I used to think that Singaporeans get a better deal (compared to Malaysia) when it came to telecommunication services, as they were a country with double our broadband penetration, and better technology laid out (fiber vs copper), as well as better competition between companies.

However, it appears they suffer due to a monopoly as well.

Check out Consumers United Against Starhub Price Hike

Here’s an excerpt. Sounds a lot like what we’ve been saying too, strangely enough.

This is THE time we, the consumers, stand UNITED and send a strong message to monopolistic businesses and instituitions in Singapore, which constantly subject us to price hikes and unfair business practices.

These are the following reasons on where we stand and why YOU should sign on this petition:

1. Starhub’s terms and conditions are unfair and baised against the consumer. We should be allowed avenues to terminate the contract in the event of price hike, without incurring penalties.

2. New price hike should apply to new sign-ups only, and NOT to consumers with existing contracts.

I love this part in particular…what if we did the same to TMNet?

4. Finally, we urged all Starhub cable TV subscribers to continue paying the current rate for their subscribtion and ignore the price hike until Starhub has given us, the consumers, a satisfactory response to our complaints.

On the other hand here’s some good news. Malaysians note - our cable coverage for football is the best in the region. Malaysia (Astro) beats Singapore, Indonesia, & Thailand! Check this out - “Malaysian Sports cable TV Viewers Get Best Deal“. Thanks to IZ for the tip.

Repeating the phrase again and again while speaking at the launch of the Malaysian Research and Education Network here on Monday, Energy, Water and Communications Minister Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik said he has made it his “mission” to boost Malaysia’s abysmal broadband penetration rate.

The rate currently stands at about 1% of the population.

“Ten months ago (when I was appointed Energy, Water and Communications Minister) it was 0.4%,” said Dr Lim, expressing his disappointment at the “small improvement.”

He pointed out that while Malaysia went on a concerted ICT (information and communications technology) drive much earlier than many countries in the region, countries such as Singapore and South Korea had far greater broadband penetration rates.

“You tell me what’s wrong here,” he said.

Read the full article at The Star Online : TechCentral

The government may allow new local and foreign players to provide broadband service if the existing ones do not make the service more affordable and improve the infrastructure.

Minister of Energy, Water and Communications Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik said Malaysia wanted to develop a knowledge-based economy, and one of the key requirements is the availability of broadband.

However, the county’s current broadband penetration was only less than 1% compared with 78% and 34% for South Korea and Singapore, he added.

Read the full article at The Edge Daily

Over the unlimited fibre-optic cable or DSL (literally turbo-charging coaxial or copper wire) connection would set you back by S$14 to S$21 a month, depending on the sort of package you buy.

Read the full article at The Edge Daily