Internet in Malaysia
From its beginnings in 1995, the Internet in Malaysia has become the main platform for free discussion in Malaysia's otherwise tightly controlled media environment.[1] As of Q1 2017, Malaysia has broadband penetration rates of 103.6% (per 100 inhabitants) and 81.8% (per 100 households).[2]
History[]
The year 1995 is 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.[3] 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).[4] 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.[5][6]
In 2005 the National Public Policy Workshop (NPPW) proposed a strategy to increase the uptake of Information and communications technology (ICT) and the Internet. Among the outcomes of the NPPW was the High Speed Broadband initiative launched in 2010. As of July 2012 Internet users in Malaysia reached 25.3 million. Out of that number, there are 5 million broadband users, 2.5 million wireless broadband users and 10 million 3G subscribers.[7]
In 2013 January, Maxis launch their 4G FDD-LTE network, and this is the first ISP in Malaysia launch 4G FDD-LTE network. After a few months, Celcom in April launch their 4G FDD-LTE network. Following ISP is DiGi in July, U Mobile in December. After 3 years in 2016 April, Unifi Mobile launch their 4G TDD-LTE network, and this is the first ISP in Malaysia launch 4G TDD-LTE network. After a few months, Yes 4G in June launch their 4G TDD-LTE network.
Speed[]
As of August 2021, Malaysia's average internet speed for fixed broadband is 103.28Mbit/s ranked on 46th ranking. Average speed for mobile connection speed also gone up to 29.14Mbit/s ranked on 89th ranking.[8]
For this market analysis in Q2 2021, TIME dot com was the fastest fixed broadband provider among top providers in Malaysia with a speed up to 116.36Mbit/s. While, the fastest mobile operator among top providers in Malaysia is DiGi, the speed up to 30.20Mbit/s.
Access technologies[]
Cellular data[]
Cellular data and mobile broadband connections are provided by: (SEPTEMBER 2021)
By 31 Dec 2021, all 3G network will be shutdown. U Mobile will transition to a pure 4G network by 2022, and this will be the 2nd ISP in Malaysia provide a pure 4G network since that Yes 4G network in 2010.
**Bold frequency is most used by ISP
| Internet Service Provider | Cellular Service Technology | Voice Over LTE
(VoLTE) |
Voice Over WiFi
(VoWiFi) |
CA | MIMO | QAM | Frequency (MHz) | Internet Download Speed / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Celcom | EDGE | YES | NO | 2 | 4×4 | 64 upgrade to 256 | 2G: 900, 1800
3G: 900, 2100 4G: 900(B8), 1800(B3), 2100(B1), 2600(B7) |
Up to 225Mbit/s, average to 21Mbit/s.
Telco using same natwork by MVNO are ALTEL, BeONE, Halo Telco, Hello SIM, ONEXOX, redONE, TONE EXCEL, TONE PLUS, Tune Talk & Yoodo **Start from 9 Sep 2021, Celcom will shutdown nationwide 3G network with their schedule until 31 Dec 2021 will complete shutdown the nationwide 3G network.** |
| DiGi | EDGE | YES | 2G: 900, 1800
3G: 2100 4G: 900(B8), 1800(B3), 2100(B1), 2600(B7) |
Up to 225Mbit/s, average to 25Mbit/s.
Telco using same natwork by MVNO are Mcalls, speakOUT, tapp & TONE WOW | ||||
| Maxis | EDGE | NO | 2G: 900, 1800
3G: 900, 2100 4G: 900(B8), 1800(B3), 2100(B1), 2600(B7) |
Up to 225Mbit/s, average to 25Mbit/s.
Telco using same natwork by MVNO are Ansar | ||||
| U Mobile | EDGE | YES | 2×2 | 64 | 2G: 900, 1800
3G: 900, 2100 4G: 1800(B3), 2100(B1), 2600(B7) |
Up to 185Mbit/s, average to 19Mbit/s.
2G services are provided by Maxis through roaming agreements. | ||
| Unifi Mobile | EDGE | NO | 2G: 900, 1800
3G: 900, 2100 4G: 850(B5), 2300(B40), 2600(B7), 2600(B38) |
Up to 55Mbit/s, average to 11Mbit/s.
