KUALA LUMPUR: Telekom Malaysia has been awarded the RM15.2bil High Speed Broadband (HSBB) services project to be rolled out under a public-private partnership (PPP) with the Government.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the service, which will enable speedier Internet connectivity, would offer competitive rates to encourage more broadband usage.
“If the rate is too high people will not subscribe,” he told reporters after receiving contributions at Mindef from Bakti (Association of Wives of Ministers and Deputy Ministers) and 61 other bodies for Hari Raya goodies to be presented to armed forces personnel.
Najib, who is the Defence Minister, said TM had been directed to start initial work but the physical rollout was only possible six months after the partnership agreement was signed.
As such, he said Government hoped to sign the agreement as soon as possible. He said the RM15.2bil was an estimate cost over 10 years, with the Government investing a third of the amount.
“We have asked the Finance Ministry to verify the figure, which includes the cost of ‘last mile’ fibre, core network and international connectivity,” he added.
Najib said the Cabinet Committee on Broadband which he chairs had decided that TM was the best partner to embark on the future development of HSBB, as the key considerations were cost and deployment speed.
“We want the service to be rolled out quickly, in a cost-efficient manner so that Malaysia would not be left behind in terms of competitive edge.
“The Government is committed to ensure this materialising in the shortest possible time and the best way is choosing TM as our partner,” he said.
TM’s existing infrastructure meant that additional investment would be done on lower cost basis and at faster speed, he said, adding that with over 90% of broadband market share it provided the highest chance of service take-up.
He said the role of other industry players in the project would be determined later, adding that chargers for industry players interested to access the network were being discussed.
Asked if the Government was confident of achieving a 50% household broadband penetration rate by 2010 with the partnership, Najib said supply and demand needed to be addressed.
“To support a quick rollout the Government announced in Budget 2008 financial incentives such as investment allowance, import duty and sales tax exemption on broadband equipment and consumer devices,” he said.
The broadband project target is to cover 2.2 million premises in key economic areas in the country, with the service covering fixed and wireless transmission.
Source: The Star
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the service, which will enable speedier Internet connectivity, would offer competitive rates to encourage more broadband usage.
“If the rate is too high people will not subscribe,” he told reporters after receiving contributions at Mindef from Bakti (Association of Wives of Ministers and Deputy Ministers) and 61 other bodies for Hari Raya goodies to be presented to armed forces personnel.
Najib, who is the Defence Minister, said TM had been directed to start initial work but the physical rollout was only possible six months after the partnership agreement was signed.
As such, he said Government hoped to sign the agreement as soon as possible. He said the RM15.2bil was an estimate cost over 10 years, with the Government investing a third of the amount.
“We have asked the Finance Ministry to verify the figure, which includes the cost of ‘last mile’ fibre, core network and international connectivity,” he added.
Najib said the Cabinet Committee on Broadband which he chairs had decided that TM was the best partner to embark on the future development of HSBB, as the key considerations were cost and deployment speed.
“We want the service to be rolled out quickly, in a cost-efficient manner so that Malaysia would not be left behind in terms of competitive edge.
“The Government is committed to ensure this materialising in the shortest possible time and the best way is choosing TM as our partner,” he said.
TM’s existing infrastructure meant that additional investment would be done on lower cost basis and at faster speed, he said, adding that with over 90% of broadband market share it provided the highest chance of service take-up.
He said the role of other industry players in the project would be determined later, adding that chargers for industry players interested to access the network were being discussed.
Asked if the Government was confident of achieving a 50% household broadband penetration rate by 2010 with the partnership, Najib said supply and demand needed to be addressed.
“To support a quick rollout the Government announced in Budget 2008 financial incentives such as investment allowance, import duty and sales tax exemption on broadband equipment and consumer devices,” he said.
The broadband project target is to cover 2.2 million premises in key economic areas in the country, with the service covering fixed and wireless transmission.
Source: The Star
