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Astro wants to be a major fibre broadband player by tapping on TM’s HSBB network

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Telekom Malaysia and MEASAT Broadcast Network Systems Sdn Bhd (Astro) have announced a collaboration to enable Astro to offer high-quality digital experience to all Malaysians. Through this partnership, Astro can tap on TM’s high-speed broadband (HSBB) network, bandwidth, backhaul, and internet access through TM’s wholesale business.

According to Astro CEO Henry Tan, the strategic partnership with TM lays the foundation for Astro to be an internet service provider. He added “Astro’s goal is to provide Malaysians with the best digital experience and broadband value proposition. Leveraging on the strength of TM’s wide HSBB network will enable Astro to realise new revenue streams, scaling our broadband service with content bundles, or standalone broadband and other product lines.”

Through TM’s HSBB network, Astro can provide broadband service to its customers without having to build its own fibre infrastructure. This will give the pay TV company immediate access to a wide area of fibre coverage throughout the country, allowing them to offer high-speed broadband connectivity and comprehensive solution to its customers.

Before this, Astro has been providing broadband and pay TV bundles in partnership with Maxis and TNB’s Allo. At the moment, they are offering Astro & Broadband bundles from RM99. By working directly with TM, Astro says it will give them the flexibility to offer great value and convenience to its customers.

In addition to broadband service, TM is also providing Astro with its Content Delivery Network (TM CDN), a newly developed content platform that is designed to deliver seamless, faster and secure digital content. TM CDN will enable Astro to strengthen its video streaming efficiency to its current service offering.

Recently, Astro has been slowly transitioning from satellite to IP-based streaming for its video content. Besides partnering with video streaming providers such as Disney+ Hotstar and Netflix, they have also introduced its Astro Ultra Plug & Play offering which does not require a satellite dish. Existing Astro Ultra users are also given the option to stream content via the internet if satellite service is disrupted.

Commenting on the collaboration, TM Group CEO Imri Mokhtar said “TM as the leading infrastructure partner for High-Speed Broadband wholesale services, leveraged its superior network nationwide to support the industry’s broadband growth. We are also the primary mobile backhaul infrastructure provider for the industry with extensive coverage and capacity. As the digital infrastructure accelerator in Malaysia, we have always been a strong advocate of infrastructure sharing. Thus we are honoured to be given this opportunity to leverage each other’s expertise to provide Malaysians with high-quality broadband and content services that we have.”


TM stops offering public IP for customers on Unifi 100Mbps plan and below

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[ UPDATE 15/10/2021 12:00 ] TM has issued a statement to assure that Unifi users with IP-based CCTV and hosting will not be affected. More details here.

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If you’re an Unifi Broadband customer that relies on public IP, some of your services might be disrupted very soon. The broadband provider has announced a system migration where users on public IPv4 IPs will be shifted to private IP.

TM is implementing Carrier-Grade NAT (CGNAT) for Unifi 30Mbps, 50Mbps, and 100Mbps customers. According to TM, services that may be affected include non-cloud-based CCTVs, server hosting, and online games where content is hosted by the customer. If you have a file-sharing service, FTP or NAS that uses a public IP, it will be affected as well.

For the large majority of users, your internet experience should not be affected when your service is switched to a private IP. According to the FAQ, the migration exercise will be implemented in stages from mid-September 2021 to January 2022 between 2am to 4am. Affected customers may experience a short downtime of 2-5 minutes.

TM said that it is implementing CGNAT for security purposes so that intruders will not be able to identify public IPv4 assigned to customers. The move is also seen as a way to address IPv4 address exhaustion.

While having a public IP makes it easier to allow anyone to connect to your devices remotely, there are potential security risks. Cybercriminals may infiltrate your network and devices if it isn’t protected properly. That’s one of the reasons why VPN is usually recommended to hide your public IP.

This migration will only affect Unifi subscribers with a dynamic IP. If you’re an Unifi business user that needs a fixed IP address, TM is charging RM200/month for 1 IP or RM300/month for 5 fixed IPs.

The FAQ on the CGNAT implementation is also shared on the Unifi Community Forum.

Thanks to @hiw200 for the tip!

TM: Unifi customers with IP-based CCTV and hosting won’t be impacted by Private IP migration

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Following a recent discovery that TM will no longer offer public IP for Unifi customers on 100Mbps plan and below, the broadband provider has issued an official statement for clarity. According to TM, the migration of Unifi customers to Private IP is aimed at providing more seamless connectivity and better security.

The move has raised concerns among some Unifi users as services that require public IP such as non-cloud-based CCTV, hosting and select online gaming services would be impacted. To address these concerns, TM said customers who are still using IP-based CCTV and known hosting will be excluded from the migration exercise.

It isn’t clear how TM will identify users that require public IP and if there’s an option for users to request for Public IP without incurring extra charges. At the moment, the migration will only affect Unifi customers with dynamic IP on 30Mbps, 50Mbps and 100Mbps plans. Customers with fixed IP are also not affected.

TM said the migration is still ongoing with minimal downtime of 2-5 minutes for customers. It assured that customers’ internet performance will not be affected and impacted customers will be notified in advance.

Source: Unifi Community Forum

According to the initial FAQ that was spotted on the Unifi Community Forum, the migration is scheduled in stages from mid-September 2021 until January 2022. It was mentioned that applications that will be affected are non-cloud-based CCTVs, server hosting services, online games where content is hosted by customers.

The implementation of Carrier-Grade NAT (CGNAT) is aimed at providing Unifi customers with enhanced security when browsing the internet or utilising any online tools and applications. The move to private IP is also a way for TM to address the exhaustion of IPv4 addresses before it implements IPv6 for its customers.

We’ve reached out to TM for clarity on the public IP request and will update this post once we have a response.

JENDELA: 4G coverage complaints dropped by 34% in Q3 2021, almost 1.5 mil premises fiberised in one year

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The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has published its 4th quarter JENDELA report. It highlights the progress of Malaysia’s 4G coverage and fiberisation improvement after the initiative was launched in late August last year. Across the board, operators have exceeded their Q3 2021 targets for new towers, upgrading existing sites, and increasing the number of fiberised premises.

