Gov't committed to getting broadband price down by year-end – Gobind

PARLIAMENT | The government today reiterated its commitment to ensuring that the broadband price is reduced by at least 25 percent by the end of this year, besides striving to increase the broadband speed and coverage area.

Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo said that besides implementing the relevant laws to set the ceiling price, the ministry would have meetings with state governments, telcos and operators on the “last mile access”.

“We are serious about this. I am going to bring in everyone to discuss this.

“If we get the assistance and cooperation of the state governments, the use of laws, telcos and operators for the ‘last mile access’, I am sure we can see this dream realised ‘at the very least at the end of this year’,” he said when replying to a supplementary question, from Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh (PH-Ledang) in the Dewan Rakyat.

Gobind Singh also reiterated that the government had implemented the Mandatory Standard on Access Pricing on June 8 whereby all telcos were given until the end of this year to reduce their respective broadband prices by 25 percent in stages.

He also said that the ministry was also in the process of reducing the bureaucratic process at the state government level to facilitate the installation of the underground fibre optic networks under the National Broadband Initiative.

“I was informed that we have to apply to the states to lay the fibre optic cables and that there were many bureaucratic problems and so on.

“Besides being time-consuming, it also involves a high cost. If we can overcome these problems, I feel we can speed up the fiberisation policy and also reduce the cost, which ultimately lowers the cost for the consumer,” he said.

- Bernama