other teams - Team Genex from Universiti Sains Malaysia, Team Vicegerent from International Islamic University Malaysia and Team Qlip.in from Universiti Putra Malaysia.

"The Mobile Content Challenge is a vital part of Maxis' larger quest to build a vibrant eco-system for mobile content in Malaysia," he said.

The prize giving and closing ceremony was officiated by Information Communications and Culture Deputy Minister Datuk Joseph Salang.

Also present was chief operating officer of Malaysia Commission of Multimedia and Communications Datuk Mohamed Sharil Tarmizi.