Research: Malaysians offered cheaper Internet, but less bang for buck

Malaysians, on average, are offered cheaper monthly Internet packages compared with their Southeast Asian peers - but these do not fare as well in terms of value for money.

This is according to a study by market research outfit BDRC Continental and Internet service comparison platform Cable.co.uk, which analysed more than 3,351 broadband packages worldwide between Aug 18 and Oct 12 this year.

The research found the average monthly broadband cost for Malaysia to be RM184.61, with only Thailand (RM110.17) and Singapore (RM160.2) offering cheaper prices.

 

This is in contrast to other Southeast Asian countries, which offered more expensive average monthly broadband costs, including Cambodia (RM217.49), the Phillippines (RM219.99), Vietnam (RM256.69), Indonesia (RM312.07), Myanmar (RM312.35), Laos (RM954.24) and Brunei (RM1,102.69).

However, when the average monthly broadband cost was benchmarked against speed, it was found that many Southeast Asian countries paid less for every Megabit per second (Mbps) they get, compared to Malaysia.

 

Malaysia, at RM12.85 per Mbps, ranked sixth out of the 10 Southeast Asian countries analysed in the research.

Ahead of Malaysia were Singapore (RM0.23/Mbps), Thailand (RM1.79/Mbps), Indonesia (RM6.15/Mbps), Vietnam (RM10.05/Mbps) and the Phillippines (RM11.72/Mbps).

The four Southeast Asian countries that offered more expensive monthly broadband in terms of per Mbps were Brunei (RM16.84/Mbps), Laos (RM50.89/Mbps), Cambodia (RM78.26/Mbps) and Myanmar (RM108.51/Mbps).

The research also measured the mean download speed and time needed to download a 7.5GB HD movie.

The fastest was Singapore, with a time of 18 minutes 34 seconds, followed by Thailand at one hour 46 seconds. Malaysia came in third at two hours 33 minutes and three seconds.

Behind Malaysia were Vietnam and Indonesia, which took more than three hours to download the video, followed by Brunei and the Phillippines taking more than four hours, Cambodia at more than five hours and Myanmar and Laos at more than eight hours.

 

In Budget 2017, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak pledged to double the speed of Internet packages in the country at no additional cost to subscribers.

The prime minister also promised to halve the prices of Internet packages within two years from Budget 2017. -Mkini