Malaysia may open broadband services

Malaysia may open broadband services

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia might open its broadband services
industry to foreign companies if domestic operators continue to
lag behind in wiring up more homes, a newspaper said Saturday.

Communications Minister Lim Keng Yaik said the government was
unhappy that only 1 percent of Malaysian households have
broadband services, The Star daily reported.

"We are considering several measures to increase the broadband
penetration rate and they include opening up the industry to
foreign players," Lim was quoted as saying. "People in other
countries have gone far ahead of us ... what's wrong with us?"

He said the low number of broadband users had hindered
development programs, but gave no details, the report said. The
government has targeted a 5 percent to 6 percent increase in the
number of broadband users in this country of 25 million people by
2008. -- AP