The Indonesian Competition Commission (KPPU) has reportedly ruled that Starlink’s aggressive discounts on its VSAT terminal kits and subscriptions do not amount to predatory pricing.

According to government news agency Antara, Starlink – which officially began offering LEO satellite bradband services in Indonesia on May 19 – has been offering a 40% discount on its VSAT devices in Indonesia until June 10. The devices, which normally retail at IDR7.8 million (US$480), are being offered at IDR4.68 million.

The KPPU has been fielding allegations that this constitutes predatory pricing and unfair competition. According to media reports, the Indonesia Satellite Association (ISSA) has complained that Starlink’s VSAT pricing is negatively impacting players in both the enterprise and retail VSAT segments.

ISSA also claims Starlink’s monthly subscription packages are predatory. A monthly subscription to Starlink starts at IDR750,000 per month. While that’s more than twice the average amount Indonesians typically spend on consumer internet services, it’s far below unlimited VSAT service packages offered by existing players, which are in the ballpark of IDR 3.5 million, ISSA says.

However, following a closed-door focus group discussion on the matter on Wednesday, the antimonopoly watchdog said the VSAT prices were promotional, not predatory, the report said.

KPPU member Eugenia Mardanugraha told Antara that predatory pricing involves an active strategy to sell products below cost to eliminate competitors and establish a monopoly. « Predatory pricing is not just about low prices,” she said.

According to Indonesian national newspaper Kompas, KPPU Commissioner Hilman Pujana said it will continue to monitor Starlink’s activities in the market to ensure it plays by the rules.

Malaysian property developer Mah Sing Group threw its hat in the country’s increasingly crowded data centre ring on Thursday by launching a new site in Southville City and announcing Bridge Data Centres (BDC) as its first partner.

Mah Sing said it has earmarked 150 acres of land bank at Southville City – which sits 19 km from Kuala Lumpur City Centre – for further expansion into a data centre hub with planned capacity of up to 500MW. The collaboration with BDC will occupy an initial 17.55 acres of land for a data centre with planned capacity of up to 100MW.

The site, dubbed “Mah Sing DC Hub@ Southville City”, is envisioned as “a holistic digital infrastructure ecosystem” designed to accommodate the demands of hyperscale, retail, and enterprise service providers. Mah Sing also expects to draw a diverse clientele from tech corporations, telecoms players, and financial institutions by engineering its data centres to support AI computation and large-scale data storage.

Mah Sing said it selected Southville City for the hub partly because it’s a mature township with the necessary essential infrastructure to support the project, and partly because the site is around 20 km away from existing data centre hubs Cyberjaya and Bukit Jalil.

The planned DC hub is also less than 50km from Telekom Malaysia’s upcoming new cable landing station in Morib, Selangor for the SEA-ME-WE-6 submarine cable system. Once the landing station is completed (which is scheduled to be in the first quarter of 2025), Mah Sing said it will be able to provide dark fibre for the hub.

The announcement marks BDC’s fifth hyperscale data centre project in the country. BDC currently operates two data centres in Cyberjaya, one in Bukit Jalil and another in Johor.

“This initiative not only boosts our operational capabilities but also highlights Malaysia’s increasing significance as a digital hub in the Asia Pacific region,” said BDC president Eric Fan.

Mah Sing’s entry into Malaysia’s data centre business comes as just about everyone else is doing likewise. This week alone, Google announced plans to develop its first data centre in Malaysia, while Equinix officially opened its first two data centres in Johor and Kuala Lumpur.

Last week, Malaysian real estate firm Sime Darby Property made its first move into the data centre game via a partnership with Pearl Computing Malaysia to develop a hyperscale data center at its business park in Elmina, northwest of Kuala Lumpur.

In April, Malaysian property development firm Crescendo Corporation Berhad (CCB) said Microsoft had purchased a plot of land in Johor for a cash consideration of RM132.4 million (US$27.8 million). A few weeks later, Microsoft pledged to invest US$2.2 billion over the next four years in new cloud and AI infrastructure in the country.

ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC) entered Malaysia in November 2023 via a JV with Basis Bay to build and operate green data centre projects in Kuala Lumpur and Cyberjaya. A week later, STT GDC said it would also build a data centre in Johor.

EdgeConneX entered the Malaysian market in September 2023 with plans to build data centres in Kuala Lumpur’s Central Business District, Bukit Jalil and Cyberjaya with a combined capacity of nearly 300 MW.

Local players are also busy chasing the DC dollar. YTL Power International is collaborating with GPU chip maker Nvidia to build an AI data centre in YTL’s 500-MW Green Data Center Park in Johor by the middle of next year. Telekom Malaysia is also said to be exploring plans to build a new hyperscale data centre to expand its capacity from the existing Klang Valley Data Centre (KVDC) and Iskandar Puteri Data Centre (IPDC).

At the start of this year, Malaysia’s Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) formed a strategic partnership with the Ministry of Investment of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to develop data centres in Malaysia and boost its status as a regional data centre hub.

Mah Sing’s founder and group MD Leong Hoy Kum said the company is looking to diversify its revenue streams beyond property development, which currently covers high-rise residences, townships, offices, retail spaces and an increasing focus on industrial projects.

“Entering the data centre market allows the Group to establish recurring income, crucial for a more resilient financial foundation amidst market fluctuations,” he said in a statement.

