KUALA LUMPUR: Telecommunciations service provider XOX Bhd, via subsidiary XOX Com Sdn Bhd, plans to capture 3.5 million customers in Japan and Malaysia through its cross-border eSim telco service in collaboration with KDDI Malaysia Sdn Bhd, which it expects to launch in January next year.
“Our customer base is growing, with this (e-Sim offering) ... we hope to capture more customers and I’d like to see our market share grow to maybe 3.5 million subscribers by next year,” XOX Bhd executive director Roy Ho Yew Kee told reporters during a press conference after a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signing ceremony between both companies, on Wednesday.
Currently, he said, XOX has a customer base of 2.5 million in Malaysia. Both companies aim to “finalise everything by the end of December” in order to capture the market due to the expected high influx of Malaysians travelling to Japan from December to February period for the holiday season before Chinese New Year.
An eSIM is a type of SIM card that is embedded directly into a device. He pointed out that it is an advanced form of technology and XOX currently offers it domestically. However, its partnership with KDDI Malaysia aims to develop a product which allows a seamless cross-border telco experience for a user of either KDDI Malaysia or XOX, whereby they are able to use both lines in Malaysia or Japan.
“The lowest hanging fruit is the eSim, you can switch from Malaysian to Japanese mobile networks. You can have one simcard, one eSim ... using both Malaysian XOX line and when you go to Japan, you can use KDDI’s line,” he remarked.
As part of the collaboration, the companies will be providing telco services such as eSIM to subscribers, deploying XOX’s SpaceX vending machines and joint development of XOX’s Nimbus mobile application as a value-added service to both parties’ mobile consumers across all regions of Japan and Malaysia. It also includes the utilisation of both companies’ latest technologies to facilitate the development and enhance the value of investment projects undertaken by XOX.
Ho shared that the MoU with KDDI is XOX’’s first cross-border collaboration and the company is in talks with several companies in countries such as China, Singapore, Australia and Thailand for similar partnerships.
“I expect an additional tie-up (to happen) this year ... as many as I can,” he said.
KDDI Malaysia managing director Masaki Matsuura reckoned that there are almost 30,000 Japanese living in Malaysia, who could be potential customers.
“(About) 1,200 companies operating in Malaysia. You can sell (the product) to the Japanese in Malaysia,” he said.
