PETALING JAYA, Jan 13 ― PKR urged Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission’s (MCMC) new chairman Datuk Seri Dr Halim Shafie today to end government-linked Telekom Malaysia’s domination of the high-speed broadband industry to improve Malaysia’s lagging internet speed.

PKR strategic director Sim Tze Tzin cited a study by publishing house Asia Briefing last April that showed that Malaysia’s Internet speed was 5.5 Mbps, lower than Singapore (61 Mbps), Thailand (17.7 Mbps) and the ASEAN average of 12.5 Mbps.

“This domination and favorable policies have hindered the growth and development of HSBB and as a result, the costs remain uncompetitive,” Sim told a press conference at the PKR headquarters here today, using the initials for high-speed broadband.

He noted that Telekom controls 90 per cent of high-speed broadband infrastructure and last mile access and that the government-linked company has again be contracted for the development of the industry from this year to 2017 that will cost RM2.7 billion.

“Malaysia is also uncompetitive in terms of pricing. Malaysians pay RM199 for Unifi 10 Mbps, but the Thais pay RM75 for 12 MBps,” said Sim.

Sim also urged Malaysia’s internet regulator to protect online freedom and to curb online scams.