News Details

Cordoda brings broadband to businesses
Lee Ting Ting
NST - Business Computing -16/05/01

The incentive of added value has always manage to help edge over any decisions to invest. And to drive the uptake of broadband usage among local businesses, Cordoda Corporations Sdn Bhd is offering its services via the Enterprise Broadband Network (EBN), which is a collection of routing points strategically positioned throughout the country.
Cordoda, a value-added data network service provider, aims to provide broadband-based infrastructure management services to businesses, which include the provision of managed network capabilities and high network availability to the clients’ computing terminals.
According to the company, the EBN closed system is connected by dedicated high-speed connections via fibre-optic cables (at the main backbone), which makes up the platform where customer services can be added on.

A VALUE NETWORK
The value of the EBN comes in several folds. The first is that it offers a high level of integration with the clients’ computing systems.
According to Cordoda’s technical and operations general manager Nick Goh, the company’s managed services are extended right to the customers’ premises.
“We can design, plan, configure, implement and operate a customer’s premise network to assimilate it with the EBN. This is a unique feature over other data network service providers in Malaysia,” says Goh. This way, the customer’s private network as well as the entire EBN can be monitored and controlled from a Network Control Centre (NCC).
In turn, this brings about the second value of the EBN. The NCC is supported by a Network Recovery Centre (NRC) that will support the EBN in the event of primary switch failures.
“This redundancy functionality ensures the client of a robust and reliable broadband network,” says Cordoda’s chief operating officer (COO) Shane Hodge. This way, Cordoda offers enterprises the option of broadband connectivity with an inherent reliability and security advantage over Internet-based networks.
Nonetheless, Hodge stresses that the biggest value of the EBN are the specific service applications, which will be offered soon. He acknowledges that application content is a major driver for enterprises to move into broadband from their current narrowband access.
“It’s pointless to build the fastest Grand Prix track in the world, but only have scooters running on them. The demand for broadband will surge only when there is compelling application content that people would want,” Hodge explains, adding that this rationale is the driving force behind the company’s business mantra.
“Cordoda will compete by giving as much value to its clients to help them improve their businesses other than the connectivity part so that they will want to continue using the EBN,” says Hodge.
He adds that availability of broadband-based applications built for a specific industry will also boost demand from that segment.
“If a broadband-based application is useful for doctors and their patients, then hospitals will move to broadband,” says Hodge.
He adds that Cordoda is currently looking at three to four of such applications to be introduced in the EBN within six to 18 months. “Currently, we are working with three international and two local application providers,” Goh says.

BROAD CHALLENGES
Obstacles in broadband development in the country have hindered the proliferation of multimedia and video content and the demand for broadband facilities by both businesses and customers has yet to take off, Hodge says.
“The lack of content is hindering the usage of e-business applications that will, in turn, influence the demand for broadband,” he says, adding that the focus now should be to develop commercial applications rather than just increase broadband connectivity.
The second challenge is to break the mindset that investments to obtain broadband access is still unjustified.
“No doubt that a 2Mbps leased line is expensive, and even more so if it is secure and reliable. But we need to convince our clients that every dollar put into investments will yield far greater returns, other than just in terms of revenues,” says Goh.
He says that it could cost a company anything between RM100,000 and RM500,000 annually to subscribe to the EBN.
The cost for EBN connectivity from Kuala Lumpur to Kuantan is approximately RM450,000 a year, inclusive of all the network value adds that Cordoda provides.
“The cost of broadband in Malaysia is competitive with other regions. One should not compare Malaysia with island-sized countries like Singapore or Hong Kong at this point in time because the factors affecting the building of broadband infrastructure alone are already different,” says Goh.
Nonetheless, Cordoda is confident that the demand for good broadband connectivity is on the rise and the price of service will come down.
“The amount of broadband infrastructure laid by the telcos shows this potential. But for it to be deployed extensively, customers need to be educated on how to use the technology to improve their businesses,” says Goh. It’s when local businesses start putting their trust in the use of e-business applications, only will broadband uptake snowball.

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