Malaysia Broadband Below Par – Study

Internet users and bloggers have long been screaming for an overhaul in Malaysia’s broadband system. However, everything seems to have fallen on deaf ears as no serious improvements are being initiated.

How we wish to have a minister who knows a thing or two about net surfing and internet speed. We have the good Jalur Gemilang but where is the Jalur Lebar?

A study on broadband quality conducted by Oxford’s Said Business School found Malaysia’s broadband service to be ‘below par’ and that it ‘does not meet the expectation of today’s applications’. Needless to say, the country was ranked lowly in the overall broadband quality table.

Out of 66 countries researched in the study, Malaysia was ranked 48th, far below some of the developing countries such as Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan. Any consolation, if there’s any, is that Malaysia fares better compared to the likes of China, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Pakistan, India and Indonesia.

South Korea (1), Japan (2) and Hong Kong (3) are summarily the best countries in Asia which consistently provide the best and top quality broadband services to their consumers. The survey involved an analysis of over 20 million records sourced from broadband testing tool between the period of May 2008 and July 2009.

Hopefully, this is a long awaited wake-up call.

Other posts you may want to read:

1. Asia IT Managers Among the Lowest Paid
2. Most Expensive Cities in Asia
3. IT Salary in Asia 2007/2008 Compared
4. Malaysia Has One of the World’s Best Airports
5. Don’t Expect Salary To Go Up Too Soon

Author's bio: Zul is the founder and principal contributor for the SKOR Career blog. He is the author of two books, The Malaysian Job Seeker's Dilemma and Buat Duit Tanpa Kerja Makan Gaji (How to Make Money Without a Job), available in major book stores nationwide. You can reach him at zulkiflimusa[at]gmail.com.