Maxis and Asiaspace talks paving way for Malaysian LTE services

Malaysian operator Maxis isreported to be in talks with local WiMAX player Asiaspace over a potential collaboration to roll out LTE in the country.

According to local press reports (thestaronline), Maxis will build and operate the LTE network, while Asiaspace will provide the spectrum. The talks began several months ago and an agreement has been reached, according to those familiar with the deal. Both companies plan to offer LTE services to their users using the shared network.

Asiaspace holds licences for spectrum in the 2.3GHz band and last year launched a WiMAX service under the Amax brand, but suspended services shortly after, in September 2010, blaming the rising cost of backhaul. The collaboration with Maxis will enable it to redeploy the spectrum for LTE, as if it remained unused the telecoms company faced losing it license.

Maxis and Asiaspace are in the running to acquire more spectrum in the 2.6GHz range with an auction scheduled for January 1 2013.

Maxis had already been trialing LTE during 2010 using Huawei equipment, reaching peak download speeds between 60-104Mbps. It has over 14 million subscribers in Malaysia according to Informa stats, representing nearly 41 per cent of the local market.