Each Malaysia Plan promises better, faster Internet, but what is the reality?
Malaysia’s broadband penetration has improved – and by quite a lot. The 10th Malaysia Plan introduced highspeed broadband (HSBB) initiatives in selected states, raising national broadband penetration from 55.6% in 2010 to 70.2% in 2014. The 11th Malaysia Plan (11MP) highlighted that broadband infrastructure will continue to expand to cover rural households, and to provide affordable broadband and high quality digital infrastructure.
Good broadband infrastructure can attract greater investment especially in knowledge-intensive sectors such as shared services outsourcing (SSO) and multimedia content applications. However, while every Malaysia Plan highlights broadband penetration to the more rural areas of Malaysia, the existing infrastructure has not kept up with the needs of the global market.
