Take advantage of connected world: Shabery

GEORGETOWN: Broadband performance in Malaysia should not be compared to that of Singapore or Brunei due to the size of the two countries according to Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek.
He said laying down the necessary infrastructure in the two countries was relatively cheaper and easier compared to Malaysia due to their smaller size.
He pointed out that installing broadband infrastructure in Malaysia meant doing so from Johor to Perlis as well as Sabah and Sarawak, which will incur high costs.
Nonetheless he said, benchmarks show that Malaysia's broadband performance is still better than other countries in the Asean region, excluding the abovementioned two.
"If we compare with other countries (like) Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia and Laos, we are better," he said in a press conference today.
On efforts to reduce broadband service rates, Ahmad Shabery said the Malaysia Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) will be initiating talks with service providers.
He said the ministry wanted to find out about relative issues which can be addressed, in order to obtain lower service fees.
"We want to find out what are the factors which prevent provision of good performance and cheaper prices. Is it our tax system? Is it our licencing system?" he asked.
Earlier, Shabery officiated the Penang launch of the "Telefonita" package by Celcom for women entrepreneurs.
Those who signed up are entitled to a free phone as well as one year free Internet access for e-commerce.
In his speech, Shabery urged people to take advantage of opportunities provided by an increasingly connected world.