KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 9): Malaysia leapt nine places to 15th spot from 24th previously among 190 economies worldwide in the World Bank’s “Doing Business 2019 Report” last week, a resounding testimony of the ongoing reforms in the country.
Malaysia’s reforms in the past year covering six areas, including securing electricity, resulted in the dramatic jump for the overall business score.
In the area of getting electricity, the report said Malaysia was now ranked fourth globally, with the cost for businesses to obtain electricity connection in the country being only 26% of income per capita versus an average of 625% in East Asia and the Pacific.
That achievement spoke volumes of Tenaga Nasional Bhd’s (TNB) ongoing transformation efforts, as it strives to enhance its services to customers and the nation as encapsulated by its “Better. Brighter ” slogan.
The slogan, in line with the byword that “customers always come first”, has seen TNB taking an evolutionary step towards adopting a value-centric approach to provide superior service as it keeps pace with the rapid innovative changes in the energy industry.
Under a strategic plan currently underway until 2025 aimed at constantly keeping customers satisfied, TNB will continuously innovate and tap on technology to shape its future.
The strategic plan aims to enhance TNB’s business strategy and practices towards having sustainable development across the value chain — from generation to transmission and distribution (grid), as well as customer service.
“As the industry landscape shifts, we must adapt a value-centric approach to meeting the needs of our customers, including those beyond electricity consumption such as in energy-savings solutions,” said TNB President/Chief Executive Officer, Datuk Seri Ir. Azman Mohd in his statement to shareholders for its integrated annual report ended Dec 31, 2017.
The national power utility has so far embraced technology in multiple forms to provide exceptional care to customers and ensure they get the best and most convenient service possible.
For instance, in terms of payment channels, TNB has extended its services beyond counters (at its own Kedai Tenaga outlets, Pos Malaysia and convenience stores such as 7-Eleven) by having facilities like e-pay, direct debit, Internet banking, payment kiosks and JomPAY.
In addition, TNB now has a portal known as myTNB self-service portal and myTNB app to provide greater transparency and accessibility.
The self-service portal and smartphone app also allow TNB’s 8.8 million customers in Peninsular Malaysia the convenience of checking or paying monthly bills, applying for electricity supply or closing an account – all at their fingertips.
Essentially, all the services that customers normally undertake at Kedai Tenaga can be effected through the portal and app.
To further enhance its superior quality service, TNB is also upgrading its grid network, which currently spans approximately 22,000 km across the peninsula.
TNB will embark on a “grid of the future” project where its grid network will eventually be transformed into one of the smartest, most automated and digitally-enabled grids in the world.
The National Grid upgrade includes a new “super highway” that will help TNB meet current and future electricity needs, especially in high load areas such as Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. The project will allow TNB to tap power from upcoming power plants in the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia into the National Grid.
Concurrently, TNB is installing smart meters as part of its overall strategy to build an advanced metering infrastructure covering 340,000 residential customers in Melaka, with plans for an additional 1.2 million customers in the Klang Valley before expanding it further throughout the peninsula.
“Eventually, the transformation of our grid will bring about a new customer experience and offerings in which innovations are embedded into our grid,” said Azman.
As TNB accelerates its drive towards an enhanced value-centric approach, the national power utility will also offer improved customer experience by embarking on clean power generation and packaging smart home technology, energy savings and energy efficiency solutions.
To maintain its passion for continued customer satisfaction, TNB has also taken steps to upgrade its contact centres and enhance workforce capabilities in digital and data science to keep up with increasingly complex needs of its customers.
Interestingly, the government has requested TNB to consider offering its own fibre optic network to telecommunication service providers (telcos), to promote competition and choice for the voice and data service providers.
Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo had said that TNB had a ready fibre infrastructure which can be utilised by telcos, and will result in a faster and cheaper fiberisation deployment throughout the country.
TNB has initiated a pilot project in Jasin to assess the technical, safety and commercial viability of using TNB’s electrical infrastructure for this initiative.
TNB chairman Tan Sri Leo Moggie had said that the telecommunications system has always been an integral part of the utility industry as TNB’s telecommunication network uses fibre optics technology as part of the electricity grid operation’s design and requirements to ensure high reliability of electricity supply nationwide.
All said, the various initiatives being undertaken by TNB for the benefit of customers reflects its steadfast vision that there is always space for improvement no matter how long you have been in the business. — Bernama
