Remains strongly rooted after 5 years

Hello everyone! It’s been ages since I’ve penned down my thoughts in a blog and I’ll tell you what inspired me to start again. I received an invitation to attend a reunion last two weeks. It was a reunion that I looked forward to so, I was excitedly counting down the days to the reunion.

When the day came by, somehow, I felt that the time passed really slowly and the feeling of anxiety came over me. Thankfully, this feeling subsided quickly when I saw familiar faces in the restaurant.

We greeted each other and started talking as if we had never parted. It felt so surreal with the same feelings that we once had shared in five years ago.

Strolling around and listening to the old stories had brought me back to so much wonderful and best memories from the day, I founded Green Packet. Started as a pure software platform play targeting telecommunications businesses and enterprises, we ventured into the wireless connectivity device business, which until today is a key business pillar. Along the way, we built a wholesale voice business to leverage on our telecommunication customer base.

We became the most visible to the Malaysian public in 2005 when we sold our products directly to consumers for the first time via Packet One Networks Sdn Bhd or P1. I remember that we had such a good run as the market was desperate for a home broadband alternative. But as luck would have it, WiMAX was not destined to shine with a poor device ecosystem. Global telco giants gradually chose LTE which weaned off ecosystem support for WiMAX.

It was a painful struggle for all of us. There were some tough decisions we had to make - I had many sleepless nights and so did some of the Packeteers. And we all know what happened next. Telekom Malaysia bought a 57% stake in P1, which renamed to webe and then, now known as Unifi Mobile.

With TM being in the driver seat and taking care of Unifi Mobile’s funding needs, Green Packet once again focuses on shaping a new future. Today, we are in full gear, focusing on our digital services business under the shared Kiple brand.

Predominantly, Kiple is made up of e-wallet (kiplePay) for student and merchant communities at the campuses and university towns, payment gateway solution (kipleBiz) with custom functionalities to the university vertical, enterprises and businesses, property technology solution (kipleHome) for condominiums, apartments and townships and smart parking solutions (kiplePark) with licence plate recognition for building owners.

Alas… what a journey that we have come thus far. We survived every chapter of our journey no matter how difficult. Thanks Packeteers for having stood with me through thick and thin while holding up to our mantra that is to help everyone thrives with digital innovations.

It was definitely great to see all of them again.

Thanks for bringing me the best memories ever. Let’s have a bigger reunion end of this year as Green Packet turns 20 in 2020. Do join ya.