Broadband prices to drop 25% by year's end

The industry is hoping that Gobind Singh Deo, the new Communications and Multimedia Minister, will relook at the way spectrum is awarded, so that only those who can pay for the spectrum and deliver the services should be entitled to use it. His move will be watched as that will determine how future spectrum allocations are made. Up for grabs next is the 2600MHz band.

PUTRAJAYA: Fixed broadband prices in Malaysia are expected to drop by at least 25% by year’s end.

Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo (pic) said this followed the implementation of the Mandatory Standard on Access Pricing (MSAP) that was enforced beginning June 8.

“The relevant parties are currently in commercial discussions to finalise the wholesale prices.

“The process is scheduled to be concluded in July or August, after which new, lower priced broadband packages will be rolled out to consumers,” he told a press conference here on Wednesday (June 20).

Gobind also said the Government was considering recognising access to the Internet as a basic human right in Malaysia, even to the extent of, if practicable, a constitutional right.

Meanwhile on a separate issue, Gobind also said the Ministry will conduct an independent audit on two funds under the supervision of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).

The two funds are the MCMC fund and the Universal Service Provision (USP) fund.

“According to MCMC financial statements, the first fund has RM800mil, while the USP fund has RM8.5bil as at Dec 31, 2016,” he said.