PUTRAJAYA, Sept 21 — The rates for broadband services are expected to fall significantly soon after the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) concludes its talks with wholesale broadband service providers.

Discussions had taken some time as the service providers had provided feedback saying that their profits will be affected, Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil said during a press conference at his ministry after its monthly assembly.

"I have requested for discussions to be completed next week before the end of September and it will be followed by a signing ceremony of all the companies providing broadband services at the wholesale level.

"And after that, I believe that the prices of broadband internet will fall quite significantly,” he said.

He added that discussions were also complicated by the number of parties involved.

Besides that, he said that the government of the day had successfully tackled inflation, particularly in the telecommunications sector.

Citing the latest data from the Department of Statistics Malaysia’s (DOSM) reports, he said he had found that the current rate of inflation in telecommunications here is at -3.7 per cent.

"This means that the prices for Internet, phones and so on are increasingly decreasing,” he said.

He also said that he expects 5G network coverage in Malaysia to expand to 80 per cent by the end of the year.

On July 31, national news agency Bernama had quoted Fahmi as saying that internet prices were expected to fall in September once the Mandatory Standard on Access Pricing (MSAP) is adopted.

Before that on July 11, MCMC had reportedly said that only after the services providers had signed an access agreement could the public see a cut in retail prices for fixed broadband services.

Further, Fahmi said that the 5G network coverage had reached 66.8 per cent as of the end of July.