During this morning’s session at Dewan Rakyat, the Deputy Minister of Communications and Multimedia Datuk Jailani Johari has stated that the national broadband penetration rate currently stands at 72.2% as of the second quarter of 2015. The figure was revealed as part of his response to questions from MP of Bukit Katil, Shamsul Iskandar Md. Akin regarding a grassroots program called Kampung Tanpa Wayar which is now known as the Community WiFi.
Upon further research, this fact apparently has been noted in a report that Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has published last month. Out of the percentage stated by Jailani which is based on broadband penetration rate per 100 households, 61.9% was apparently through household with broadband access while 2.4% came from 1Malaysia Internet Centres and 7.9% was through Community WiFi program which was also noted by the Deputy Minister.
While the statistics showed that the level of broadband penetration in Malaysia has increased steadily as compared to Q1 of 2015 and Q3 of 2014 but it has yet to reach the targeted rate of 75% for 2015. This particular target has actually been around for quite some time and given the recent RM 1.2 billion allocation to further improve the country’s telecommunication infrastructure under Budget 2016, we don’t see any reason for government not to reach its target this year.
Of course, there are still plenty of issues that the government together with related parties in the industry still to need work on when it comes to broadband in Malaysia such as costs and quality especially in the fixed broadband segment. Time will tell how they’ll approach and tackle such concerns.
(Source: BNBBC TV, MCMC, UNPAN. Image: iqa1309 @ Puncak Jalil Online Community)
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