29 May 2010

KUALA LUMPUR - Intel Malaysia and Packet One Networks (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (P1) today launched Malaysia’s first WiMAX-ready 4G laptops aimed to advance WiMAX uptake in the country and proactively contribute towards Malaysia’s national broadband plan to achieve 50 percent broadband penetration by the end of 2010. At launch, six major OEMs comprising Acer, Asus, Dell, Lenovo, MSI and Toshiba have introduced a wide selection of notebooks and netbooks based on Intel® Core™ processors and Intel® Atom™ processors, and featuring the dual-mode Intel® Centrino® Advanced-N + WiMAX 6250 embedded solution, which has been certified and ready for use on the P1 W1MAX network.

WiMAX-ready 4G laptops are poised to change the face of mobile computing in Malaysia, offering the best available on-the-go Internet experience with service covering entire metropolitan areas. With WiMAX-ready 4G laptops, users no longer have to stay within a Wi-Fi area to be connected, thus turning the city into one big hotspot that delivers strong, fast Internet connectivity. Simply put, WiMAX-ready 4G laptops combine the best of both wireless worlds, delivering the ease and flexibility of Wi-Fi connectivity with the performance and coverage of a 4G WiMAX network

"This is a historic milestone for Malaysians. Intel® Centrino® processor technology is enabling the mass market adoption of WiMAX in much the same way that it enabled Wi-Fi in notebooks. The built-in WiMAX in notebooks and netbooks delivers true mobile connectivity and flexibility. With a capable 4G service provider such as P1, we can now look forward to on-the-go users having a smooth city-by-city build out of WiMAX 4G and enjoying what will be an incredible amount of Internet-related innovation and greater consumer freedom away from wires and localized hot spots," said Debjani Ghosh, director, Intel South East Asia.

“Today’s announcement will also encourage the acceleration of the availability of WiMAX-ready 4G laptops in other markets around Asia Pacific and globally. We expect momentum to continue in Asia Pacific throughout 2010 as WiMAX reaches mass market and additional notebooks, netbooks and other mobile devices with built-in WiMAX come to market,” added Ghosh.

WiMAX is the best solution available today that is capable of satisfying the demands of data hungry mobile Internet users. With embedded WiMAX, users can enjoy rich, interactive content outdoors while on-the-go with mobile 4G wireless broadband Internet access.

“A category of device that is as important as this needs a strong, robust network that’s able to support and deliver the level of performance and reliability expected by the user. The launch of what is Southeast Asia’s first ever range of WiMAX-ready laptops today is testament to what the P1 W1MAX network is capable of delivering in terms of capacity, performance and coverage to the level that our subscribers expect from a 4G wireless operator,” said Michael Lai, chief executive officer, Packet One.

“WiMAX-ready 4G laptops will change the way we stay connected to the Internet, making it easier than ever before to get connected. When we make getting connected easy, more and more people will go online. Combine that with one of Malaysia’s fastest growing wireless networks, we are well on our way to fulfill our promise of “Broadband for All Malaysians”. To date, we have close to 40 percent of the Malaysian population covered and we’re on target to meet our 45 percent population coverage by the end of 2010 and by 2012, P1 will be available to cover 60 percent of the Malaysia population,” said Lai.

The dual-mode module Intel® Centrino® Advanced-N + WiMAX 6250 embedded solution provides integrated WiMAX/WiFi adapter that supports 2.3, 2.5 and 3.5GHz WiMAX bands delivering up to 20Mbps connectivity on the go.