PETALING JAYA: Malaysian telecommunications company (telco) services have become widely affordable, with broadband prices per mega bits per second (Mbps) plummeting by 93% since 2017 and prices per gigabyte (GB) of prepaid mobile data lowered by 63% since 2021, CIMB Securities Research estimates.
In a note, the research house said that price per Mbps for entry-level fibre broadband (FBB) plans today have sharply declined from RM12.90 in 2017 to 89 sen now. It added that this came after the implementation of the Mandatory Standard on Access Pricing (MSAP) in 2018 and 2023.
Meanwhile, entry-level monthly mobile prepaid data plans have fallen from RM1.13 in 2021 to 42 sen today.
Given the accessible cost of telco services currently available to Malaysians, CIMB Securities Research said it sees little risk of heavy regulatory market intervention in the telecommunications sector.
“Sky-high prices risk triggering public demands for regulatory intervention to address market failures – potentially through price caps or the issuance of new licenses to boost competition,” it said.
“Our research indicates that Malaysian telco services are generally affordable for the masses.”
It also noted that telco prices are largely supportive of digital inclusion, as telco providers such as Telekom Malaysia Bhd
, CelcomDigi, Maxis, U Mobile, YES, and TIME dotCom, together with the government, have undertaken joint initiatives to offer targeted discounts to lower-income groups.
Users today can buy a monthly prepaid data plan with a quota of 60GB for RM25, according to the research house.
“This monthly fee is equivalent to only 0.6% of Malaysia’s gross national income (GNI) per capita – well below the International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) global target of 5GB for less than 2% of GNI per capita by 2025,” it added.
Compared with neighbouring countries in the region, Malaysia’s prepaid data costs in relation to GNI per capita emerges as more affordable than Thailand (1.3%), Indonesia (1.6%), and the Philippines (2.4%), but falls behind Singapore (0.1%).
CIMB Securities Research added that FBB plans in Malaysia now start at RM89 per month for 100 Mbps, amounting to 1% of the nation’s 2024 average household income.
