Telecoms & IT
From The Report: Malaysia 2012
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From a regional perspective, Malaysia’s communications industry is at an intermediate level of development: significantly ahead of most ASEAN countries, but trailing “Asian tigers” like Singapore, Hong Kong, and South Korea. New developments in telecoms may be changing this, with wireless operators rolling out 4G networks and Telekom Malaysia deploying a fibre-to-the-home network in core areas. The IT sector, meanwhile, is seen as a prime candidate for powering a next-generation Malaysian economy, and possible sources of growth include the creative multimedia, outsourcing, and data centre industries. Sourcing talent for this industry, however, is proving to be a perennial headache.
This chapter includes interviews with Mohamed Sharil Tarmizi, Chairman, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), and Zam Isa, Group CEO, Telekom Malaysia.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Smart growth: The growth of mobile services, data plans and smartphone usage is changing the path of the sector
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With mobile use in Malaysia having long surpassed the 100% penetration rate, market players are seeking to boost profits by increasing data subscriptions and non-voice value-added services. A number of increasingly affordable handsets, along with carrier promotions and subsidies, is driving rapid smartphone adoption – critical to boosting the data market. The 4G spectrum, due to come on-line in early 2013, will help to increase speeds and free up space on crowded networks. Meanwhile, the fixed-line…

Analysis

Joining the fibres: A new high-speed broadband network kick-starts competition
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Long moribund, Malaysia’s fixed-line sector has been jumpstarted by the introduction of a nationwide high-speed broadband (HSBB) network, which has boosted Telekom Malaysia’s (TM) bottom line and promoted greater competition. TM’s flagship fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) project could offer millions of users broadband access while opening the door to internet protocol television (IPTV) and other converged services. Until 2010 the only fixed-line broadband service widely available in Malaysia…

Interview

OBG talks to Mohamed Sharil Tarmizi, Chairman, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC)
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Interview: Mohamed Sharil Tarmizi What progress has been made in increasing cooperation among local telecommunications firms? MOHAMED SHARIL TARMIZI: As Malaysia’s telecommunications sector enters an age of economic pressures, decreasing margins and intense promotional pricing, everyone is looking to squeeze the best out of the installed assets they possess. In the past, market participants would typically look at the three basic layers of a mobile business – retail services, infrastructure…

Analysis

Recharging the mobile sector: 4G roll-out will increase service quality and challenge some players
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The wireless broadband sector is moving into a new era with the roll-out of 4G services scheduled for 2013. The LTE spectrum assignment will increase speeds and lower congestion across networks, while a unique approach to regulation is expected to encourage both competition and collaboration. TENTATIVE LICENCES: The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) announced in December 2011 a tentative award of licences in the 2.6-Ghz spectrum – needed for LTE – to nine telecoms…

Overview

Digital growth: Placing an emphasis on training and educational programmes
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The scope of Malaysia’s ICT ambitions is well captured by Cyberjaya, a technology centre launched by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in 1996 as an answer to Silicon Valley. The idea behind this smart city was to move past reliance on the primary and heavy industrial sectors to a service-driven model, as in the West and the Asian tigers of Hong Kong and Singapore. Unfortunately, the political and economic ramifications of the Asian financial crisis would dim interest in the Malaysian tech centre…

Analysis

Bringing in global business: An accommodating environment and low costs attract outsourcing
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Long associated with call centres in low-income economies like India and the Philippines, outsourcing is seen as a growth industry in Malaysia under the government’s Economic Transformation Programme (ETP). While Malaysia cannot compete with these cheaper competitors for basic services on the basis of cost, it is bidding for competiveness in higher-value-added processes like knowledge process outsourcing and shared services. This burgeoning market offers potential for ICT-enabled growth in…

Analysis

People problems: The sector faces a growing shortage of human resources
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While Malaysia boasts a growing cohort of tech-savvy consumers, many in the ICT industry see a shortage of skilled labour as one of the primary obstacles to growth in the sector. Malaysia ranked 36th out of 60 countries on the Global Talent Index compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit in 2009, and it was projected to drop to 39th place by 2015. This fall is driven in significant part by brain drain: the World Bank estimated that the number of tertiary-educated Malaysians living outside the…