The government is studying the possibility of reducing the service fee for broadband services nationwide to ensure that the people, especially those in the rural areas, can afford the service.

Information Communication and Culture Minister Rais Yatim said that in Singapore, the Internet service fee for the basic speed of two megabits per second (Mbps) was S$10 or about RM20 per month and this could also be applied in Malaysia as the schools were now being charged RM20 per month for the same speed.

Telecommunication companies were reminded to be realistic in determining their service fees and to always look at what was being achieved by the other countries such as Korea, Taiwan, China, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand.

The move was in line with government efforts under the 10th Malaysia Plan (10MP) to increase broadband penetration significantly by setting a target of household broadband penetration of 75 percent by the end of 2015.

Rais said this to Malaysian journalists after attending the one-day 6 th Ministerial Forum on Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) at the Raffles City Convention Centre in Singapore today.

Controlled cost

He said telecommunication companies could impose varying rates for the people who wanted basic broadband services and those who wanted Internet services at a faster speed.

Rais said at the forum today, he had presented the Malaysian government's efforts to ensure that rural dwellers received the same broadband services as those enjoyed by urban dwellers.

He said the participants discussed whether a legislation was necessary to control the rise in the cost of broadband services to ensure that the cost was controlled.

For Malaysia, it gave an environment to determine cost, but if the telecommunication companies raised service fees suddenly, the government would take action to ensure that it did not prevent the people from getting the service, he said.

– Bernama