24. Telcos Fined at Last

KUALA LUMPUR: Telcos were fined a total of RM50mil last year for short-changing consumers and the Government will withdraw their licences if they fail to deliver services as promised.

Energy, Water and Communications Minister Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor said the licensees were fined for, among others, not providing even 50% of the reception or speed as promised to the consumer, failing to adhere to the business plan promised to the Government, quality of service that was below the set standards, breaching contracts, and not having adequate base stations and towers to fulfil service requirements.

“If they have promised in their business plan to provide a speed of 1Mbps, they should at least provide 70% (700Kbps), 90% of the time.

“I am waiting to take back the licences and give them to other companies that are serious about serving consumers, if telcos and digital service providers fail to perform as agreed in the terms of the conditions with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (SKMM),” Shaziman said after launching Packet 1 (PI) WiMAX services Tuesday.

He added that the “best efforts as currently adopted by broadband players now are unacceptable.”

Rolling out, he said, was more than just building a tower, launching new services or setting up WiFi spots.

“The Government is serious in ensuring that broadband Internet access will benefit the rakyat, especially in semi-urban and rural areas.”

Shaziman reiterated that failure to comply would be subjected to penalty, possibly in the form of withdrawal of the respective performance guarantee bonds of up to RM7.7mil pledged with SKMM.

“Since WiMAX is a new technology which requires quite a substantial investment, it would be prudent for industry players to share infrastructure to minimise financial burdens and wastage in duplication of investments.” - The Star.

See my articles, The Telco Scam and Speeding Streamyx - The Editor.