THE Ookla Global Net Index, which ranked Malaysia 126 out of 196 nations in terms of Internet broadband speeds, is not a definitive measurement of the country’s Internet speed, says Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek.
He said the methodology used by the US-based global broadband testing company Ookla did not take into account the actual usage and development of a particular country’s broadband capabilities and penetration.
“The method used is based on the Ookla speed test, while there are other varying tests which take into account the average Internet usage,” he said in reply to Khoo Soo Seang (BN-Tebrau).
Ahmad Shabery said the Ookla Global Net Index test had placed Malaysia’s broadband speed at 5.9mbps (megabyte per second), compared to Cambodia (5.6mbps) and Myanmar (5.7mbps).
He said the study was carried out at major cities only and not on a country’s overall broadband penetration.
He also said Malaysia was placed ninth in Asia with a 63% broadband penetration representing 6.4 million users.
“Steps are being taken to improve broadband speeds and Internet pe-netration, of which RM5.7bil has been allocated for the purpose,” he added.
To a supplementary question by Khoo on the expensive charges for using broadband, Ahmad Shabery said that Malaysia was among the cheapest in Asia in terms of broadband charges because the Government received the cooperation of the private sector in providing capital to provide facilities to boost services.
“This is because not all the capital used for the purpose came from the Government.
“If the Government has to come up with the entire capital to boost the broadband service, it could not provide other infrastructural facilities for the people,” he said.
Ahmad Shabery said with the construction of telecommunication towers under the High Speed Broadband project (HSBB) via a government-private sector cooperation, at least 96% of the people could enjoy the benefits of a fast broadband speed.
“Under HSBB, the speed targeted for major towns is as high as 100mbps and at least 20mbps for residents on the outskirts of town,” he said.
He also said 1,000 telecommunication towers would be built nationwide in three years to achieve a broadband speed of 48mbps to 50mbps by 2018.
Related story:
Did you find this article insightful?
