In addition to the prepaid rebate based on GST, Prime Minister Najib Razak has also announced that the Malaysia Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) will provide RM 1.2 billion in order to improve the telecommunication infrastructures in Malaysia. This was announced as part of Budget 2016 presentation that has just concluded moments ago.
One such improvement is to increase the speed of broadband speed from 5Mbps to 20Mbps in rural areas. The budget is also meant for high-speed broadband projects, undersea cable system and national fibre backbone infrastructure although exact details regarding them were not mentioned by the Prime Minister during his Budget 2016 presentation.
Meanwhile, there was no mention of broadband pricing during Budget 2016 despite the demand from certain organization such as PIKOM together with general consumers. Hence, we don’t expect the prices will change anytime soon unless there is a huge paradigm shift happening somewhere in the industry.
(Source: PM’s Budget 2016 speech text. Image: RTM live broadcast of Budget 2016.)
