Today’s column is a retelling of a tale I heard late one night during a random gathering with entrepreneurial characters.
“You know, I was one of the few people in the country downloading at speeds of over 1Mbps 10 years ago? Everyone else was still on 256 or 512Kbps lines!” said one fellow at the table, smiling ruefully over his drink.
That fantastical claim begged further explanation.
Keeping it hot: In terms of technology and the right timing, Telekom Malaysia Bhd has always stirred up the industry in a big way.
It was 2002 and satellite-based Internet access was already available from an MCMC-licensed company called Baycom, offering bandwidth between 1Mbps and 10Mbps for corporate customers.
An interested group of people (which included the man I was speaking to) was exploring this technology and keen on bringing it to the Malaysian market.
The initial plan envisioned a bundled package with Internet access, set top box with wireless keyboards, LCD screens, applications, content and cloud-type services aimed at hotels and property developers.
Keep in mind this was about seven years before “cloud computing” was even a buzzword anywhere.
The group then moved on to work with a few local and international partners to combine Internet access and digital TV broadcast delivery via a set-top box service with two-way satellite broadband wireless Internet access and content from a South American streaming Web TV content partner. To piece the entire solution together, the project combined technology from four countries and technology providers who were key in their own areas of expertise.
“This would have changed the way we interacted with Internet data and TV content through interactive services and it was also meant to change the free-to-air TV broadcast from analogue to digital,” this fellow explained.
“We even did a live demonstration at the then Ministry of Energy, Communications and Multimedia as part of the process to get the licence for this service,” he added.
At that time in 2002, the satellite broadband solution the group was proposing was fast, with the nearest commercial product being Streamyx with 256Kbps or 512Kbps which was going for RM68 and RM88 per month respectively for Internet access.
“What we were proposing was a package that could bring down the monthly subscription cost for 1 to 2Mbps access and services to under RM50 within a community of shared users,” he explained.
“We were also looking at a separate line-of-sight wireless technology that was able to stream dedicated data at over 2Mbps,” he added.
But, as any of you reading this already know, none of it came to fruition.
The speeds he was enjoying back in 2002, the rest of the population only began to enjoy much later, when TM rolled out its 4Mbps lines in 2007 and later in 2009, when it launched the UniFi high-speed fibre optic network, with up to 20Mbps on offer.
So what went wrong?
For the entrepreneurs reading this, here is the message of today’s column: Sometimes, despite having the best idea, product or people, things don’t necessarily always work out.
“As with any business partnerships in a fast-paced industry, things can go wrong due to personal issues and conflicting agendas,” he said. What they hoped to offer needed a combination of various innovative technology companies and different personalities, he added.
The main lesson for him, is that such large projects require a solid financial foundation to work and also a fair and neutral mediator to circumvent any clashes or changes in objectives.
“Also, in order to commercialise such a project would require huge venture financing and that was not easily accessible due to the sentiment following the bursting of the tech bubble back then,” he added.
Astro for example, he said, had a multi-million ringgit revolving credit facility to support its operational costs. And, part of its business strategy was to be prepared to be in the red for a few years.
“We knew that we needed to do something similar, but the timing was just not on our side before that could happen,” he added.
So what’s his advice to fellow entrepreneurs?
“Timing the market is everything. Technology or entrepreneurship bravado alone is not enough. A great team and a solid strategy are a necessity and a solid financial foundation compulsory.”
“But I do regret that we were not able to let consumers in Malaysia enjoy these great solutions,” he added with another rueful smile.
Despite knowing full well that consumer demand is only one variable of many which eventually determine the success of a commercial product, a part of me can’t help but sigh and go “what if?”
As a consumer back then, all I would have said if presented the possibility would have been: “Just shut up and take my money!”