Lee Boon Kok, Pikom chairman, said the association is pleased that the Government has decided to aim for a more realistic target, as announced by the Deputy Prime Minister last week.
The MyICMS plan hoped to achieve a household broadband penetration of 75% by 2010.
There are currently 5.5 million homes in the country, of which only 12% have broadband access now.
"At the rate things are going, it is unlikely that the nation would have been able to achieve that," said Lee.
"As of last year, not even 25% of the homes were broadband ready."
DPM Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had announced last week that the Government now expects 50% of the households to have broadband by 2010.
He was chairing a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on the National Broadband Implementation Plan.
According to Pikom, there have been no new investments in broadband infrastructure since the launch of the MyICMS plan two years ago.
"We have not seen the laying of fibreoptic cables or any work done to improve the reach of broadband into our homes or to boost (the existing) quality of service, said Lee.
"The current growth comes mainly from (broadband service provider) TM Net Bhd stretching the use of old copper wires."
Much hope has also been pinned on the four new WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) licensees, that will be offering wireless broadband services throughout the country by year-end.
The move, by licensees Redtone-CNX Broadband Sdn Bhd, Bizsurf Sdn Bhd, MIB Comm Sdn Bhd, and Asiaspace Dotcom Sdn Bhd, is widely expected to help boost broadband penetration to the level set by the MyICMS plan. However, Pikom said it is difficult to be certain of success until the WiMAX infrastructure is up and the public's response to those services can be better gauged.
"While we see the award of the WiMAX licences helping to resolve the last-mile issue, the results will only be evident after the services are rolled out," Lee said.
According to Lee, Pikom is concerned about the low quality and low penetration of broadband because these have stiffled the growth of local Internet-related services, especially in the fields of education, e-commerce and e-government.
"The low quality of our broadband services is also one of the major complaints by potential ICT (information and communications technology) investors checking out the country," he said.
The other goals set by the MyICMS plan, said Pikom, are realistic and still relevant, especially those pertaining to mobile-content development, the mass adoption of 3G (third-generation) wireless communications, and next-generation Internet connections.
"These will provide the Government and IT industry with benchmarks for which to measure their achievements or lack of it," Lee said.
Autor(en)/Author(s):
Quelle/Source: The Star, 25.07.2007