Significant drop in complaints on 4G coverage issues

With the imminent shutdown of 3G networks, telcos have been focusing on improving their 4G coverage throughout the country. According to the latest report, there are a total of 32,485 complaints related to poor or no 4G coverage received in Q3 2021, which is a 34.2% drop from a total of 49,373 complaints received in Q2 2021. The MCMC has also received fewer complaints related to service disruption, poor 3G coverage and poor internet speeds in the last quarter.

The reduction of complaints can be seen with nearly all operators including Celcom, Digi, Maxis, U Mobile, Unifi Mobile and Unifi fixed broadband. Time records a slight increase with one extra complaint but it is still the lowest on the chart with just 50 complaints received in last quarter.

Among the top 50 locations, 80% of complaints were received from Zone 1 and Zone 2 areas. Seremban folks made the most complaints with 2,783 reports, followed by Johor Bahru with 1,755 complaints, Petaling with 1,506 complaints and Kuala Lumpur with 1,397 complaints. According to the MCMC, the complaints are due to the MCO as there’s an increased demand of bandwidth required for residential areas.

Fiberisation target hit 211% with 378,449 new premises connected in Q3 2021

In Q3 2021, a total of 378,449 premises were connected with fibre which far exceeds its Q3 target of 179,013 premises. This brings the total of new premises passed with fibre to 1,470,432 during JENDELA Phase 1. Meanwhile, there are 67 new mobile towers erected and 2,954 base stations upgraded to newer 4G technologies in the last quarter.

To recap, JENDELA Phase 1 aims to achieve 96.9% 4G coverage with an average 4G speed of 35Mbps and a total of 7.5 million premises passed with fibre access by the end of 2022. Malaysia’s 4G coverage is currently at 94.03% as of Q2 2021 and the report stated that the 4G coverage data for Q3 2021 will be available in November 2021. Deputy Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Zahidi Zainul Abidin recently claimed that Malaysia’s 4G coverage has reached 96%. Quoting Ookla’s Global Speed Test Index, Malaysia’s average mobile speed as of 30th September is 31.34Mbps.

According to Ookla, Malaysia’s average mobile speed as of August 2021 is 29.14Mbps and we are ranked #89 worldwide. The global average is 56.74Mbps and Malaysia is behind Singapore at #18 (91.75Mbps), Brunei (61.85Mbps) at #36, Thailand (49.37Mbps) at #50, Vietnam (41.16Mbps) at #57, Philippines (33.77Mbps) at #73 and Laos (32.04Mbps) at #82.

3G sunset on track for 31 December 2021

With less than 3 months to go before Malaysia switches off 3G networks, a total of 1,203,066 3G customers have been migrated, which is slightly above its Q3 target of 1,159,218 users. Based on these figures, there are still 894,055 users who are on 3G. To date, 78,613 3G carriers have been switched off, which is slightly below its target of 82,438 3G carriers.

Out of 2,097,121 identified 3G users, MCMC aims to convert 1,616,318 (77.07%) users to 4G by the end of this year. It added that the remaining 23% of 3G users are still able to stay connected via 2G after the 3G sunset and the migration will still continue in 2022.

At the moment, there are several initiatives to get more people to switch to newer 4G phones with VoLTE. This includes the Jaringan Prihatin Programme and the recently announced Pakej Peranti Keluarga Malaysia. In addition to migrating users to newer phones, telcos would also need to inform their customers to switch to a newer SIM as there are users with 4G devices in 4G coverage areas who are still stuck on 3G. After 3G is turned off, telcos can reuse the bulk of their 900MHz and 2100MHz spectrum to improve 4G coverage.

You can check out the Jendela Q4 2021 full report on the official website.

Maxis successfully trials 10Gbps on its fibre network with the fastest GPON technology in Malaysia

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Maxis has announced that it has successfully trialled 10G PON (Gigabit Passive Optical Network) for the first time on its network. According to Maxis, their next-generation fibre-to-home (FTTH) network was able to deliver download speeds close to 10Gbps. In their demonstration, a 1GB video took less than a second to download. As a comparison, it will take approximately 23 seconds to download the same file on a typical 300Mbps GPON download speed.

Maxis 10Gbps Speedtest

The speedtest demo result from Maxis shows symmetrical speeds with 9436.95Mbps for downloads and 8905.42Mbps for uploads, with a latency of 3ms.

10G PON (also known as XG-PON) is currently the fastest fixed GPON technology in Malaysia as most fibre deployments in the country are based on GPON which supports up to 2.5Gbps downstream speed on a shared basis. Maxis says 10G PON for home fibre in the future will provide gigabit ultra-broadband for fixed access users and allow multiple users to share the capacity over a passive fibre-optic infrastructure. The increased bandwidth for fibre will allow users to enjoy faster download speeds and lower latency for a better broadband experience.

Maxis Chief Technology Strategy Officer, Rob Sewell said, “Network infrastructure is constantly evolving. With the rise of new services such as cloud computing, VR, AR, and even full-fibre campuses, upgrades to higher capacity networks are critical to support future bandwidth requirements. We are proud of this achievement which reflects our commitment to the best technology innovation in a highly connected world, as well as our broad aspirations of Rangkaian Kita Rangkaian Malaysia campaign.”

At the moment, Maxis offers fibre broadband with speeds ranging from 30Mbps to 800Mbps. As revealed during the launch of its Rangkaian Kita, Rangkaian Malaysia brand campaign, Maxis has access to over 21,000km of fibre coverage covering 5.5 million premises throughout the country. At the moment, they have 4.8 million converged subscribers that use both Maxis mobile and broadband services.

Besides Maxis’ own fibre broadband network, the green telco has signed access agreements with other fibre providers such as TM HSBB, SACOFA in Sarawak, Celcom Timur Sabah and TNB’s Allo, to expand its fibre broadband footprint nationwide.

After 21 years, TM no longer accepts new Streamyx signups. All remaining users to be migrated to fibre by 2025

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The days of Streamyx broadband are coming to an end as Telekom Malaysia (TM) no longer accepts new registrations for Streamyx (aka Unifi Lite) for both consumer and business users. This comes as TM is accelerating the deployment of fibre broadband access in line with the JENDELA programme.

