Internet prices in Malaysia affordable, competitive

KUALA LUMPUR: The rate for communication services such as broadband packages in the country is still at an affordable and competitive rate, said Deputy Minister of Communications and Multimedia, Datuk Jailani Johari.
He said this was based on studies and indicators from associations and organisations related to world communications such as the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) which conducted comparisons between countries in this region.
"According to the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Development Index report from ITU, which among others took into consideration the access rate for internet, Malaysia is at the top third ranking among Southeast Asian countries.
"At the Asia Pacific stage, Malaysia is at ninth position among 34 member countries and this would not be possible if the price of broadband packages in this country was high," he said when winding up debate on the Supply Bill 2018 at the committee level for the ministry in Dewan Rakyat, today.
Meanwhile, Jailani said Section 197 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 allowed service providers to set the price of broadband according to market rates.
"However, they (telecommunications companies) must be fair in determining the price according to the cost. They should not be allowed to give unreasonable discounts which could jeopardise competition," he said.
The Supply Bill for the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia was later passed in the Dewan Rakyat. — Bernama