2G & 3G services are provided by Celcom through roaming agreements. For 4G 2600MHz Band 7 also provided by Celcom | ||||
| Yes 4G | 4G LTE, 4G LTE-A | 4G: 800(B20), 2300(B40), 2600(B38) | Up to 55Mbit/s, average to 20Mbit/s. |
Digital subscriber line (DSL)[]
As of June 2012 there were 1,705,000 DSL connections. TM Net (Unifi), a subsidiary of Telekom Malaysia (TM), is Malaysia's largest Internet service provider. While there are many ISPs in Malaysia, TM'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, TM Net enjoys a virtual monopoly of the broadband market.
DSL connections are provided by:
| Internet service provider | DSL service technology | Internet download speed | Internet upload speed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maxis | VDSL2 (for high-rise buildings only) |
Maximum 50 Mbit/s | Maximum 50 Mbit/s |
| Unifi | |||
| Unifi Lite (Streamyx) | ADSL, ADSL2/ADSL2+ | Maximum 10 Mbit/s | Maximum 5 Mbit/s |
Fiber optics[]
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.[9] The four initial areas that will be covered by high speed broadband services, that is being launched in March 2010 are Shah Alam, Subang Jaya, Taman Tun Dr Ismail and Bangsar.[10]
The benefits announced with the implementation of high speed broadband include smoother e-commerce activities, Internet-based health services, voice over IP (VoIP) communications, web surfing that contains 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.
Fiber to the x connections are provided by:
Internet service provider Fiber service coverage Internet download speed Internet upload speed Celcom East and West Malaysia From 30 Mbit/s to 500 Mbit/s From 30 Mbit/s to 100 Mbit/s Allo City Broadband (Tenaga Nasional Berhad) West Malaysia From 50 Mbit/s to 1Gbit/s From 50 Mbit/s to 1Gbit/s DiGi East and West Malaysia From 50 Mbit/s to 1 Gbit/s From 20 Mbit/s to 200 Mbit/s Maxis East and West Malaysia From 30 Mbit/s to 800 Mbit/s From 30 Mbit/s to 200 Mbit/s TIME East and West Malaysia From 100 Mbit/s to 1Gbit/s From 100 Mbit/s to 500 Mbit/s Unifi (Telekom Malaysia) East and West Malaysia From 30 Mbit/s to 800 Mbit/s From 10 Mbit/s to 200 Mbit/s Symphonet West Malaysia From 50 Mbit/s to 100 Mbit/s From 50 Mbit/s to 100 Mbit/s PR1MA Communications 1Malaysia People's Housing Programme From 30 Mbit/s to 60 Mbit/s From 30 Mbit/s to 60 Mbit/s PenangFon Penang 2 Mbit/s 2 Mbit/s MacroLynx (ViewQwest) West Malaysia From 1 Mbit/s to 100 Mbit/s From 1 Mbit/s to 100 Mbit/s ViewQwest (Singapore) West Malaysia From 100 Mbit/s to 1 Gbit/s From 100 Mbit/s to 1 Gbit/s
Hotspot[]
Hotspot connections are provided by:
| Internet service provider | Hotspot quantity count | Internet service registration |
|---|---|---|
| DiGi | Over 7,000 | Required |
| Unifi | Over 8,000 | Not required |
| Y5ZONE | Over 5,500 | Required |
Internet censorship in Malaysia[]
On 30 May 2011, the Malaysia government started to ban some websites, mostly file sharing websites;[11][12] this is despite a promise not to censor the Internet, made by the sixth prime minister of Malaysia, Najib Razak.[13]
JENDELA Program[]
During the Movement Control Order (MCO) that was imposed to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, Malaysia’s internet traffic has increased by 30% to 70%, while the internet speed has dropped by 30% to 40%.[14]
Therefore, the Government of Malaysia launched the JENDELA Program (Jalinan Digital Negara).
The program will be the national digital communication enhancement platform under the 12th Malaysia Plan (2021–2025) that will be implemented in two phases:
Phase 1 (2020 – 2022):
Phase 1, which started from 2020 to 2022, will involve optimising existing resources and infrastructure for both mobile and fixed connectivity by:
- Expanding 4G mobile broadband coverage from 91.8% to 96.9% in populated areas;
- Increasing mobile broadband speeds from 25Mbps to 35Mbps; and
- Enabling as many as 7.5 million premises to access gigabit speeds with fixed broadband services.
This will also involve the gradual switch-off/sunset of 3G networks until the end of 2021, allowing further upgrades to 4G networks as well as strengthening the foundation for 5G networks.
Phase 2 (Beyond 2022):
- Phase 2 of JENDELA involves addressing the remainder of the digital divide not covered under Phase 1, primarily utilising FWA and other fit-for-purpose technologies, as well as priming the nation’s transition to 5G; which will take place once action plans to build a robust 4G and fibre platform under Phase 1 are achieved.[15]
This also means that Malaysia’s 3G network will gradually be closed. If only 2G/3G network coverage is available in some areas, only 2G networks will be available after the 3G network is closed, which will affect consumers’ experience.