For users who are still relying on Streamyx or Unifi Lite for internet connectivity, the service is still available. TM aims to migrate all remaining users to faster fibre broadband connectivity by 2025. This would mark an end of an era after TM discontinued its 1515 dial-up service on 1st October 2017.

Here’s TM’s statement in full on the discontinuation of new registration for Unifi Lite and Business Broadband:

As we embrace the digital lifestyle, we can expect an increase in consumer demand for faster connectivity. To satisfy this need, Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) through unifi continues to drive digital connectivity through the accelerated expansion of fibre network nationwide. This is also in support of the Jalinan Digital Negara (JENDELA) action plan to deliver enhanced connectivity experience to all Malaysians.

Towards this end, as well as in answering the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC)’s call for the provision of high-speed broadband services, unifi has discontinued new registrations for its copper-based broadband services, namely unifi Lite (Streamyx) and Business Broadband.

We wish to inform that all our existing unifi Lite and Business Broadband customers will be migrated to the fibre-based unifi service in phases, expected to be completed by 2025. We will reach out to these customers via emails, letters, calls and SMSes, to ensure a seamless migration experience. Until then, all existing unifi Lite and Business Broadband customers will still enjoy their broadband service as is, with no disruption.

Should these customers be interested to upgrade their subscription to any of the fibre-based unifi packages that provide more value for their money before the migration exercise, they can reach out to us via 100, Live Chat at unifi.com.my, the myunifi app, or just visit any nearest TMpoint.

Telekom Malaysia

Unifi Lite aka Streamyx no longer available for new subscription

At the time of writing, TM has already removed “Unifi Lite” on its Unifi website. If you hover over Shop > Broadband on the top menu, you’ll only find Fibre and Wireless Broadband options available to consumers. Before the page was removed, TM was offering Unifi Lite with up to 8Mbps downloads and unlimited TM fixed-line calls for RM89/month. That’s the same subscription fee as TM’s entry-level 30Mbps Unifi Fibre Broadband without the Unifi TV bundle.

Unifi Lite ADSL plan

To recap, Streamyx was launched in April 2001 and it is an ADSL (Asymmetric digital subscriber line) technology that uses copper infrastructure. During its introduction, it had a base speed of just 384kbps which was already 6-10 times faster than a typical dial-up connection. Eventually, they offered higher speeds of up to 8Mbps subject to availability. During its peak, TM was charging as high as RM160/month for its highest 8Mbps option.

Previous Streamyx pricing

There has been tremendous pressure to improve broadband connectivity for the masses in the past few years, especially when MP Gobind Singh Deo was appointed the Communications and Multimedia Minister during the Pakatan Harapan administration. In 2018, he criticised TM repeatedly for the lack of action for Streamyx users who were paying a high subscription fee for slow ADSL connectivity. According to TM’s 2017 financial report, TM had 2.3 million broadband users and 1.2 million of them are still on Streamyx.

Eventually, TM revamped its fibre broadband offering with a cheaper 30Mbps fibre plan at RM79/month, while existing Unifi customers were given turbo upgrades with up to 10X faster speeds at no extra cost. To upgrade users outside of fibre coverage areas, TM introduced Unifi Air, a 4G LTE wireless broadband service, that offered unlimited quota that promises to offer average speeds of 20Mbps for RM79/month.

Less than 280,000 Streamyx customers remaining

Source: TM Q4 2021 Report

The number of Streamyx users has been declining gradually and there are 278,000 Streamyx customers remaining as of Q4 2021. TM has also gained a significant increase in Unifi Fibre broadband subscriptions with over 2.5 million customers at the end of last year.

The current JENDELA programme aims to hit 7.5 million premises with fibre access by the end of 2022. As of 31st December 2021, there are a total of 6.848 million fibre passed premises nationwide.

Are you still on Streamyx? If you are, do let us know why you’ve not switched to fibre or 4G LTE wireless broadband?

[ SOURCE ]

Astro rolls out Fibre service with speeds up to 800Mbps, Astro and broadband bundles from RM129.99/month

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Following its signing with TM Wholesale, payTV company Astro finally has rolled out its own internet service called Astro Fibre which aims to address customers’ growing need for stronger connectivity to meet the demands of multiple devices at the same time. As part of their introductory promo, they are offering a WiFi Kencang package where you can get high-speed fibre broadband, Astro entertainment, and free Mesh WiFi from RM129.99/month.

Astro is offering 4 fibre broadband speed options – 50Mbps, 100Mbps, 500Mbps and 800Mbps. The base 50Mbps fibre plan costs RM99/month but with the current promo, you can get it with Astro TV Pack for RM129.99/month. Additional TV Pack bundles are also available and the top Premium Pack 2 option costs RM244.99/month all in with the 50Mbps plan. At the moment, you can’t subscribe to broadband service standalone and you’ll have to get it together with an Astro TV Pack.

The 100Mbps + Astro bundle starts from RM184.99/month, while the 500Mbps + Astro bundle starts from RM244.99/month. Meanwhile, the highest 800Mbps bundle option will cost you from RM304.99/month. Like most fibre broadband plans, the subscription is tied to a 24-month contract.

Under the current promo which is valid from today until 30th June 2022, new 50Mbps fibre customers can get free one Mesh unit for 12 months while 100Mbps plans and above get it for free for 24 months. The Mesh unit is offered as a monthly add-on subscription which ranges from RM10/month to RM25/month per unit according to the subscription plan. This means if you sign up for the 50Mbps bundle offer at RM129/month, you’ll have to pay an additional RM25/month to continue using the Mesh WiFi for the second year onward.

According to the FAQ, the fibre plans have asymmetrical upload speeds with the base 50Mbps plan having 20Mbps for upload and 100Mbps having 50Mbps for upload. Meanwhile, the 500Mbps plan has 100Mbps upload and the 800Mbps is having 200Mbps upload. All plans come with a WiFi 6 certified router as standard.

Existing customers on the Astro & Broadband plan with Maxis and Allo are able to switch to Astro Fibre, provided that they terminate or completed their contract for their current subscription. For more info, you can visit the official Astro Fibre page and check out their FAQ.

