Average fixed broadband speed has gone up 3-fold in 17 months

MCMC says a World Bank report has praised Malaysia’s efforts to reduce cost and increase broadband speed.

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s average fixed broadband speed has accelerated more than three-fold over the past 17 months.

It has jumped from 22.5 Mbps in January 2018 to 68.5 Mbps in May this year, above the global average of 59.6 Mbps.

A World Bank report, “Malaysia’s need for speed: How regulatory action is unleashing ultrafast internet”, published on June 30, had stated that Malaysia is now well-poised to close the gap between leading countries with respect to internet speed, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) stated today.

In a statement today, it said the number of fixed broadband subscriptions with download speeds of more than 100 Mbps had also jumped to 1.2 million subscribers in 2018, from 150,000 in 2017.

MCMC said the World Bank report also commended the government’s efforts in uplifting the telecommunications sector.

The report acknowledged the success of the Mandatory Standard on Access Pricing (MSAP) by MCMC in October 2018 to ensure affordable broadband connectivity for all.

The implementation of MSAP produced an average reduction of 49% in the prices of high-speed broadband services.

Prior to the price reduction, prices of entry-level packages ranged from RM119 to RM129 for 10Mbps.

With MSAP, the prices of entry-level packages ranged from RM79 to RM89 for 30Mbps.

Under the National Fiberisation and Connectivity Plan (NFCP), MCMC plans to improve affordability, quality and accessibility of digital connectivity.

This is to pave the path for the country to usher the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0) that brings with it disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, big data, and virtual engineering.

The World Bank report acknowledges MCMC’s initiative to support Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo’s call to “double the speed, half the price” by ensuring affordable fixed broadband services with faster internet connection.

MCMC chairman Al-Ishsal Ishak said the World Bank report is a testament to the commission’s “initiatives, policies and actions” to improve connectivity and help in sustainable economic growth of the country. - FMT