Malaysian broadband? That's almost an oxymoron. Asia Computer Weekly "optimistically reported":http://www.asiacomputerweekly.com/acw_ViewArt.cfm?Magid=1&Artid=19669&Catid=5&subcat=40 that Telekom Malaysia is going to install 1million broadband ports (presumably for its "Streamyx service":http://isp.tm.net.my/streamyx/index.shtml) nationwide by year's end. A host of other players are jumping the broadband bandwagon - connectivity via satellite, etc. On the surface of things, Malaysia's broadband future looks pretty rosy.
Does Malaysia have broadband for consumers?
But, really it isn't for two simple reasons: what a majority of consumers are getting, Streamyx, isn't really broadband. "TMnet":http://www.tm.net.my, in its wisdom, is one of the few ISPs on Earth that tells is customers that "384kb downstream and 128kb upstream":http://isp.tm.net.my/streamyx/newPromoPackages.shtml is "broadband". Nope - the "accepted definition of broadband since 1995":http://www.nap.edu/html/broadband/ch2.html in an upstream/downstream of 1.5MB. Currently, 1.5MB is only available to premium xDSL subscribers "at prices that are way beyond the average consumer":http://isp.tm.net.my/streamyx/newPromoPackages.shtml.
To be fair, TMnet is not the only one trying to pull a fast one on consumers. "NTL":http://www.ntl.com/ of the UK tried doing it too. The difference is, when they tried to do it, there were "regulatory bodies that cracked down on it for false marketing":http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t293-s2133197,00.html. Can we expect our "Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment":http://www.moste.gov.my/ to provide similar protections? I think not; if they were going to do it, they would have done it by now.
Secondly, even if we have broadband, its still nothing worth being proud about when its coupled by incompetent customer service and irresponsible technical support. The "problem faced by Alphaque last week":http://www.alphaque.com/article.php?sid=307 is a single example of many cases where local ISPs have failed in the area that matters most. Not the technology, but the human side. Unanswered calls for help, lame excuses, and unacceptable assurances - not exactly the sort of experience you would expect from a country that "hopes to be the IT hub of the South East Asian region":http://www.mdc.com.my/msc/.
Broadband is still way off. Let's not be deluded into believing that its already here.
UPDATE: But this is Malaysia and beggars can't be choosers. It looks like "crap service is not an able deterrent":http://star-techcentral.com/tech/story.asp?file=/2003/5/5/technology/02isp&sec=technology.
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