Leong also said Mah Sing is looking at other sites for future data center projects. “Beyond Southville City, Mah Sing’s other landbanks, such as MSS Business Park in Sepang, Selangor, which is also close to TM’s upcoming new cable landing station in Morib, present potential for similar data centre collaborations.”

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Reliance Industries-owned Radisys, Nokia and Tech Mahindra united with the Ghanian government to launch a shared infrastructure JV to spread affordable 5G across the West African nation.

In a joint statement, other partners of the JV were detailed including telecom solutions provider K-NET, along with mobile network operators AT Ghana and Telecel.

The companies have partnered to form JV company Next-Gen InfraCo (NGIC). The Ghanian government awarded 5G licences to NGIC, and it is expected to launch 5G services across Ghana in the next six months, with scope to expand to other parts of Africa.

NGIC will build a nationwide 4G/5G network and stakeholders claimed it will be the first 5G mobile broadband shared infrastructure entity to build one.

MNO partners such as AT Ghana and Telecel, will work with NGIC to launch affordable 4G/5G fixed wireless access customer premise equipment and smartphones this year.

Uptake of 5G can enhance the daily lives of Ghanaians through digital services education, healthcare and mobile finance, which is the aim of the NGIC.

Inspired by India

Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, Minister for Communications and Digitalization for the Republic of Ghana, said: “The creation of a shared 5G Mobile Broadband Infrastructure is critical for delivering affordable, high-speed data access to the people of Ghana and help achieve our Digital Ghana vision.

“The creation of NGIC as a neutral, shared platform, accessible to all mobile network operators and tower companies, will help to expand 5G services rapidly across the country. We are inspired by India’s digital infrastructure and low-cost mobile data usage and keen to replicate it in Ghana.”

Mikko Lavanti, Nokia SVP of Middle East and Africa, added: “Ghana holds immense potential for mobile broadband growth on the back of an unmet demand for connectivity. Establishing an Open Access Network like NGIC will foster innovation and create numerous opportunities across various sectors.”

Smartphone shipments in Latin America surged 23.3% year-on-year in Q1 due to retailers moving to clear inventory, and Chinese vendors pushing aggressively.

Counterpoint Research did not disclose exact figures but claimed that this was a third consecutive quarter of YoY growth in the region, a “strong sign of market recovery”.

Senior Research Analyst, Tina Lu said: “Part of the growth was due to the sell-in declining in most markets in Q1 2023 to clear inventory, while in Q1 2024, operators and retailers were building inventory for Mother’s Day.

“Demand for smartphones was also fuelled by the Chinese OEMs increasingly getting aggressive with their promotions for 4G models and price discounts. All this defied the traditional seasonality and showed that the region’s sales channels were confident enough about the demand to build some inventory.

Growth in Mexico and Venezuela led the charge in LATAM but most markets saw double digit YoY growth. Argentina was noted to see a plunge in shipments by 62% due to its ongoing economic crisis. Counterpoint predicted that the Argentinian market will “continue to be soft” in Q2 and Q3.

“This will principally affect Samsung and Motorola. The grey market in the region continued to grow, fuelled by high import duties in many countries,” said Lu.

Rankings

Samsung saw an 8.5% decline YoY due to competition from Xiaomi and Honor, but remained LATAM market leader with 31% share particularly in the US$100-US$249 price bracket.

Motorola placed second with 21% share a slight increase YoY from 20%. Third was Xiaomi with 14% (up by 2%) and other vendors collectively made up 34% of the market (up from 26%).

Honor was noted to rank in the top five shipping vendors for three quarters consecutively despite entering LATAM only two years ago.

There was a time when I didn’t quite believe Google or other hyperscalers were serious about building the next generation of subsea infrastructure in any form. But if you asked me whether they’d build a cable from Africa to Australia across the southern Indian ocean, I’d have known you were messing with me. And yet, that’s exactly what Google announced a few days ago. … [visit site to read more]

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Accelerit, a telecommunications company dedicated to providing innovative connectivity solutions across South Africa, has announced what it calls a groundbreaking partnership with a local VSAT provider.

It is aimed at delivering uncapped internet connectivity to previously underserved and underdeveloped areas across South Africa through satellite technology.

This strategic alliance, says the company, is set to bridge the digital divide, providing affordable, reliable, and unlimited internet access to a significant portion of the population.

With over 300 sites already operational in the Northern Cape and Mpumalanga, the initiative aims to expand to 1,000 sites by June 2024.

Mandla Ngcobo, Founder of Accelerit, says: “By rolling out these 300 sites, we have already covered thousands of households, schools, and businesses with uncapped connectivity options. This is just the beginning. Our goal to reach 1,000 sites by mid-2024 is ambitious, but it’s necessary to create a robust digital infrastructure.”

He adds: “In addition to improving educational outcomes, healthcare services, and economic opportunities, we expect to see a 25% increase in overall internet penetration and usage rates in these areas within the next year.”

Accelerit and the, so far unnamed, VSAT provider suggest that this venture is poised to attract significant investment opportunities, but it’s certainly not the only one to target underserved communities.

A vast number of South African ISPs, MVNOs and fibre providers are fighting for market share among end users of a variety of income levels. There’s also the government SA Connect programme that aims to provide Wi-Fi access to communities and ensure universal access to the internet.