The Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission has released a mandatory standard for Quality of broadband service in Malaysia starting 1 January 2008.

Here are the conclusions(Applies to all ISPs):

• 80% of installation orders must be fulfilled within 24 hours from the time and date requested by the customer.
• 80% of service restoration must be completed within 24 hours from the time and date requested by the customer.
• 90% of billing complaints must be resolved in 15 business days of receipt of the complaint.
• Network latency to the nearest edge node(BRAS), shall be no more than 85ms(95% of the time)
• Bandwidth utilisation between the user and the nearest edge node of the regional broadband network(BRAS) should be no less than 80% of the subscribed level(95% of the me)-it means local sites will load faster
• Packet loss should not exceed 1% between the user and the nearest edge node of the regional broadband network(BRAS)

BRAS-Broadband Remote Access Server

On top of all theses mandatory standards, all ISPs must produce a report to MCMC every six months.

Mandatory Standards for Quality of Service(Broadband Access Service)-PDF file

The question is:

• What if the customers are still not satisfied on the service offered? (MCMC will be judging the service based on the report produced by the ISPs, what about consumers?)
• Do I still pay RM77 when service is always not available, or when the technical guy is taking his sweet time to come over to my place?
• What happens to the ISPs if the mandatory standards are not fulfilled?
• Why “best effort” still remains? Does MCMC support these terms?
• Why wait until January,2008? Does it mean that we will suffer until then and no action can be taken on the ISP?

Comments are most welcomed.

Update: You can read more on this at : http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/486176

According to this story on The Star - TM, ASPs in Pricing Tiff,a pro-tem association of ASPs called the Communications & Multimedia Assocation claim that TM is implementing a strategy that is unfair and anticompetitive to its members. For your information,� ASPs provide their customers with computer- based services delivered via networks provided by carriers like TM. These services include hosted application software and Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) communications, among others.

The association claims that TM is conducting unfair business practices, stifling competition through monopoly, and breaking Malaysian laws.

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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…

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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

While NasionCom was among the 17 companies that submitted bids for the licence to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), he said NasionCom’s initial WiMax rollout was for the 3.5GHz spectrum it had previously obtained.

Read the full article at The Edge Daily.

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 Energy, Communications and Multimedia Ministry wants to amend the Multimedia and Communications Act to enable the RM1.6 billion universal service provision (UPS) fund to build broadband infrastructure in rural areas.

Read the full article at The Edge Daily

“We would be extremely surprised by such a decision if this is confirmed, and we will immediately seek clarity from the MCMC (Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission) on this matter,” he said in a statement.

Read the full article at The Edge Daily.