Internet in Malaysia
Encyclopedia
The year 1995 was considered the beginning of the Internet age in Malaysia. The growth in the number of Internet hosts in Malaysia began around 1996. The country's first search engine
and web portal
company, Cari Internet
, was also founded that year. According to the first Malaysian Internet survey conducted from October to November 1995 by MIMOS and Beta Interactive Services, one out of every thousand Malaysians had access to the Internet (20,000 Internet users out of a population of 20 million) (Beta Interactive Services, 1996). In 1998, this number grew to 2.6% of the population. The total number of computer units sold, which was 467,000 in 1998 and 701,000 in 2000 indicated an increasing growth (Lee, 2000c).
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission
sets a low threshold for broadband
. It defined broadband as:
This definition is far below the primary rate interface
lower limit defined by the International Telecommunications Union in ITU-R F.1399.
, is Malaysia's largest Internet service provider. While there are many ISPs in Malaysia, Telekom Malaysia's ownership of the nation's last mile
connections restricts competition to densely populated areas in major cities. Since there is no local loop unbundling
, TMnet enjoys a virtual monopoly of the broadband market.
granted 4 WiMAX license to the following companies.
MCMC expected the companies to roll out their WiMAX services to 25% of the population in the areas given to them by the end of 2007. By the end of 2009, the companies are expected to provide their services to at least 40% of the population in the areas they control. The Internet access speed is expected to be no less than 1 Mbit/s.
Ministry of Energy, Water and Communication targeted 50% household penetration by 2010 from the current household penetration of 18% as of May 2008.
Search engine
A search engine is an information retrieval system designed to help find information stored on a computer system. The search results are usually presented in a list and are commonly called hits. Search engines help to minimize the time required to find information and the amount of information...
and web portal
Web portal
A web portal or links page is a web site that functions as a point of access to information in the World Wide Web. A portal presents information from diverse sources in a unified way....
company, Cari Internet
Cari Internet
Cari Internet Sdn. Bhd. is a Malaysian company founded in 1996. It operates the eponymous website Cari.com.my, the country's first search engine and web portal, along with online florist Flowers.com.my and web hosting service Onnet...
, was also founded that year. According to the first Malaysian Internet survey conducted from October to November 1995 by MIMOS and Beta Interactive Services, one out of every thousand Malaysians had access to the Internet (20,000 Internet users out of a population of 20 million) (Beta Interactive Services, 1996). In 1998, this number grew to 2.6% of the population. The total number of computer units sold, which was 467,000 in 1998 and 701,000 in 2000 indicated an increasing growth (Lee, 2000c).
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission
Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission or Suruhanjaya Komunikasi dan Multimedia Malaysia is the regulator for the converging communications and multimedia industry in Malaysia...
sets a low threshold for broadband
Broadband Internet access
Broadband Internet access, often shortened to just "broadband", is a high data rate, low-latency connection to the Internet— typically contrasted with dial-up access using a 56 kbit/s modem or satellite Internet with inherently high latency....
. It defined broadband as:
- Any service beyond the scope of existing PSTN/ISDN and 2G cellular networks
- With data rates that exceed the normal voice-related speed (56 kbit/s for PSTN and 64 kbit/s for ISDN)
This definition is far below the primary rate interface
Primary rate interface
The Primary Rate Interface is a standardized telecommunications service level within the Integrated Services Digital Network specification for carrying multiple DS0 voice and data transmissions between a network and a user....
lower limit defined by the International Telecommunications Union in ITU-R F.1399.
Cellular broadband
| ISP | Technology | Package download speed |
|---|---|---|
| Celcom | 3G, 3.5G (HSDPA), HSPA+ | 384 kbit/s - 7.2 Mbit/s |
| Digi | EDGE, 3.5G (HSPA) | 384 kbit/s - 7.2 Mbit/s |
| Maxis | 3G, 3.5G (HSDPA), HSPA | 384 kbit/s - 7.2 Mbit/s |
| U Mobile | 3G, 3.5G (HSDPA), DC-HSPA+ | 384 kbit/s - 42 Mbit/s |
DSL
As of June 2006 there are 652,000 ADSL connections. TMnet, a subsidiary of Telekom MalaysiaTelekom Malaysia
Telekom Malaysia Berhad , DBA TM, is the largest integrated solutions provider in Malaysia, and one of Asia's leading communications companies, with a market capitalisation of RM13.9 billion and a workforce of 26,629 employees. Established as the Telecommunications Department of Malaya in 1946, it...
