GPacket

GPacket: Speculation that its mobile broadband unit P1 has become a takeover target of larger operators looking to acquire valuable spectrum.

It was reported that there could be a three-way fight for the acquisition of a controlling stake in P1, with the three possible parties being DiGi.Com Bhd, the YTL group and Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM).

DiGi could be in talks to buy out WiMAX players for their wireless spectrum in order to sustain its growth plans in Malaysia. DiGi was believed to be the closest to clinching a deal with P1, with negotiations having started more than a year ago.

As for YTL’s interest, industry sources had been quoted as saying that fellow WiMAX operator YTL Communications Sdn Bhd, a unit of YTL Power International Bhd, was also keen on buying a controlling stake in P1. This had been speculated before.

Sources said the YTL group sent a due diligence team to P1 recently. From a technological perspective, they pointed out that YTL was the best fit for P1, as both companies operated on the same type of spectrum, the 4G-LTE (Long Term Evolution) (2.6 gigahertz or GHz), which is time division-based, and WiMAX.

On the contrary,TM clarified that it had not announced any interest to bid for a stake in WiMAX operator P1, or sought any approval to do so.

P1 is a 57% unit of listed Green Packet and owns valuable wireless spectrum. It owns 30 megahertz (MHz) in the 2.3GHz band (that is used for its WiMAX network), and was one of the eight companies to be awarded last year with 20MHz of the 2.6GHz spectrum, which would be suitable for LTE or 4G-LTE type of services in the future.