Therefore, the current priority of the Malaysian government is to increase 4G network coverage, from 91.8% of Malaysia’s 4G coverage to 96.9%.
In addition, they plan to increase the mobile network speed of mobile phones from 25 Mbps to 35 Mbps.
They will also ensure that 83% premises nationwide will have access to gigabit speed of fixed broadband
In order to ensure that users using 4G to make calls will not fall back to 2G without 3G network coverage, Malaysian telecom operators have launched VoLTE, and some also provide VoWiFi services. VoLTE allows you to maintain 4G / 4G+ networks when you call, and Bring clearer sound quality and shorter response time.[16][17]
Issues with International Routing[]
Telekom Malaysia[]
For a long time, the international routing of Malaysian telecommunications companies has been criticized. For example, if Telekom Malaysia is connected to a server located in mainland China, it needs to go to Europe and then connect to PoP(s) for mainland China telecommunications companies such as China Telecom at Europe. Then, only the data packet will transfer to the China backbone network. This connection method made the latency and connection quality to connect to China Server from TM users become worst.[18]
In addition, Telekom Malaysia's routing to some Cloudflare's IP isn't very good. Although it is Anycast IP, most TM users will be bypassed to Osaka, Japan or Hong Kong and connected to Cloudflare PoP in Osaka or Hong Kong, which brings a bad experience to users.[19]
Furthermore, the internet to Singapore datacenters can be seen congested, everyday from afternoon to midnight. This problem brings a direct impact to the users of Facebook, Twitter, Telegram, Instagram, gaming servers, voice servers that have their server hosted in Singapore. With the severity of COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia, government have urged citizens to Work From Home, also contributed the matter of congested networks for Telekom Malaysia to International Servers. [20]To make the matter worse, the degradation of Quality of Service have been complained by the Telekom Malaysia Internet users and have been actively ignored by Telekom Malaysia with closing reports regarding the complains with no action taken or updates. Moreover, there is some of other users take the report to SKMM and MCMC, but with to no avail and yet a response from the authority. [21]
See also[]
- Censorship in Malaysia
- History of communications in Malaysia
- National Broadband Initiative (Malaysia)
- Telecommunications in Malaysia
References[]
- ^ "Malaysia profile: Media", BBC News, 10 September 2013. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
- ^ "Communications and Multimedia : Facts and Figures, 1Q 2017", Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, 2 August 2017, retrieved 12 September 2017
- ^ Sreejit Pillai (13 November 2001). "M'sia oldest search engine upbeat in trying times". ZDNet. Retrieved 8 July 2011.
- ^ Beta Interactive Services, 1996[better source needed]
- ^ Lee, 2000c[better source needed]
- ^ "Drivers and Impediments to E-commerce in Malaysia", John Paynter and Jackie Lim, Malaysian Journal of Library & Information Science, Vol.6, no.2, December 2001: 1-19. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
- ^ Salman Ali, Ah Choy Er, Amizah Wan Mahmud Wan, Abdul Latif Roslina (2013). "Tracing the Diffusion of Internet in Malaysia: Then and Now". Asian Social Science. 9 (6). doi:10.5539/ass.v9n6p9.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
- ^ "Malaysia's Mobile and Broadband Internet Speeds". Speedtest Global Index - Malaysia.
- ^ "TM To Launch HSBB Retail Service March 24". Bernama. 17 March 2010. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 26 March 2010. Alt URL
- ^ "TM Invests RM1.9 Billion, To Date, To Develop HSBB". Bernama. 18 March 2010. Archived from the original on 27 January 2014. Retrieved 26 March 2010.
- ^ "MCMC wants block of 10 websites that allow illegal movie downloads", Wong Pek Mei, Star Online, 10 June 2011. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
- ^ "Malaysian Govt Orders ISPs to Block Pirate Bay, Megaupload" Archived 2012-05-23 at the Wayback Machine, Jared Moya, ZeroPaid, 10 June 2011. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
- ^ "No censorship of the Internet", Lester Kong and Zulkifli Abd Rahman, The Star, 8 August 2009. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
- ^ "JENDELA Program". myjendela.my. Retrieved 2021-01-02.
- ^ "JENDELA FAQ - What is the Lab outcome that has transpired into JENDELA?".
- ^ WIKI