, is Malaysia's largest Internet service provider. While there are many ISPs in Malaysia, Telekom Malaysia's ownership of the nation's last mile
Last mile
The "last mile" or "last kilometer" is the final leg of delivering connectivity from a communications provider to a customer. The phrase is therefore often used by the telecommunications and cable television industries. The actual distance of this leg may be considerably more than a mile,...
connections restricts competition to densely populated areas in major cities. Since there is no local loop unbundling
Local loop unbundling
Local loop unbundling is the regulatory process of allowing multiple telecommunications operators to use connections from the telephone exchange to the customer's premises...
, TMnet enjoys a virtual monopoly of the broadband market.
| ISP | Technology | Package download speed |
|---|---|---|
| Giga Broadband | VDSL | 2 Mbit/s, 3 Mbit/s, 10 Mbit/s, 5+5 Mbit/s |
| Jaring Flite Wired | ADSL | 1 Mbit/s |
| Maxis Wired | ADSL | 256 kbit/s, 512 kbit/s, 1 Mbit/s, 2 Mbit/s, 9 Mbit/s |
| PersiaSYS Ultraband | Cable (ETTH) | 700kbit/s, 900kbit/s, 2 Mbit/s, 8 Mbit/s |
| TIME Business DSL TIME broadband TIME Broadband is a broadband service offered by TIME dotCom Berhad. This service offers a high-speed and reliable Internet connection utilising an IP network... |
ADSL | 2 Mbit/s, 5 Mbit/s, 10 Mbit/s, 50 Mbit/s |
| TIME Business DSL TIME broadband TIME Broadband is a broadband service offered by TIME dotCom Berhad. This service offers a high-speed and reliable Internet connection utilising an IP network... |
SDSL | 2 Mbit/s, 5 Mbit/s, 10 Mbit/s |
| TIME Broadband(Consumer) TIME broadband TIME Broadband is a broadband service offered by TIME dotCom Berhad. This service offers a high-speed and reliable Internet connection utilising an IP network... |
ADSL | 1.5 Mbit/s, 3 Mbit/s, 6 Mbit/s |
| TMnet Streamyx | ADSL, SDSL | 384 kbit/s, 512 kbit/s, 1 Mbit/s, 2 Mbit/s, 4 Mbit/s |
| TM UniFi | VDSL | 5 Mbit/s, 10 Mbit/s, 20 Mbit/s |
Fibre optic
- Cyberjaya Metro Fibre Network, CMFN - Fiber-To-The-Building (FTTB) and Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH). CMFN leases dark fiberDark fiberA dark fiber or unlit fiber is an unused Optical fiber, available for use in fiber-optic communication.The term dark fiber was originally used when referring to the potential network capacity of telecommunication infrastructure, but now also refers to the increasingly common practice of leasing...
connectivity services to telcos and enterprises in Cyberjaya. Employing a ring topology, it offers redundancy throughout the network. CMFN also provides fiber optic connection to office buildings, residential houses, condominiums and apartments in CyberjayaCyberjayaCyberjaya is a town with a science park as the core that forms a key part of the Multimedia Super Corridor in Malaysia. It is located in the district of Sepang, Selangor and is situated about 50 km south of Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia...
for the delivery of City Broadband Ethernet broadband-over-fibreoptic. - Metrofon - Fiber to the Home (FTTH). Provide fiber optic connection to condominiums and apartments in Kuala LumpurKuala LumpurKuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
city and SelangorSelangorSelangor also known by its Arabic honorific, Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity") is one of the 13 states of Malaysia. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east, Negeri Sembilan to the south and the Strait of Malacca to the west...
area. - Penangfon - Same company as above. Provide services only in PenangPenangPenang is a state in Malaysia and the name of its constituent island, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. It is bordered by Kedah in the north and east, and Perak in the south. Penang is the second smallest Malaysian state in area after Perlis, and the...
island. - Maxis High Speed Home Broadband- Officially launch on 31 March 2011. True fibre optic connectivity to home with speeds of 4 Mbit/s, 6 Mbit/s and 10 Mbit/s. Availability of service is based on the coverage of the TM UniFi service.
- TIME Fibre BroadbandTIME Fibre BroadbandTIME Fibre Broadband is a broadband Internet product offered by TIME dotCom Berhad in Malaysia. According to a Sundaily.com article, this new service will be the country's first and only broadband internet service that is capable of offering access speeds up to 50 Mbps , making it the fastest...