Related reading

Pan Borneo Highway contractor fined RM80,000 for damaging TM’s fibre optic cables four times

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Pekerjaan Piasau Konkerit Sdn Bhd, a contractor for the Pan Borneo Highway project was fined RM80,000 by the Sessions Court in Sarawak for damaging fibre optic cables belonging to Telekom Malaysia. There were four different incidents that took place in 2017.

According to Bernama, Judge Syarifuddin Abdul Rasa imposed a fine of RM20,000 for each charge against the company which has pleaded guilty to all four counts. It was reported that the company has paid the fine.

The first incident took place on 24 June 2017 when a 48-core fibre optic underground cable located 14.4km away from TM Batu 34 station towards TM TT844 was damaged. This is followed by more incidents that happened at 7km, 42.6km and 8.05km away from TM TT844 station towards TM Batu 34 station between 29 June to 25 November 2017.

The contractor was charged under Section 235 of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission Act 1998 which covers damage to network facilities. Violators can face a fine not exceeding RM300,000 or jail up to three years, or both.

Last month, another Pan Borneo Highway contractor, Musyati Mudajaya JV Sdn Bhd, was fined for committing a similar offense. It was reported that the company had caused damage to TM’s 48-core underground fibre optic network 25.3km from TM Bukit Singgalang station heading to TM Tatau station on 17 July 2017. On 31 July 2017, another cable damage was reported by TM at 14.5km from TM Bukit Singgalang station heading to TM Tatau station. The contractor pleaded guilty to the three charges.

The Pan Borneo Highway is currently undergoing its long-awaited upgrading works from a two-way single to two-way dual carriageway. The road network spans 5,324km in length connecting not just Sarawak and Sabah, but also neighbouring countries such as Indonesia and Brunei. Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said last month that the Sarawak’s first phase of the project was 78% completed while Sabah’s first phase works have reached 52% completion.

[ SOURCE, IMAGE SOURCE ]


Astro now offers Fibre Broadband without Pay TV service, priced from RM99/month

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Astro Fibre was launched in March 2022 and it offers Astro and broadband bundles from RM129.99/month. If you just want internet for your home without the Astro Pay TV offering, you can now subscribe to Astro broadband service standalone and the plans start from RM99/month.

According to Astro, the launch of its new standalone fibre broadband service is a step towards transitioning the group into a full Internet Service Provider (ISP). When the WiFi Kencang was introduced, it promises to offer a one-stop home entertainment and internet solution that combines content and Mesh WiFi.

Here’s the pricing for Astro’s standalone Fibre Broadband offering:

  • 50Mbps (20Mbps upload) – RM99.00/month
  • 100Mbps (50Mbps upload) – RM129.00/month
  • 500Mbps (100Mbps upload) – RM189.00/month
  • 800Mbps (200Mbps upload) – RM249.00/month

All plans come with free WiFi 6 router included which provides a more robust wireless connection. If you subscribe to the 100Mbps plan and above, Astro is providing free 1 Mesh for 24 months which is used to expand your home’s WiFi coverage. The Mesh WiFi nodes are typically offered as an add-on subscription at RM10/month each for all plans. Each customer can subscribe up to 5 units of Mesh WiFi nodes.

Astro Fibre plans are tied to a 24-month contract. According to the FAQ, unlike the standard Astro TV and broadband bundle, the standalone Astro Fibre subscription will not auto-renew with another 24-month contract at the end of your lock-in period.

Astro’s Fibre Broadband service is leveraging TM’s nationwide HSBB network. This means that if your area has Unifi Fibre coverage, you should be able to subscribe to Astro Fibre. As a comparison, TM’s Unifi home fibre service is charging RM89/month for its 30Mbps plan and RM129/month for its 100Mbps option.

To help troubleshoot your current WiFi issues, Astro says it has installation experts that will conduct a thorough WiFi heatmap-based assessment of each home upon installation.

If you prefer to subscribe to their broadband with Astro TV included, the plans start from RM129.99/month for the 50Mbps broadband and Primary pack. You can learn more in our previous post. For more info, you can check out the Astro Fibre website and FAQ.

Related reading

Malaysia has over 7 million premises passed with fibre but what does that mean?

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The JENDELA initiative which aims at improving Malaysia’s mobile and fibre connectivity is still on track to deliver its Phase 1 targets by the end of this year. In fact, the Communications and Multimedia Minister (MenKomm) Tan Sri Annuar Musa recently shared that Malaysia’s average mobile speed has exceeded its target with over 40Mbps in Q1 2022. When it comes to fibre, the latest report from the MCMC revealed there are now over 7 million premises passed and that means more Malaysians should be able to get access to fibre broadband that offers faster and reliable internet at lower prices.

JENDELA on track to achieve 7.5 million premises passed with fibre by end 2022

JENDELA Q1 2022 Report

Before JENDELA started, there were less than 5 million premises passed with fibre as of August 2020 and the target is to achieve 7.5 million premises passed by the end of 2022. In just a period of 18 months, a total of 2,070,565 additional premises are now passed with fibre. This is a significant increase as MCMC Chairman Dato Dr. Fadhlullah Suhaimi shared that typically, there are 300,000 premises passed with fibre each year.

JENDELA Q1 2022 Report

As usual, Telekom Malaysia (TM) still leads in fibre deployment in the country. TM’s fibre network currently covers 5.9 million premises and they are entrusted to cover 6 million premises under JENDELA Phase 1. During the early phase of JENDELA, there were 900,000 Streamyx users and the broadband giant has already migrated 600,000 of them to fibre. TM has also recently stopped offering Streamyx to new customers and as of Q4 2021, there are less than 280,000 subscribers remaining on the old ADSL broadband technology.

Besides TM, other telcos are also deploying their own fibre network which includes TIME, Maxis and Celcom Timur. All have achieved their Q1 2022 fibre deliverables except for Maxis which had a shortfall due to a shortage of raw materials for pole fabrication and permitting lead time by state agencies related to OSA. Interestingly, TNB’s Allo is not listed in the JENDELA report but they have targetted to cover 300,000 premises with fibre by the end of 2022.

