According to this article: “Wimax.com - Malaysia to award 2.3GHz licenses next month”, the delay of awarding the licenses since September 2006 is expected drawing to a close soon. Interesting things noted are that the operator “offering the highest speed at the lowest price” and with a “substantial amount of resources required for a nation wide rollout” will be the one most likely to win, according Malaysian Energy, Water & Communications Minister, Dato Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik. Bidders include Redtone, DiGi and Maxis. Although not noted in the article, Green Packet might be one of the bidders. Another article titled “Foreign firms to build WiMax system in Malaysia” , says that foreign firms Alcatel, Lucent, Redline Communications and local firm Nasioncom are also bidding.

Update: Maxis & Motorola have been testing 4 live trial WiMax sites. They have announced a successful call from the KLCC trial site, and testing for the other trial sites is planned to be completed in the second quarter of 2007.
My personal plea (that I’m sure a lot of you agree with too): Please, Dato Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik, let the winner be the ISP that we have all been waiting for.

A consortium of Malaysian ISPs including founding members TM, Jaring & AIMS with peering members Maxis, Time, Digi, Nasioncom, Heitech Padu, MyKris, Airzed, Extreme Broadband, VDSL, EBTech, Freenet, Bizsurf, Paneagle and CNX have come together to launch MyIX - The Malaysia Internet Exchange.

What is MyIX anyway? A summary…

(more…)

A question for all visitors. Assuming you had a budget of RM3.5 billion, and the relevant governing agencies working with you, as well as access to the media to influence the public (newspapers, TV, etc). Also assuming that you have power over the ISPs and can revoke their licenses, or penalize them.

What would you do to improve the following items?

1. Broadband penetration in Malaysia.
   Currently at about only 2%.
2. Broadband coverage in Malaysia.
   Affluent areas like Kelana Jaya & Bandar Utama are well covered…what about the rest?
3. Broadband quality of service in Malaysia.
   Ever met a happy Streamyx user?
4. Broadband service pricing in Malaysia.
   Shouldn’t it be cheaper than your household electricity bill?�

And so you understand the situation, some statistics (PDF Format)

Household Internet Usage Survey 2005 (MCMC)
The National Broadband Plan (MCMC & KTAK)

And some of my thoughts:

1. It’ll probably be best� to start with a plan for the� Klang Valley. Its where its most needed. Remember, dialup penetration throughout Malaysia is surprsingly, 14%.
2. The more customers there are in a serviced area, the more the ISP profits. See this, and this (under the Business section).
3. Should there be penalties for ISPs that fail to meet expectations? And how harsh should they be? The link provided deals with water issues. Broadband falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Energy, Water & Telecommunications.
4. Singaporeans can get 5Mbps at S$ 49.95 a month. Which is more likely to happen here, assuming that we have ISPs providing 5 Mbps packages: RM116.61 (currency conversion)� for 5Mbps, or RM49.95 (dollar for dollar)� for 5Mbps?

What do you think, people? Leave your comments - clicking on “comments”, think carefully, and then type away…

Josh Lim

A total of 17 submissions were received by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) at the close of the tender at noon on July 18 for the wireless broadband Internet (WiMAX) 2.3GHz before the Energy, Water and Communications Ministry cancelled the tender on the final day for the submission.

Read the full article at The Edge Daily.

The government has cancelled the tender for the wireless broadband spectrum as the specifications did not meet the government policies, said Energy, Water and Communications Minister Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik.

Read the full article at The Edge Daily

The Energy, Water and Communications Ministry cancelled the tender for wireless broadband Internet (WiMAX) on July 18, the final day for submissions, as the specifications did not meet the ministry’s requirements.

Read the full article at The Edge Daily.

Malaysia’s telecoms industry is dominated by lethargic government-linked companies. There is precious little competition and no one seems to be prepared to take responsibility for the problem.

Read the full article at BBC UK

“They see the pennies instead of the pounds, losing sight of the ‘pot of gold’ in the distance. They are interested only in making profits and protecting their investments, putting the future of the whole industry in jeopardy,” he said.

Read the full article at The Star Online Tech Central