Here’s an interview from YouTube.com where Josh Lim shared his research analysis on broadband penetration in Malaysia. I was quite shocked to discover that there is only a 2% broadband penetration in Malaysia with almost all of the 2% concentrating in the Peninsula Malaysia. He mentioned that the government is aware and admits that it is a national problem. I don’t know when the interview was conducted so information could be dated.
Josh Lim runs a portal called www.redesignmalaysia.com that shares information about broadband issues in Malaysia. The portal has a interactive map widget that allows you to compare broadband coverage by different ISPs in Malaysia.
According to Josh Lim, the infrastructure is in place but ISP subscription is still relatively high compared to neighbouring broadband savvy countries like South Korea and Singapore. Josh Lim said that South Korea has 30-40% broadband penetration and Singapore’s broadband penetration is four to five times more than Malaysia. He also mentioned the availability of satellite broadband in Malaysia but it comes with a price tag. A very high monthly subscription. What I do not understand is if Malaysia has the broadband infrastructure in place, why is it not used? Seemingly Josh Lim avoided answering the question by saying he didn’t have the answer.
I would understand the need for satellite broadband in East Malaysia where the broadband infrastructure is not as good as the Peninsula because most of East Malaysia is still a jungle. The use of satellite would be a smart strategy for broadband deployment. Satellite broadband is widely used in the middle east where the geographical terrain is not suitable for cable infrastructure and satellite broadband infrastructure works out to be more cost effective.
Here are some broadband internet stats analysed in 2007 from Internet world stats.
Here the stats show a 59% internet penetration in Malaysia as of June 07 but this is an overall percentage. I am assuming this includes dial-up and broadband.
Let me know your thoughts.
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Came across this, wow, great writeup and analysis! Btw, I also have a “Chuan” in my Chinese name.
PS: To answer your question – if Malaysia has the broadband infrastructure in place and not being used, it is definitely not due to not enough consumer demand. In addition to telcos not being willing to fork out money to upgrade (why spend more to utilize the infrastructure if you can charge the same), there are also unfortunately, plenty of other reasons which are not in the interest of the consumer.
Cheers,
Josh Lim
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Josh – we have something in common
It’s unfortunate that the telcos are more interested in profits rather than technology. I am also a Malaysian and I know about the other reasons…Telco monopoly is never a good thing for the consumers.
We all know – Malaysia like monopoly games.
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In Singapore, they have this vision called iN2015. “iN” stands for intelligent nation, and one of the initiatives launched was the provision of island-wide, free-of-charge, high speed broadband connection.
The downside is that the facility is heavily monitored, regulated and censored.
Satellite broadband is definitely the solution for the states in east Malaysia.
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