Saturday, August 15, 2009

Tony Fernandez into Mobile Phone Business.. TuneTalk


Tune Talk, which Celcom has a 35% stake in, is finally set to launch a new prepaid mobile
service next Weds. Tune Talk is an MVNO that rides on Celcom's network. "We are
offering voice, SMS and and data services on a 2.5G platform. A user just needs to buy a
SIM card for RM5 and insert it into his mobile phone, choose the number he wants and he is
connected to our network," Tune Talk CEO Jason Lo said.
• Apart from Celcom, Tune Ventures owned by Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes and Datuk
Kamarudin Meranum has 37.5% stake, with the remaining 27.5% held by Datuk Seri
Kalimullah Mashreerul Hassan, Lim Kian Onn, Lo, Gurtaj Singh (COO of Tune Talk) and
Mark Lankaster (CEO of Tune Hotels). Celcom has an option to riase its stake to 51%
within three years when Tune Talk's subscriber base reaches 1.5m. Lo expects the
capex over the next 3-5 years to be RM40m-50m.
• "Our product offering is going to be unique as every day we will be giving out 10 evouchers
to the highest voice users. These vouchers are valued at RM200 each and can
be redeemed for air tickets from AirAsia. We will also provide personal accident
coverage to all our users and this is provided by or partner, Etiqa Insurance." (StarBiz)
Tune Talk's association with AirAsia and Tune Hotels will likely make it one of the
strongest MVNO in Malaysia. We believe it will target the youth and low-end segments,
riding on the "budget" branding of AirAsia. However, with Celcom being a shareholder and
vendor of wholesale minutes, we do not think Tune Talk will be predatory in its pricing.

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