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

Interesting news - Maxis announced the launch of broadband services for homes on the 15th of September. � It appears to be a combination of 3G, HSDPA (High Speed Data Packet Access), and EDGE (Data rate for GSM Evolution). Service will presumably be best in the designated High Speed 3G areas (exact areas not announced yet). Prices will be revealed September 26.

It all seems like pretty good news - however from the looks of things, isn’t it already launched?

So it seems that the service has already previously launched? Let’s hope this new “relaunch” also signals a change in service quality, not just a push to get more subscribers and profits? Judging by the headline in The Star, does it also signal that they have previously launched (since early 2005), but they’re only set (as in properly prepared, finally ready)� to launch it for real now? I guess we’ll see what happens over the next few months…

DiGi’s chief technology officer, Jon Eddy says: “Our network expansion and upgrade contains two important elements - significantly enhance our EDGE network quality and performance and, extend EDGE coverage to more than 60 per cent of the country’s population.”

Read the full article at The Star Online Tech Central

“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

“We are on track with our launch plans for HSDPA and aim to offer mobile broadband, and eventually residential broadband services, within our existing 3G coverage areas,” he said.

Read the full article at The Star Online Tech Central

“A new telecom ecosystem is emerging and partnerships will be crucial going forward and operators will play a key role materialising the opportunities with mobile broadband,”

Read the full article at The Star Online Tech Central

“This development brings the advantages and pervasiveness of the GSM platform to the notebook market, where sales of more than 60 million laptops have been forecasted worldwide this year,” he said in a statement.

Read the full article at The Star Online Tech Central

Morten Lundal, DiGi’s chief executive officer, said DiGi wants to be ready to implement their 3G serivce in the shortest possible time.

“It will be a roll-out of innovative products and services designed to attract even the most discerning customer,” he said.

� Read the full article at The Star Online Tech Central