Framework for development

To prepare for challenges from an increasingly liberalised telecommunications market, the Government has outlined a framework for industry development. The framework, also meant for the multimedia sector, started last year and will be reviewed at the end of its five-year tenure. It is aimed at creating a globally competitive, efficient and increasingly self-regulating telecoms sector. Here are five challenges which have been identified. First, to address the upgrading of network capabilities where the Government will facilitate the development of network capabilities and network rollout to provide ubiquitous access to content and applications services. There is also the need to facilitate migration of analogue networks to next-generation digital networks. Second, the local telecoms sector needs to improve the quality and choice of services. As such, new benchmarks for quality of service and standards compliance will be established. Third, is to build capacity involving skill-sets within the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and facilitating the development of the industry skills-sets. Fourth, to manage resources efficiently. To address this, the framework has identified efficient usage of spectrum, numbering and electronic addressing, encouraging and facilitating infrastructure sharing as the solution. And finally, the need for effective regulation. Two initiatives have been identified. They are to ensure that the regulatory framework remains relevant in this convergent and fast-moving industry environment, and to ensure effective and efficient regulatory processes.