No more lip service, broadband operators told

PUTRAJAYA: Broadband operators, buck up or risk problems with your licenses.Energy, Water and Communications Minister Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik said the time had come for them to prove themselves worthy of their licenses. "To service providers, I say 'no more lip service’. Just do it. I don't want to hear things like 'I will give it my best'. You must provide a minimum of two megabits per user." Dr Lim said his request was far below what companies in other countries were providing. He cited South Korea which has experimented with 10mbps broadband, and Singapore, which was moving ahead with 2mbps access. Speaking after opening the Broadband for All Malaysians seminar here, he said the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission chairman should "crack the whip" on service providers. He reminded Chairman Datuk Dr Halim Shafie to ensure that his commission assessed their performance. There are about 650.000 broadband subscribers at present, approximately 10.5 per cent of the household broadband penetration rate. Dr Lim was optimistic Malaysia would reach the targeted household broadband penetration of 25 per cent, which translates into 1.3 million subscribers. This, he said, was achievable if short falls in broadband infrastructure connectivity and content were overcome. Also, the use of locally-made mechanisms instead of imported technology would greatly reduce operational costs. "The key here is to provide fast and cheap broadband services. The experience of other countries has shown that price is the single biggest driver of broadband penetration. More competitive pricing will attract more users." Dr Lim said connection with broadband facilities should work 99.9 per cent of the time, with the exception being lighting strikes that caused power failures.