Hi guys - sorry, there hasn’t been much updates these few days. We’ve been very busy on another project (which is relevant to this site, more details in a bit). Yes, we’re still arranging interviews with the WiMax winners (good question suggestions!) - most are keen to be interviewed, but its hard to find available dates. We will keep you posted.

As some of you might have noticed, there’s a new thing in the local blogosphera and it’s called Advertlets.com. Besides being made by the same team behind RedesignMalaysia.com, here’s why its interesting: It’ll help you make money with your blog…its good for advertisers to reach a market that watches increasingly less tv, listens to less radio, and doesn’t read much of the papers. And yes - it’s not just by the same team behind RedesignMalaysia, these projects are affiliated.

Thanks to one of our volunteers (a charming and intelligent MIT graduate!), and the work of our team, we have managed to compile, match and process a list of IP address ranges from virtually all Malaysian ISPs, including: TM Net, DiGi Internet Exchange, NasionCom, MaxisNet, Airzed, Time Telekom, NTT MSC / Arc Net, Jaring / MIMOS (MIX), CNX Solutions, EB Technologies, Bizsurf, and more. With these IP range addresses, we can detect which ISP site visitors are using. You can read more on how its used with Advertlets here.

Why is this great for RedesignMalaysia.com?
1. We know what ISP you are using - and can measure popularity of ISPs.
2. In future, when this IP address database becomes larger, and we can geolocate more effectively (eg whether IPs are from Kelana Jaya or Ampang)…we can recommend you the best ISP available for your area - automatically, just by detecting your IP and matching it with other visitors in the area. This can be a combination of consumer ratings (manually submitted by the users), and also automatic speed tests of visitors accessing this site (logging in their page load time, area they are in and ISP used)

Why is this great for Advertlets.com?
1. To deliver targeted advertising to Malaysians only (so advertisers don’t waste their budget, and make their message count to the right people.).
2. To deliver relevant advertising to bloggers based on where they are - making it better for the bloggers and their visitors, and better click through rates for the advertisers due to more relevance.

So, what can RedesignMalaysia and Advertlets do together? (Please add your suggestions via the comments box)
These are a few of the ideas we have:

1. Allow all ISPs in Malaysia besides TMNet Streamyx, to target unhappy TMNet Streamyx Users based on IP - and advertise to them, encouraging them to switch ISPs! , spurring competition and allowing them to compete with Streamyx’s massive advertising budget. Eg, you browse a blog…then you notice a relevant advertisement (based on where you are): “Dear consumer, your connection speed could be 2.5x faster. would you like to try a better broadband service available in your area, Petaling Jaya?”.
2. In real time, monitor the performance of ALL ISPs in Malaysia, and which perform the best in your area (all visitors have to do is access this website and RedesignMalaysia can calculate it automatically)
3. ISPs can use the Advertlets Poll to find out more about what their consumers and potential customers want. Eg, is there demand for 2MBps broadband? How much would you pay for it? For a sample of the poll system, take a look at the “WHO ARE YOU” poll on the right hand side, or go to the Advertlets homepage (it’s on the right sidebar).
4. High traffic bloggers can help advertise the ISP that they are using on their blogs, and get a discount on their monthly broadband access charges.
5. Bloggers can choose to display RedesignMalaysia.com advertising (for free, we don’t have much funding at RedesignMalaysia…), if they have remaining ad space that is unsold. Kind of like how Google shows Public Service Announcements if there are no paying keywords matched to your blog. So, when you’re not earning money, you’re helping raise awareness on how bad broadband is here. Sign up on Advertlets.com and drop me a line if you’re up for that kind of advertising and activism!

Let us know, thanks!

Here are some recent developments in broadband in Malaysia…

In summary: Malaysia lags behind together with Asia, WiMax licenses to be finally issued, a company gets money to develop WiMax technology, and some smart residents decide to take things into their own hands to get broadband in their remote housing area…and make money while doing it!

Josh: And how does Malaysia rank within Asia when it comes to broadband? Hmm.

Josh: Yay. Good, some progress. Now hurry up and issue them already.

Josh: Yay. Good for them. Now hurry up and develop it already.

Josh: This, about the Rawang Township WiFi is amazing news - not only because its a out of the way place getting WiFi, but also the activism demonstrated by the residents. The best way to describe them would be Prosumers.. Producers & Consumers. Knowing that its a slim chance that ISPs would bother to service their area, 5 of them teamed up and formed a company (BTP Wireless Sdn Bhd) to make it possible. What’s also interesting is that they managed to somehow reduce the monthly subscription price (their customers pay RM84 for a an unlimited access 1MBps line, and a MY015 VOIP phone line). The normal price is RM139 without extras.. That’s an RM55 reduction off normal rates and value for money with additional services.

So it’s very likely they brokered a deal where they manage to guarantee a certain number of subscribers in exchange for Jaring providing reduced rates. I hope the people behind BTP Wireless Sdn Bhd get rich for their smart efforts, but of course, they already know they will. With 6,500 existing potential household subscribers, and a 25,000 new houses going to be built in the township by 2008, these guys behind DTP Wireless Sdn Bhd obviously really knew what they were doing. In summary, this kind of activism is what we need more of - consumers not content to just complain, but to take matters into their own hands to change things and ensure it is sustainable as a business. Hopefully the idea demonstrated that you can make a change in the environment you live in, help other people, and be rewarded for it - will encourage more to do things like this. This is the way forward, rather than waiting for sluggish companies or a all-talk-hands-tied organizations to intervene.

Despite turning a healthy net profit of RM3.76 million on the back of RM160.93 million revenue for the financial year ended December 31, 2004, Nasioncom did not declare any dividend to its shareholders.

Read the full article at The Edge Daily

Companies providing wireless broadband services seem to be going through rough times. Time dotCom Bhd, which began rolling out its Webbit service in certain parts of Petaling Jaya last year, has not been able to move past its pilot phase for technical reasons while recently listed NasionCom Holdings Bhd saw its chief executive officer, Johnson Khoo, leaving after a mere three-month stint. And AtlasONE Sdn Bhd, once hailed as the new broadband player in town with announcements of massive funding from financial institutions, has also fizzled out, leaving many observers wondering what happened.
Read the full article at TheEdgeDaily