http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/art...icle/index_html

NST
Letter to the Editor
It has to be cheaper

2010/03/29


FOR months, there was so much hype about the government's initiative to provide more affordable and faster broadband service.

On March 25, it came as a shock that the so-called "affordable and fast broadband" packages for home users start at RM149 for five megabits per second (Mbps), and ranges up to RM249 for 20Mbps package.

To many Malaysians, this sum is a huge commitment. Many were expecting prices from RM50 onwards.

In Singapore, according to a report, one can get one gigabit per second (Gbps) package which is five times the speed of a 20 Mbps service for the equivalent of RM200. Most Singaporeans earn five times more than Malaysians.

Thus, RM200 for a 1Gbps line is small change to a Singaporean. But our mere 5Mbps at RM149 is big money to the average Malaysian. To some, it's money to feed the family for a week.

Clearly, the pricing does not take into account the purchasing power of Malaysians and the remuneration the average Malaysian earns, and the fact that the average person's pay packet is not in proportion to the cost of living in Malaysia.

In comparison, the six Mbps broadband in Singapore (offered by Singtel), with unlimited downloads, costs S$30 (RM70.60) per month and the 15Mbps broadband with unlimited downloads costs S$62.

The mobile broadband with a free USB stick and with a speed of 1.2Mbps costs S$14 per month with a 30GB allowance (offered by Starhub). Singaporeans earn far more than the average Malaysian and yet their broadband is much cheaper.

So, how can the average person afford RM149 for the service?

R. GANESH

Petaling Jaya

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Check out Singtel and Starhub


http://info.singtel.com/personal/communication/internet
http://info.singtel.com/personal/communica...obile/data-plan

http://www.starhub.com/broadband/homebroadband.html
http://www.starhub.com/promotions/broadban...obilebasic.html

I still remember some minister saying we have the cheapest Internet in this region.

This post has been edited by joe_mamak: Mar 29 2010, 11:14 AM

You need to take a chill pill.

They are in a strong position by virtue of being a monopoly.

BTW, didn't the government cough up some money for this HSSB initiative? That's our tax payers money.

If we didn't cough it up, I suppose the price would be even higher.

That's a Letter to the Editor. Not written by NST. Though they should have corrected it.

Will amend the post.

I don't do p2p/torrenting anymore. Yet I can hit my Celcom Wireless Broadband cap easily. Like the time I downloaded 1 GB of software. That already took up 20% of my monthly download limit.

I can live with an ISP that blocks p2p/torrenting. But over here they, as far as the wireless broadbands, are concerned, they don't discriminate p2p/torrenting and other ordinary downloads. I can live with an ISP that blocks p2p/torrenting.

Looking at Singtel, they are so generous - the monthly download limit is 30 GB for 1 Mbps and it only cost S$22.42 ~ RM53.00

Here I pay RM99 for 1 Mbps and the limit is 5 GB.

WTF WTF WTF WTF WTF WTF WTF WTF WTF

It was a letter to the editor; from a reader.

It should be 100 Mbps and not 1 Gbps.

You work for Accenture?

Yeah, a lot of places don't even have broadband. Read about a kid who asks his mom to update his facebook for him at her workplace.

It isn't about being able to afford it.

It is about why we are paying so much compared to other countries.