Premises passed don’t mean homes are directly connected

While having 7 million premises passed sounds great, it doesn’t mean that 7 million homes or offices are directly connected to fibre. In simple terms, premises passed just means that the fibre connection is available in the area but it doesn’t translate to actual ports available.

According to MCMC’s own definition published in a briefing document for NFCP 3, it is stated that a premise is considered covered or passed when it is capable to connect the premise to the FTTP (Fibre to the Premise) in a service area, and a new service activation will only require the installation or connection of a drop cable from the premises passed point. This includes a connection to the fibre distribution point on an aerial, pedestal, riser, MDF or utility-pole.

Definition of fibre passed premises. Source: MCMC

Dr. Fadhlullah shared during the JENDELA briefing that the industry no longer talks about ports, as it is not conducive from a commercial standpoint. What’s more important is the actual assets on the ground for fibre passed premises. If a consumer is residing in a fibre-passed area and wants fibre broadband, the new service activation must be completed within 14 days. He shared that the current run rate is slightly above 95% and sometimes the shortfall is not entirely on the service provider. It is also dependent on the household and there are some areas where infrastructure adaptation is required.

According to TM’s Chief Strategy Officer Tengku Muneer Tengku Muzani, there will be some issues related to adaptation but TM is committed to getting the fibre broadband service up and running in 14 days. He added that about 5% of customers’ installation may extend beyond the 14 days and they will address each customer on a case by case basis.

It is also worth highlighting that fiberisation not only benefits homes and businesses but also provides connectivity to mobile towers. This is crucial for the 5G rollout which promises to deliver gigabit speeds and low latency to consumers.

[ IMAGE SOURCE ]

Celcom offers two unlimited postpaid lines and 100Mbps home fibre broadband for RM245 per month

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Celcom has introduced a new fibre and postpaid plan bundle under Celcom Max which includes two Celcom Mega 158 Unlimited lines from RM245/month. According to Celcom, this provides lifetime savings of at least RM191 per month.

The base bundle offers two Celcom Mega 158 Unlimited lines (worth RM316) and 100Mbps Celcom Home Fibre (worth RM120) for RM245/month. If you need faster speeds, the combo with 300Mbps fibre costs RM260/month while the 500Mbps option costs RM320/month.

The Celcom bundle offering is tied to a 24-months contract and Celcom is providing a free WiFi 6 AX Router with the option to add Mesh WiFi at RM25/month per pair. If you go for the Celcom Home Fibre 500Mbps option, the Mesh WiFi pair is provided for free.

According to the FAQ, the unlimited lines now come with a Fair Usage Policy (FUP) of 300GB per line. This means when you hit your limit on your phone, speeds will be throttled down. During registration, customers are required to pay one month subscription as an advance payment. So if you’re going for the 100Mbps fibre and 2 unlimited lines combo, you’ll have to fork out RM245 upfront.

Unlike Digi and Maxis, these unlimited postpaid plans from Celcom do come with a speed cap. For Celcom Mega 158 Unlimited, the unlimited data is capped at 20Mbps and it comes with 30GB of monthly hotspot data. You also get unlimited calls to all networks while SMS is charged at 20 sen each.

If you need to add more lines, Celcom lets you add up to 6 extra supplementary lines at RM40/month each for Mega 158. The Unlimited Family Line offers unlimited data that’s capped at 6Mbps and it comes with 5GB of hotspot data. For those who prefer to get uncapped high-speed data, the Lightning Family Line offers 30GB of data and unlimited calls for RM40/month.

To learn more, check out Celcom’s Broadband page.

Related reading

Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite service to cover Malaysia in 2023 but should you place a USD 99 deposit today?

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Starlink, the satellite broadband service operated by Elon Musk’s Space X, is now available in 32 countries worldwide. It mainly covers North America, Europe, New Zealand, and selected areas of South America and Australia. The coverage map has also included the estimated availability dates for the rest of the world with Malaysia expected to be covered in 2023.

Previously, Malaysia was expected to be covered in 2022, so it looks like they have pushed its estimated timeline by a full year. If you refer to their map, the entire Malaysia is indicated as coming soon with the text “starting in 2023”.

Starlink is accepting orders from Malaysia

Even before the service is officially available, the website is already allowing customers to reserve their Starlink by placing a deposit of USD 99 (about RM435) today. It is also mentioned that the availability is subject to regulatory approval and the orders will be fulfilled on a first-come, first-served basis.

While Starlink will definitely work in areas within its satellite coverage, it will require a Network Facility or Service Provider license (NFP/NSP) from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) in order to provide commercial services to Malaysian users. At the time of writing, we couldn’t find Starlink or Space X listed on MCMC’s licences register. Therefore, it is best to wait until Starlink gets the necessary approvals from our local regulators.

However, don’t expect it to be cheap. Starlink has recently increased its prices with the hardware costing USD 599 (about RM2,634) and the monthly subscription fee costing USD 110 (about RM483).

Source: FSET – SpaceX Starlink Installation in Pikangikum

According to Starlink, its satellite can provide download speeds between 100 to 200Mbps with latency as low as 20ms in most locations. The low ping is made possible with Starlink’s low earth orbit (LEO) satellites which revolve at a much lower altitude compared to geostationary satellites.

As a comparison, the current ConnectMe satellite service by MEASAT which provides 100% coverage in Malaysia can provide download speeds up to 30Mbps and a high ping of 500ms. With the upcoming MEASAT-3d launch scheduled next month, the new High Throughput Satellite (HTS) will be able to deliver even faster speeds up to 100Mbps. Satellite connectivity is vital for rural and unserved places where there’s no fixed or terrestrial connectivity available. Due to its portable nature, it is also seen as a quick interim solution to provide high-speed connectivity while waiting for the expansion of fixed broadband and mobile coverage.

The Philippines to be the first country to get Starlink in ASEAN

In the Southeast Asian region, the Philippines is expected to be the first country to launch the Starlink service and it is listed to be available in Q4 2022. On 31st March, the Philippines’ Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said their business permit application is being processed while the company scouts locations for its gateways. Space X is reported to be setting up a wholly-owned subsidiary in the country and is planning to deploy three gateways in the first phase of the launch.

