Internet bandwidth, the new petrol

For many years now, the Malaysian government has been subsidizing the cost of petrol and diesel for Malaysians. Over the years, the Malaysian government has spent billions of Malaysian Ringgit to do so. There are many reasons why our government has done this, but for the sake of this discussion, I am going to suggest that one of the main reasons for doing so was to “fuelâ€? the growth and industrialization of Malaysia by providing the country with affordable fuel.

Over the last few years the government has slowly (but surely) been reducing the crutches for petrol and diesel. There is much debate about how, when and even WHY this should be done. My intention is not to discuss the price of fuel in Malaysia. Stay with me for one moment while I slowly unwrap my thoughts on Internet bandwidth in Malaysia.

I have just returned from a short trip to Bangkok. While I was there I was mostly on the True Internet network. Whether on Wi-Fi or ADSL… MAN!!!! It was blazing fast (AND stable) compared to what we have in Malaysia. It was great to be able to watch clips from YouTube without having to wait for it to buffer until next Easter. The truly amazing thing about it is that the packages are affordable. For a country that prides itself on tourism and has NOT boasted on any Multimedia Super-whatevers and still sings traditional songs as opposed to songs to love Information Technology (I.T.) and moving toward a vision… I’d say they are doing DARN well in the I.T. realm.

Heading a little South to another neighbour; Singapore also has got great Internet connectivity. The last time I went poking around StarHub’s website they had broadband packages in the 10Mbps range. Now they have 100Mbps! Those of you readers who are based in Europe or USA, you may find my exclamation rather unnecessary. To you lot, 100Mbps is nothing to shout about. Alas, please try to put into perspective that our local broadband providers are offering packages below 5Mbps. In fact I believe the most popular packages sold locally in Malaysia are still probably below 2Mbps. To make it hurt even more, the speeds are irregular and connectivity is unreliable. Arrrghhh!!!

Now let’s re-examine where technology seems to be headed. Here are some indicators: we have got more and more devices which are connected to the Internet, IPV6, 3G, GPRS, WiMAX, greater web applications, cheaper servers, greater pressure for companies to automate, online businesses continuing to grow and more media being transmitted and shared over the Internet. So apart from lots and lots of business for semi-conductor companies, there is something else which stands out like a Mac supporter in Microsoft product launch… we NEED bandwidth! We need “realâ€? broadband and we need lots and lots of it at the consumer and also the commercial level.

Sadly, when Malaysians ask for it… the answer we get from the corporations and bodies that run and monopolise this segment of the I.T. industry is that bandwidth is expensive. They try to make you sympathize with them and explain to you that the bandwidth they purchase is very expensive and that they are selling it to you at a very affordable rate. IF this is true (which I have my doubts because the stories are never consistent), then clearly we need assistance. Malaysia needs assistance from the government. Yes, I know the government is already involved but what I am saying is they need to take it as seriously as they did with fuel.

Malaysia needs bandwidth at both the consumer and commercial level. We needed it yesterday and we need it to be affordable in order for us to compete in the borderless arena of technology. Bandwidth is the blood that keeps the Internet going. Without awesome bandwidth, it does not matter how many songs we sing about I.T., it does not matter how many technology universities we open in Malaysia and how many new government bodies there are to encourage the growth of I.T. in Malaysia. We could have the best hardware infrastructure, best companies setting up base in Penang, Johor and Cyberjaya; without bandwidth, all is lost.

So going back to the title of my article “Internet bandwidth, the new petrolâ€?, perhaps it is now time for the Malaysian government to re-evaluate the position that we are in now. Without subsidized fuel, we might have missed the industrial era, and without bandwidth we will lose out to the rest of the world and we will never be a world leader in technology. Countries to the North and South are already ahead of us – we are behind and still losing ground… so I believe it is not too irrational to say that Malaysia needs help from the Malaysian government to subsidize the cost of broadband and bandwidth for Malaysians.

Oh yeah… and please yah… we needed it yesterday… so cut the red-tape and political drama and let’s get going already.