- Officially launch on 2 February 2010. True fibre optic connectivity to home with speeds of 2 Mbit/s, 5 Mbit/s and 10 Mbit/s with BOOST up to 50 Mbit/s. Available at Mont' Kiara Pines, Mont' Kiara Astana, Mont' Kiara Sophia, Mont' Kiara Pelangi, Mont' Kiara Palma, Mont' Kiara Damai and Mont' Kiara Bayu. More locations to come. - TM Unifi- Telekom Malaysia Bhd has spent about RM1.9 billion, with the inclusion government funds amounting to RM990 million in the installation of high-speed broadband services throughout Malaysia. The four initial areas that will be covered by high speed broadband services, that is being launched in March 2010 are Shah AlamShah AlamShah Alam is the state capital of Selangor, Malaysia situated within the Petaling District and a small portion of the neighboring Klang District. It is located about west of the country's capital, Kuala Lumpur. Shah Alam replaced Kuala Lumpur as the capital city of the state of Selangor in 1978...
, Subang JayaSubang JayaSubang Jaya is a suburban city in the Klang Valley, Selangor, Malaysia. It comprises the southern third of the district of Petaling, and is home to a third of the district population of 1.78 million. Subang Jaya comprises , Bandar Sunway, UEP Subang Jaya, Putra Heights and Batu Tiga...
, Taman Tun Dr IsmailTaman Tun Dr IsmailTaman Tun Dr. Ismail is an affluent major township in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Situated on the border of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, it is within the vicinity of Bandar Utama, Damansara Utama, Mutiara Damansara and other suburbs of Petaling Jaya. It is also neighbouring Bukit Kiara and Sri...
and BangsarBangsarBangsar, also Bungsar , is an affluent residential suburb on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, lying about south-west of the city centre. It is part of the Lembah Pantai parliamentary constituency...
. The benefits announced with the implementation of high speed broadband include smoother e-commerce activities, Internet-based health services, improved Voice-over-Internet Protocol (web-based telephone service), websites with more detailed pictures and graphics, as well as faster data downloads. It has been promised that video-streaming will be smoother and Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) could take off in Malaysia. - JARING Flite Enterprise JARING Flite Enterprise - JARING's Super Speed Broadband for Business. JARING Flite Enterprise uses Bonding Technology, a technique that combines multiple independent broadband lines through line aggregation technologies, into a single pipe-line for high-speed transmission. From Malaysia's first Internet service provider, comes JARING Flite Office - which offers you super fast and continuous access over a dedicated line - constantly and instantly to your office! This dedicated connection to the Internet ensures you won't get bogged down - at anytime you're logged on! It's also lower in cost - as it utilises the existing infrastructure - and comes as part of a complete package that includes Internet service and local access.
| ISP | Technology | Package download speed |
|---|---|---|
| TM UniFi | FTTH | 5 Mbit/s, 10 Mbit/s, 20 Mbit/s |
| TIME Fibre Broadband TIME Fibre Broadband TIME Fibre Broadband is a broadband Internet product offered by TIME dotCom Berhad in Malaysia. According to a Sundaily.com article, this new service will be the country's first and only broadband internet service that is capable of offering access speeds up to 50 Mbps , making it the fastest... |
FTTH | 2 Mbit/s, 5 Mbit/s, 10 Mbit/s with 50 Mbit/s burst mode |
| Maxis Home Broadband | FTTH | 4 Mbit/s, 6 Mbit/s, 10 Mbit/s, 30Mbit/s |
Wireless broadband
| ISP | Technology | Package download speed |
|---|---|---|
| Airzed | WIMAX WiMAX WiMAX is a communication technology for wirelessly delivering high-speed Internet service to large geographical areas. The 2005 WiMAX revision provided bit rates up to 40 Mbit/s with the 2011 update up to 1 Gbit/s for fixed stations... |
1 Mbit/s, 1.5 Mbit/s, 2 Mbit/s |
| AsiaSpace WiMAX (AMAX) | WIMAX WiMAX WiMAX is a communication technology for wirelessly delivering high-speed Internet service to large geographical areas. The 2005 WiMAX revision provided bit rates up to 40 Mbit/s with the 2011 update up to 1 Gbit/s for fixed stations... |
1.0 Mbit/s， 1.5 Mbit/s |