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TM aims to achieve 58% fibre coverage in Sabah by 2025

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Telekom Malaysia (TM) has announced its commitment to support Sabah’s Maju Jaya aspiration with a plan to increase fibre access in the East Malaysian state. The fibre broadband giant is targetting to cover a minimum of 145,000 premises with fibre in the next three years and to achieve 58% fibre coverage in the state by the end of 2025. This would enable more Sabahans to enjoy faster broadband via Unifi and other telcos that are tapping on the HSBB network.

The targets were announced by TM during an engagement session with Sabah’s Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Hajiji Haji Noor yesterday. According to TM, they have invested more than RM1.1 billion in CAPEX in Sabah since 2012 to improve connectivity and fiberisation. At the moment, they have covered close to 282,000 premises with fibre and have laid 32,000km of fibre optic cables statewide.

TM has also rolled out 59 fibre connectivity sites at schools in Sabah which serves as Points of Presence (PoP). In total, TM has deployed over 600,000km of fibre optic cables throughout Malaysia and will continue to expand in line with JENDELA. The JENDELA initiative aims at achieving 7.5 million fibre premises passed by the end of this year and there are already more than 7 million fibre passed premises nationwide as of Q1 2022.

To improve browsing experience of Sabahans, TM has deployed TM Internet Exchange (TMIX) nodes in Kota Kinabalu and Penampang, and there are more upcoming nodes in Inanam, Kinarut, Menggatal and Putatan that are expected to be up and running by December 2022. To enable faster delivery of content, TM is also establishing a Content Delivery Network (CDN) node and an International Gateway (IGW) in Penampang by Q1 2023. This would allow Over-The-Top (OTT) players to host their content closer to users.

Sabah is one of the most underserved states in the country when it comes to connectivity. Following the viral video of Veveonah climbing a tree to complete her online exam, TM upgraded the nearest Pusat Internet (Internet community centre) at Pitas, Sabah with 300Mbps Fibre Broadband. It was the first Pusat Internet with 300Mbps speeds in the state.

Besides TM, Celcom is also deploying its own fibre network in Sabah through Celcom Timur Sdn Bhd (CTSB) and they offer home broadband plans with speeds up to 1Gbps. In hard to reach interior villages with no access to 4G or fibre, satellite connectivity is seen as alternative solution to provide internet access. ConnectMe Now, a prepaid WiFi service that uses MEASAT’s satellite, has been deployed in several locations including Kampung Waluhu, Kampung Saliliran, Kampung Magandai and Kampung Tulang-Tulang in Sabah.

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Budget 2023: RM8 billion to achieve 100% internet coverage in populated areas by 2025

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The JENDELA programme which aims at bridging the digital divide in Malaysia was also mentioned during the tabling of Budget 2023. Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul said JENDELA Phase 2 will involve an investment of RM8 billion which include funds from the industry players.

JENDELA Phase 2 is aimed at improving connectivity with 100% population coverage and to increase fiber broadband access to 9 million fibre passed premises by 2025. In addition, the JENDELA programme will also be provided with RM700 million to improve digital connectivity in 47 industrial areas and almost 3,700 schools nationwide.

JENDELA Phase 1 is coming to an end at the end of this year and it is currently on track to achieve its targets. Launched in August 2020 by former Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, JENDELA is aimed at improving broadband connectivity and to shutdown 3G network to free up spectrum for 4G use.

JENDELA Phase 1 and Phase 2 targets

Under Phase 1, the government aims to increase 4G population coverage from 91.8% to 96.9%, and to boost average download speeds from 25Mbps to 35Mbps. According to the last JENDELA report, Malaysia has achieved 95.82% 4G population coverage and an average of 47.04Mbps (mean) download speeds as of Q2 2022. Phase 2 of JENDELA aims to improve average mobile broadband speeds to 100Mbps (mean).

JENDELA Phase 1 Q2 2022 Report

When it comes to fibre, JENDELA aims to increase the number of fibre-passed premises from 4.96 million to 7.5 million. As of 30th June, 7.2 million premises have been passed with fibre.

Digital Nasional Berhad, which is supposed to be a fully funded by the private sector was also mentioned during the tabling of Budget 2023. Tengku Zafrul said DNB will be spending RM1.3 billion next year to increase 5G population coverage to 70%. At the moment, DNB’s 5G network covers 33% of populated areas which include the Klang Valley and selected areas of Kelantan, Perak, Penang and Johor. The single wholesale network also revealed yesterday that Celcom, Digi, Telekom Malaysia and YTL Communications have signed the equity deal with DNB which an accumulative stake of 65%. The government through the Ministry of Finance shall hold a 35% stake and a golden share.

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U Mobile partners with Time to expand fixed fibre broadband coverage by 650%

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U Mobile has big plans to expand their fibre offerings as the telco has just signed a collaboration agreement with Time broadband to increase its reach to Malaysian households. U Mobile claims that this partnership will increase their reach to over 650% more households, allowing more subscribers access to U Mobile’s fixed broadband offerings.

Prior to this partnership, the telco was partnered with Allo Technology, a subsidiary of Tenaga Nasional (TNB), which kickstarted their fibre broadband offerings. The plans offered symmetrical (upload and download) speeds of up to 1Gbps for RM299/month. Currently, U Mobile offers three fixed fibre broadband plans: a 100Mbps plan for RM129/month, a 500Mbps plan for RM199/month and a 1Gbps plan for RM299/month.

Now that they’re partnered with Time, U Mobile claims that the coverage has now increased over sevenfold, especially for those who are living in high-rise residential areas in major cities.

“Our latest partnership with Time is an affirmation to our commitment as we will be expanding the reach of our high-speed fibre broadband services exponentially via their footprint,” said Time executive director Lee Guan Hong. He also added that the company is “working hard to innovate to bring even more home broadband plans and benefits” to their customers, so that they can experience a “truly converged experience”.

U Mobile isn’t the only telco that has signed a deal like this with Time, as Digi tapped into the Time fibre network back in 2020 to expand its own broadband coverage too.


Fahmi Fadzil: Good news for fixed broadband users to be announced in coming months

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During the announcement of Pakej Perpaduan which offers 30GB of data with 6 months validity for RM30, Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil said his ministry will be announcing good news for fixed broadband users in the coming months. He said there are several things he will prioritise to assist Malaysians, especially when the government wants to grow the economy while reducing the cost of living.

