Celcom turns up heat in telco race to strengthen enterprise offerings with Cybersecurity firm, Bridgenet acquisition

• Acquisition makes Celcom a full-fledged Managed Security Service Provider
• Will soon make cybersecurity solutions and services available for local enterprises

November goes down as a historical month for Celcom Axiata Bhd as it further strengthens its position within the managed services, cloud and cybersecurity industry with its second acquisition in one month.

The acquisition of Bridgenet Solutions Sdn Bhd, an Information and Technology solutions service provider launched in 2003 and announced yesterday, follows the early November acquisition of Infront Consulting Group (M) Sdn Bhd, a specialist in cloud and datacentre services, that coincidentally was also established in 2003.

Bridgenet specialises in cybersecurity and networking solutions as well as Managed Services for enterprises. Celebrating the acquisition, Celcom claims this now makes it a full-fledged Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP).

The acquisition reinforces Celcom’s portfolio of becoming one of the nation’s leading ICT solutions providers, in an effort to drive and address the growing demands of digitalisation and cloudification of Malaysian enterprises. Celcom and Bridgenet’s combined expertise will bring innovative and transformational cybersecurity solutions that are critical in protecting local organisations from cyber threats and security breaches.

The agreement was signed today between Idham Nawawi, Chief Executive Officer of Celcom and Keane Leong Kin Man, Group Chief Executive Officer of Bridgenet, at Celcom’s Headquarters, @celcom.

According to Idham “The move to acquire Bridgenet will further strengthen Celcom’s position to grow its Enterprise business. An acquisition as large as Bridgenet will enable both companies to leverage on their strengths and develop world-class cybersecurity solutions for all business functions,” he says.

Acknowledging the rising importance of cybersecurity as a critical component in the digital world for both enterprises and consumers, Idham says Celcom will soon make these cybersecurity solutions and services available for local enterprises.

“Upholding our role as a digital advocate, Celcom will continue its strong practice to safeguard our customers. It is also crucial for organisations to protect their systems and customers’ data against cyber threats from the boundaryless cyberworld, while thriving digitally within the new norm,” Idham added.

Meanwhile, Keane, Group Chief Executive Officer of Bridgenet said, “We see the acquisition as a way to accelerate the company roadmap using the expertise and resources of a larger company like Celcom”.  He further adds “Joining forces with Celcom will let us achieve our most important business goals years ahead of schedule. During the course of conversations with Celcom leadership, we shared optimism that the right technology and people can solve many cybersecurity challenges that to date have seemed intractable.”

Bridgenet is a dedicated and multi award-winning Enterprise IT and IT Security Solutions provider with 18 years’ experience in providing leading expertise in Cybersecurity, Networking solutions and in Managed Services Malaysia. It has a strong team of professionally certified cybersecurity experts that will further complement and enhance Celcom’s existing cybersecurity team and services.