September deadline for National Broadband Plan

The latest version of Malaysia's National Broadband Plan (NBP) is to be presented to Cabinet for approval this month. The original plan had sought to facilitate the provision of broadband access to half of Malaysian households by 2005. Currently, broadband penetration stands at a little under 0.7%.

According to the new NBP, the government believes that once broadband penetration reaches 5% or 1.3 million connections, a critical mass will be reached, which in turn will spur industry players to roll out broadband services at a quicker pace. A combination of government broadband connections (135,000), private sector usage (150,000) and home subscriptions (991,000) will push penetration rates to 5% by 2006, helped by a string of incentives and initiatives by the government.

This will include the government's push to promote competition and infrastructure sharing, such as the unlocking of fibre optic excess capacity, issuing last mile licences and mandating the unbundling of the local loop. The government will also strive to resolve disputes among telecommunications providers, which will include acting against uncompetitive practices.