It has been quite an eventful weekend for the folks at TM. It started with the emergence of a new FAQ on unifi’s website that said the price of its 100Mbps plan would go higher after 24 months which is something that TM refuted a few hours later. Then came the news of nationwide Internet slowdown that was caused by multiple cable cut incidents.
As it turns out, TM’s woes are far from over though. Earlier today, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has released a statement that pretty much asked the country’s biggest telecommunications company to buck up in terms of customers’ communication and product values.
In general, MCMC’s statement was a response to the comment made by the Minister of Communication and Multimedia, Gobind Singh Deo which pointed out that TM needs to respond to their customers regarding Streamyx in terms of pricing, coverage, and speed limitation. The statement has also revealed the amount and types of complaints that the regulatory body has received from consumers.
Here is the statement, reproduced in full:
MCMC Notes TM’s Clarification Regarding Consumer Issues Highlighted By The Honourable Minister Of Communications and Multimedia
As the largest fixed broadband provider in the country with 85.97% market share of total subscribers, TM’s inaction affects many Malaysians who depend on TM’s network in their daily professional and personal activities. Consumers are demanding better services for the money they are paying TM.
At the time of writing, MCMC has received 7946 complaints on TM services, representing an increase of 43% from 4528 received in 2017. Based on average number of complaints for every 1000 subscribers, TM has recorded the highest number of complaints when compared with other service providers.
These complaints centre around consumer dissatisfaction on pricing (21%), the lack of UNIFI coverage (16%), UNIFI service disruption (13%), billing disputes (14%), service delivery (14%) as well as other categories (22%).
The government views this alarming decline in TM’s services delivery very seriously.TM’s repeated complaint handling approach in citing technical limitations and requesting consumers to exercise patience is not an acceptable course of action. Leaving customers in the dark is not the way a company of TM’s stature should operate. Yesterday for example, TM informed its customers of UNIFI services disruption, but failed to provide reasons for it.
TM must also rationalise the disparity between UNIFI and Streamyx pricing per Megabits per second (Mbps) so consumers are charged fairly for the speed that they enjoy without technology discrimination. This is especially important in areas where UNIFI is not available.
TM needs to be transparent in dealing with the Rakyat by offering packages that are great value, not take advantage of consumer’s lack of options. MCMC regards consumer protection as a key priority and will not hesitate to take any regulatory action against TM or any licensee found to be in breach.
In general, what MCMC has pointed out above were spot on especially when it comes to the Streamyx pricing. Now, let’s see how TM will react to this statement.
(Source: MCMC)