The major announcement today was a new prepaid data offer targeted at Youths, B40, OKU, senior citizens and veterans. The Pakej Perpaduan initiative is essentially an upgrade to the current Pakej Remaja Keluarga Malaysia and the new plan offers 50% more data (20GB to 30GB) and double the validity (3 months to 6 months). However, the plan comes with a speed cap of 3Mbps.

The biggest broadband pricing shake-up occurred during the previous Pakatan Harapan administration with Gobind Singh as the Communications and Multimedia Minister. During his tenure, he delivered on his promise to double internet speeds and cut subscription fees by half. As a result, Unifi’s 30Mbps broadband plan which previously costs RM179/month was slashed to under RM100/month. At the same time, existing Unifi Fibre Broadband customers were also given a turbo upgrade with higher speeds of up to 800Mbps.

Through the implementation of the Mandatory Standard on Access Pricing (MSAP), the cost for TM’s wholesale fibre was also reduced as well, enabling more retail telcos such as Astro, Celcom, Digi, Maxis and ViewQwest to provide competitive fibre broadband plans utilising TM’s HSBB network.

Fahmi Fadzil announces 30Mbps unlimited broadband plan for RM69/month for B40 groups

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As promised earlier, the Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil has announced a new Fixed Broadband package aimed at providing affordable internet for B40, veterans, people with disabilities (OKU) and senior citizens. The Pakej Perpaduan Jalur Lebar Tetap provides high-speed broadband up to 30Mbps with no data cap for RM69/month.

According to the official statement, the B40 broadband plan will be offered starting March 2023 and it will be tied to a 24-month contract. He added that the RM69/month plan is 22% more affordable than what’s available in the market which is typically offered for RM89/month. This would translate to a savings of RM480 throughout the 24-month contract period.

Fahmi added that the affordable broadband package is made possible with support from broadband providers such as Telekom Malaysia (TM), CelcomDigi, Maxis, U Mobile, YTL, Time and Astro. He added that the initiative is not only in line with the ambition to reduce the burden of the people but also as an indicator that the government is concerned about the needs and wellbeing of the people as well as ensuring digital connectivity is affordable in line with the MADANI Malaysia concept.

While the affordable broadband plan is good for lower-income groups, it isn’t clear if the telcos would impose restrictive terms and conditions to lock in the B40 customers. As we’ve highlighted previously, several providers have amended their penalty terms, requiring customers to pay the full subscription fees for the total remaining months if they wish to terminate their fibre broadband plan early. This means if a customer on a RM69/month plan wishes to terminate 12 months earlier, they would be forced to pay a penalty fee of RM828 (12 months x RM69). According to the MCMC, customers are responsible for accepting the T&C as it is up to them to reach a service contract based on a willing buyer willing seller principle.

In terms of sub-RM100 fibre broadband plans available right now, both Maxis and TM offer 30Mbps for RM89/month while Celcom offers 30Mbps for RM80/month and Digi offers 50Mbps for RM90/month. Since the announcement only mentions fixed broadband, this opens up the possibility for not just fibre but also fixed wireless access. TM currently offers Unifi Air for RM79/month while Maxis offers its unlimited 4G WiFi plan for RM138/month. There’s also Yes with its “wireless fibre 5G” plan with unlimited 5G data that’s going for RM148/month.

In December 2022, Fahmi announced the Pakej Perpaduan Prepaid plan which claims to provide 3x the speed for half price and it is targeted at B40, senior citizens, veterans and people with disabilities. The plan is essentially an upgrade of the previous Pakej Remaja Keluarga Malaysia which now comes with double the validity period plus an extra 10GB a month. As we’ve pointed out, the plan didn’t really provide 3x faster speeds as there’s a 3Mbps speed cap. The full Pakej Perpaduan Prepaid plan details are not revealed yet and we expect the telcos to provide more info sometime this month.

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Maxis Fibre Broadband users will have to pay RM10/month to get public IP

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If you’re currently using public IP with your Maxis Home Fibre broadband, it appears that Maxis has started charging a subscription fee of RM10/month. This extra subscription fee for Public IPv4 appears to take effect starting last month, January 2023. However, if you’ve requested for public IP previously, you can still use it for free until March 2023.

According to Maxis in its FAQ, Maxis is currently offering private IPs by default to provide greater security as this configuration will prevent traffic and communication initiated outside the Maxis network to reach their users. The move is similar to TM which has stopped offering public IP for Unifi Home Broadband users on 100Mbps plans and below.

For most home users, this wouldn’t affect your internet experience unless you’re using certain applications and services which require you to have a public IP and port forwarding. This may include non-cloud-based CCTV systems, self-hosted services including email servers and VPN, or if you’re hosting a game server that requires a public IP.

For Maxis Home Fibre Broadband customers who have requested public IP before 8th December 2022, you can continue to use it for free and they will start charging after giving you three months’ notice. The FAQ states that if you’ve requested public IP from 8th December 2022 onwards, the RM10/month will apply for the service.

Thanks @hiw200 for the tip!

[ SOURCE ]

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Fahmi: Broadband services will be cheaper with updated Mandatory Standard on Access Pricing

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Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil has told Parliament that the latest Mandatory Standard on Access Pricing (MSAP) will further reduce the price for wholesale high-speed broadband access to retail broadband players, leading to more competitive pricing with higher speeds for consumers. The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) released its determination on the MSAP on 16th February 2023 and it takes effect on 1st March 2023.

In a nutshell, the MSAP sets the wholesale pricing for various telecommunications services. When the 2018 MSAP was introduced during Gobind Singh’s tenure as Communications and Multimedia minister, Malaysians were able to enjoy even faster fibre broadband speeds up to 1Gbps at reduced prices, while the baseline broadband speed has jumped from 5Mbps to 30Mbps.

New MSAP cuts wholesale HSBB access pricing by half

Fahmi said, for example, the wholesale price for 100Mbps Layer 3 HSBB used to cost RM515 per month based on 2020 rates will now cost RM254.64 per month in 2023 as listed in the latest MSAP document. That’s a reduction of about 50% on monthly access fees for retail broadband players.