| Redtone WiMAX | WIMAX WiMAX WiMAX is a communication technology for wirelessly delivering high-speed Internet service to large geographical areas. The 2005 WiMAX revision provided bit rates up to 40 Mbit/s with the 2011 update up to 1 Gbit/s for fixed stations... |
512 kbit/s, 1.0 Mbit/s |
| Axis Broadband | Unknown | 512 kbit/s |
| Izzi Broadband | IBurst IBurst iBurst is a wireless broadband technology originally developed by ArrayComm. It optimizes the use of its bandwidth with the help of smart antennas... |
1 Mbit/s |
| Hotgate Technology Inc | Various broadband technologies | |
| JARING Flite Wireless | SOMA FlexMAX Mobile WiMAX System | 384 kbit/s, 512 kbit/s, 1 Mbit/s |
| Packet One | WIMAX WiMAX WiMAX is a communication technology for wirelessly delivering high-speed Internet service to large geographical areas. The 2005 WiMAX revision provided bit rates up to 40 Mbit/s with the 2011 update up to 1 Gbit/s for fixed stations... |
1 Mbit/s, 2 Mbit/s, 5 Mbit/s |
| YTL Communications | WIMAX WiMAX WiMAX is a communication technology for wirelessly delivering high-speed Internet service to large geographical areas. The 2005 WiMAX revision provided bit rates up to 40 Mbit/s with the 2011 update up to 1 Gbit/s for fixed stations... |
uncapped up to 15 Mbit/s |
Hotspot
| ISP | Technology | No. of hotspots | Download speed | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JARING Flite Wifi | 802.11b | Approx. 60 | 384 kbit/s | |
| P1 Hot Zone | 802.11b/g | More than 200 | 512 kbit/s | |
| Streamyx ZONE | 802.11b | More than 10000 | 384 kbit/s | Prepaid, and VAS for TMnet Streamyx and TMnet 1515 |
Leased line
- City Broadband - City Broadband provides high speed dedicated Ethernet broadband-over-fibreoptic in Cyberjaya with Gigabit speed capacity. City Broadband customers don't need to lease a separate line a.k.a. "leased line" to get the required dedicated bandwidth since the digital fibreoptic link/line comes together with City Broadband dedicated bandwidth at no additional leased line charge. That's why City Broadband is also known as broadband-over-fibreoptic provider.
- TM METRO-e - Dedicated internet access from 4Mbps to 1Gbps.
- TIME Ethernet Leased LineTIME Ethernet Leased LineAccording to TIME.com.my,TIME Ethernet Leased Line is a telecommunication internet product designed by TIME dotCom Berhad in Malaysia. Similar to 'Leased line', it is commonly known as a dedicated and secure connection to transport large amounts of data between two locations only the difference is,...
- TIME Ethernet Leased Line provide businesses with a permanent connection for mission critical applications that demand guaranteed bandwidth performance to support voice, data, video and Internet applications. It is able to deliver point to multipoint connectivity for greater flexibility. - TIME International Leased Line (IPLC) - TIME International Leased Line provide dedicated interconnection solution that enables transmission of all data types through telecommunication network in digital format, including voice, text, image, video and graphics with high secure and reliable connection.
VSAT
- H-Vision IPSTAR Satellite Broadband - 2-way satellite broadband connection.
- Sabah.Net IP STAR Satellite Broadband - 2-way satellite broadband connection spot beam.
- TIME Satellite Broadband - Provide high speed Internet of up to 4Mbps/1.5 Mbit/s. This service covers the entire nation and is accessible even at under-served, remote locations.
WiMAX
On 16 March 2007, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia CommissionMalaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission or Suruhanjaya Komunikasi dan Multimedia Malaysia is the regulator for the converging communications and multimedia industry in Malaysia...
granted 4 WiMAX license to the following companies.
- Bizsurf (M) Sdn Bhd
- MIB Comm Sdn BhD
- Asiaspace Dotcom Sdn Bhd
- Redtone-CNX Broadband Sdn Bhd
MCMC expected the companies to roll out their WiMAX services to 25% of the population in the areas given to them by the end of 2007. By the end of 2009, the companies are expected to provide their services to at least 40% of the population in the areas they control. The Internet access speed is expected to be no less than 1 Mbit/s.
Ministry of Energy, Water and Communication targeted 50% household penetration by 2010 from the current household penetration of 18% as of May 2008.