Lim Kit Siang not aware of the many internet speed in M'sia - Salleh

Veteran opposition leader, Lim Kit Siang may not be aware of the wide range of Internet speeds that Malaysians can choose from when he grumbles about the slow Internet speed in the country, said

Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Dr Salleh Said Keruak.

In Malaysia, one could even choose the 20 megabits per second (Mbps) if they want higher speed Internet service, said Salleh who rebutted the Gelang Patah Member of Parliament's claim that he was unconcerned about Malaysia's poor Internet speed.

"Actually there are a wide range of Internet speeds that Malaysians can choose from but about 71 percent of Malaysian Internet users prefer the slower Streamyx broadband package that offers speeds of between 384 Kbps to 1 Mbps," he said in his latest blog posting, sskeruak.blogspot.my, here Monday night.

However, Salleh said even though higher broadband speeds are available, the majority of customers would subscribe to the cheaper ones and thus slower packages.

Noting several countries including Singapore and Thailand have Internet speed range of up to 5Mbps, Salleh said Malaysia could also increase the Internet speed to similar level, and force Malaysians to buy the higher-speed package.

"But that would mean the cost would be higher as well and Internet usage will be available to only those who can afford to pay the higher cost. So in the end it all boils down to affordability and Malaysia offers affordable Internet to those who want it and higher speed Internet for whom money is not a problem,"

he said.

Chiding Lim for just talking about speed, Salleh said Malaysia’s focus is speed, coverage and affordability.

"We want to ensure that by 2020 at least 95 percent of Malaysians will have access to the Internet. And we also want to ensure that at least 50 percent of urban areas and 20 per cent of rural areas have broadband speeds of 100 Mbps," he said.

Yesterday, taking the advantage from news reports about Malaysia's poor ranking in Internet speed, Lim was reported to have quipped about Salleh and his penchant for blog posting, defending the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, rather then focusing on Malaysia's Internet infrastructure.