MESDAQ-LISTED REDtone International Bhd , which secured a 20-year long distance and international licence from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority last week, is hopeful of pulling off another feat before its current financial year ends on Feb 29 next year.
Group managing director Wei Chuan Beng said the company was now in discussions to provide similar services to either an Asean country or an Organisation of Islamic Conference member country.
Wei, who declined to be more specific about the deal, said the company's next overseas investment would not be as big as that in Pakistan. REDtone plans to invest up to US$8mil in Pakistan.
A successful foray into the market it is currently eyeing would be the second overseas market for REDtone within a year. The company is also looking at tapping four more overseas markets in the next three years.
And by then, its overseas operations would contribute to 50% of the group's revenue, Wei said after the company's AGM in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
Redtone is principally involved in the provision of discounted call services and the supply of office communications products and services.
Wei Chuan Beng
On the Pakistan venture, Wei said the licence would enable REDtone to offer voice telephone services as well as data and IT services in the world's sixth most populous nation, where the tele-density penetration rate is only 3% in a population of 150 million.
Wei said the company expected to roll out its services in three months' time, with the Pakistan venture to “significantly boost” earnings from March 1, 2005.
“We are optimistic about the Pakistan market, which has seen numerous positive developments, including the Pakistani authorities' efforts towards liberalising and expanding the telecom industry in Pakistan,'' he said.
On Redtone's growth prospects, Wei said it hoped to maintain an annual double-digit growth in revenue over the next few years.
https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2004/08/19/redtone-expects-to-win-another-foreign-job/