Left: Wholesale 100Mbps costs RM515 in 2020 under old MSAP. Right: 100Mbps now costs RM254.52 in 2023 and it will go down to RM186.21 in 2025.

Responding to a question by Kota Melaka MP Khoo Poay Tiong during Minister’s Question Time at Dewan Rakyat, the minister said, as such, it will reduce the cost to the recipient of access services involved in providing fixed broadband services to consumers. Indirectly, services provided to consumers at the retail level can be offered at a lower and more competitive price or at a higher speed.

The MSAP sets the maximum access prices for 14 facilities and services for the period of 2023, 2024 and 2025. Due to the pandemic, there were no revisions on access pricing for 2021 and 2022.

For new fibre installation, the cost of the broadband termination unit (BTU) port has been revised down slightly from RM485 in 2020 to RM437 in 2023. However, the one-time cost for the service gateway has increased from RM469 to RM638. Meanwhile, the reoccurring access pricing for broadband termination unit (BTU) ports remains unchanged at RM45 per month.

Telekom Malaysia (TM) is expected to face the biggest impact on its earnings as other access seekers that tap on TM’s HSBB network such as Celcom, Digi, Maxis and Astro, will pay lower wholesale prices in order to offer commercial fibre broadband services to consumers.

Fahmi said in 2017, TM recorded a net profit of RM730.5 million but it suffered a loss of RM260.5 million after the MSAP is implemented in 2018. However, TM managed to bounce back a year later with a net profit of RM557.4 million in 2019 and continues to increase with a net profit of RM1.14 billion recorded for 2022. Fahmi said this shows the “Malaysia Boleh” spirit in TM even when given challenges, they are able to rise again.

In case you’re wondering why the wholesale price for 100Mbps costs more than retail pricing, broadband providers only subscribe to wholesale access based on the total peak network usage, not based on the accumulative total bandwidth “sold” to its customers. For example, if there are 1,000 customers subscribed to 100Mbps, the retail provider isn’t going to sign up for 100Gbps per month. The reality is that not all customers will maximise their total subscribed bandwidth all at the same time.

Hopefully, we might see lower pricing for the base broadband plan from all fibre broadband providers in the coming months. Realistically, we reckon that fibre broadband providers would introduce more competitive deals for the higher bandwidth plans (300-800Mbps) considering they will have more headroom with the new reduced prices.

No MSAP for 5G?

Besides fibre, a noticeable omission is a mandatory standard on access pricing for 5G wholesale access. At the moment, DNB’s published Reference Access Offer (RAO) for 5G access pricing starts from RM30,000 per Gbps per month that’s locked to a 10-year contract duration. DNB has said it is open to conduct a price review every 18 months either via an independent party or through the MSAP.

MCMC’s modelled 5G data cost versus DNB’s RM30,000 per Gbps rate

According to the Public Inquiry on the MSAP published last month, MCMC’s modelled 5G data cost would be at least 5x higher than DNB’s current rate at over RM150,000 per Gbps for the first year. However, the 5G wholesale pricing will gradually decline significantly in the coming years and it will be much lower than DNB’s rate from 2026 onward in tandem with more users migrated from 4G to 5G.

While DNB agree that Long Run Incremental Cost (LRIC) approach can help ensure cost efficiencies in network investments, it believed that the MCMC’s bottom-up LRIC with common cost mark-up approach was not appropriate for setting regulated prices. DNB stated that the model will inevitably overlook certain costs, as it uses a scorched node approach which ignores real-life considerations and wrongly assumes that DNB’s network grows linearly.

DNB disagrees with the calculation used by the MCMC to sets the 5G price caps and suggested that the regulator to consider other alternative calculations for price caps. Since retail telcos have started paying DNB for 5G access, some of them have started tightening their Fair Usage Policy (FUP) and announced plans to charge consumers a monthly fee to access the national 5G network.

You can check out the latest 2023 MSAP here and the previous 2018 MSAP here.

[ SOURCE 2 ]

[ UPDATE ] Fahmi Fadzil: RM69 Pakej Perpaduan fibre broadband to be revealed on 30 March

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[ UPDATE 20/03/2023 17:40 ] Communications and Digital Ministry has updated that the full plan details will be revealed on Thursday, 30th March instead of 29th March.

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During a press conference held today, Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil said the affordable RM69 Pakej Perpaduan fibre broadband plan for targeted groups will be revealed next week, 30th March. As mentioned last month, the Pakej Perpaduan fibre broadband plan is aimed at B40 groups, veterans, people with disabilities (OKU) and senior citizens. 

This is the second “Perpaduan” internet package after introducing the Pakej Perpaduan mobile prepaid package last month which offered 30GB of data for RM30 that’s valid for 180 days. The Pakej Perpaduan Jalur Lebar priced at RM69/month will offer fixed broadband with speeds up to 30Mbps with no data cap, and it’s tied to a 24-month contract. The affordable broadband package will be made available from Telekom Malaysia (TM), CelcomDigi, Maxis, U Mobile, YTL, Time and Astro. According to the ministry, the package aimed at lower-income groups will provide savings of RM480 over a period of two years.

Time is the first to introduce its “Pakej Perpaduan” plan by offering 100Mbps fibre broadband for only RM69/month. Described as Pakej MyKabel, the RM69/month 100Mbps plan offers savings of RM720 throughout the 24-month contract period with symmetrical 100Mbps speeds for both upload and download.

However, TIME’s Pakej MyKabel offer is only available at selected public housing as listed below:

  • PPR Kampung Baru HICOM, Selangor
  • PPR Kota Damansara, Selangor
  • PPR Lembah Subang, Selangor
  • PPR Taman Putra Damai, Selangor (Lembah Subang 1)
  • PPR Kerinchi, Kuala Lumpur
  • PPR UDA Utama, Johor
  • PPR Taman Perling, Johor (Jalan Rawa 1)
  • PPR Taman Perling, Johor (Jalan Rawa 7)

As revealed this morning, JENDELA Phase 1 has expanded fibre coverage with 7.74 million premises passed by fibre as of the end of 2022. Under JENDELA Phase 2, Malaysia aims to increase this figure to 9 million premises by the end of 2025.

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