Maxis to Acquire Astro’s Broadband Business for Up to RM83 Million

On 23 October 2026, Maxis Broadband Sdn Bhd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Maxis Berhad, entered into a conditional sale and purchase agreement (SPA) to acquire the fibre broadband business assets of MEASAT Broadcast Network Systems Sdn Bhd (MBNS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd. The deal, valued at up to RM83 million, will see Maxis take over Astro Fibre’s entire subscriber base and associated assets in what is a logical consolidation of Malaysia’s fixed broadband landscape.

A measured exit for Astro

Astro launched Astro Fibre in 2022 as an extension beyond its pay-TV roots. The move was meant to offer a converged proposition — TV content bundled with home broadband. But five years on, the economics of running a retail fibre business have shifted. For a content company, the costs of maintaining subscriber acquisition, retention, billing and last-mile relationships weigh heavily against the value of keeping a separate broadband operation.

Astro has already signalled this shift. Since February 2026, it stopped accepting new sign-ups for Astro Fibre packages. The disposal now allows Astro to refocus its capital and management resources on its core businesses: content, advertising and entertainment. According to its filings, Astro expects a net gain of around RM31.4 million from the transaction after accounting for the derecognition of net assets.

The proceeds — up to RM83 million — are earmarked mainly for working capital and general corporate purposes. Astro also expects to receive around RM1.4 million a month from transitional support arrangements with Maxis for billing, customer support and network operations during migration, a separate stream from the purchase price itself.

What Maxis gets

Under the SPA, Maxis will acquire Astro Fibre’s entire subscriber base of 178,631 active subscribers as of 28 February 2026, along with related contracts, software, equipment and inventories. The deal excludes Astro’s brand name, trademarks and goodwill — Maxis is buying the business, not the Astro Fibre brand.

The consideration is tiered based on how many subscribers successfully transfer to Maxis. Maxis will pay the full RM83 million if at least 155,000 subscribers migrate. The price drops to RM82 million if between 150,000 and 154,999 transfer, RM80 million if between 145,000 and 149,999 transfer, and is reduced by RM500 for each subscriber below 145,000. Maxis will pay 90% on completion and the remaining 10% within 90 days of the final migration date.

Maxis plans to fund the acquisition from internally generated funds. For the telco, this is less about buying scale at any cost and more about expanding its fixed footprint. Maxis has been pushing its converged mobile and fixed offerings for years; absorbing Astro’s fibre subscribers gives it a ready base to cross-sell and upsell its services, without needing to build that subscriber base from scratch.

Convergence, not just consolidation

The timing fits a broader trend in Malaysia’s broadband market: content providers and pure-play fibre operators are finding that running separate retail broadband businesses is increasingly hard to justify. For households, convergence has become the expectation — mobile, home broadband and content in one bill, one support channel and one relationship.

For Astro, letting go of fibre means doubling down on what it can monetise directly: its content library, advertising and streaming products. For Maxis, it strengthens its position in the fixed market at a time when fibre uptake remains a key battleground, particularly in areas where it can bundle effectively.

The deal is not without dependencies. It remains subject to Astro obtaining shareholder approval and Maxis receiving written notification from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) that the proposed sale will not be formally assessed. Both parties expect completion by the second quarter of 2027. Post-completion support agreements will help ensure service continuity during migration.

What subscribers should know

For existing Astro Fibre customers, the immediate priority is continuity. The transition will be handled through migration agreements between the parties, but customers should expect to receive communication closer to completion about account movement, billing changes and how their service will continue. Since Astro already stopped taking new sign-ups in February 2026, the business has effectively been in wind-down mode for new customers; this deal formalises that direction.

Practically, if you’re an Astro Fibre subscriber, keep an eye on official communications from both Astro and Maxis as the deal progresses. There’s no need to rush to switch today — the process is expected to take time, with migration planned over a 90-day window after completion. The key thing is that your service should remain intact through the transition if managed correctly.

The bigger picture

At up to RM83 million for 178,000 subscribers, the price reflects a mature asset with a defined migration risk. The tiered pricing shows both sides are being pragmatic about churn: Maxis only pays full price if it retains the bulk of subscribers. For Astro, the RM31.4 million gain is a clean exit from a business line it no longer sees as core.

This is a rational piece of consolidation. It won’t reshape Malaysia’s broadband duopoly overnight, but it does mark another step towards a more converged market where scale matters more than running siloed businesses. For developers and power users, the real question is whether Maxis can maintain service quality and pricing discipline through the migration — and whether convergence actually delivers value, rather than just bundling for bundling’s sake.

Sources: Lowyat.NET, Malay Mail, The Edge Malaysia, The Malaysian Reserve, Bursa Malaysia/Maxis Filing