Screenshots

"I hate the words 'best effort'!", Energy, Water and Communications Minister Dr Lim Keng Yaik said emphatically and repeatedly during his keynote address at the opening of the iBurst International Forum in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

"You charge me the price for 1-meg (Mbps), and your speed is much slower than that... hehehehe... it's like a running race, you said you can do it, and the bugger finished last, and then say you have tried your best... BEST EFFORT? You can't deliver, you get out of the business!" Dr Lim said.

"Get out of the business if your can't deliver!" LensaPress photo by Jeff Ooi

He didn't have to name names, but the audience obviously understood which party he meant.

Interestingly, his keynote address, Dr Lim described 2007 as 'The Year of Wireless Broadband Race'.

He later elaborated at the pres conference that apart from the DSL-based broadband delivery over the last mile, his Ministry would open up more high speed Internet access modes in the country to drive broadband penetration in the country.

He said his Ministry is keeping close monitor of the emerging technologies and it will bring in alternatives to the copperline-delivered Internet access, including wireless broadband delivered through WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Acess) and iBurst.

He revealed that MoBif Berhad, an NFP and NSP individual license, was recently assigned the 1,79Fhz spectrum to run the iBurst wirless broadband service.

'COM-PE-TI-TION'

Screenshots took the opportunity to ask the minister whether the country's target to have 75% broadband penetration rate by 2010, as stated in the 2006-2010 National Broadband Plan, could be achieved. I asked him how to jump the gap from 3% to 75% in the next three years.

Last week, industry regulator MCMC announced that Malaysia's broadband penetration rate as at end of 2006 was only 3.3%.

Dr Lim gave me an oblique answer. He said: "The take-up will be very fast as long as there is infrastructure. Put that up first, whether it is wireless or wired."

He added that if the infrastructure and content are not put in as soon as possible, then the broadband penetration in 2010 could be only 7%.

Commenting on the pricing of broadband services with more market competition with the entry of wireless broadband players, he said: "Mark my words, anything below RM40 is possible by the end of next year."

"When I first took over this Ministry, Streamyx was charging RM160 for (384kbps). I said you crazy ah? When they reduced it to RM99 or RM88, penetration went up."

"But mark my words, anything below RM40 is possible by the end of next year." he said. "Why? COM-PE-TI-TION-lah!"

Big Boys without WiMAX spectrum

Another question brought up during the press conference was the recent media reports that Telekom Malaysia (TM) and Maxis Communication Bhd plan to roll out WiMAX services with the 2.5-gigahertz spectrum.

Dr Lim said: "Why must it be WiMAX? Why not roll out on HSDPA (High Speed Download Packet Access)? They already have the spectrum for HSDPA. I need to study this carefully."

In a March 17 announcement, MCMC decided to lock out the Big Boys and awarded the 2.3-gigahertz WiMax spectrum to Bizsurf (M) Sdn Bhd, MIB Comm Sdn Bhd, Redtone-CNX Broadband Sdn Bhd and Asiaspace Dotcom Sdn Bhd.

Market competition is expected to be keener as the four companies have been instructed to roll out their services by end of this year.

Dr Lim disclosed that he would have a meeting with TM to discuss providing new generation networks, including fibre-optics connection over the last-mile to the home.

He said he was no interested in discussing the issue of unbundling the local loop, which was meant to allow other players to use TM-dominated copperlines to provide broadband services using DSL technology similar to Streamyx.

"What waste time on the copper network -- the local loop -- when it can't deliver the promised speed to the last mile?"

The issue of spectrum-hogging by the telco licensees was also brought up during the press conference.

Spectrum-hogging

Dr Lim was also asked about what will happen to current users of the 3.5-gigahertz spectrum if it is withdrawn from the current service providers.

Earlier, Dr Lim disclosed in a off-the-cuff mid way through his keynote address that Ministry is considering pulling back licences for the 3.5-gigahertz spectrum which is causing interference to the wavelength reserved for data download of Measat II, which is currently in a transition to transfer its satellite services to the newly launched Measat III.

Lim said: "This is done before my time. That is a big headache I have now. I am aware of it (the consequences). But if I don't take back, the 3.5-gigahertz people will roll out their services, affecting Measat."

Dr Lim said his ministry as well as MCMC, which was being questioned for having made the earlier decisions on spectrum assignment, are looking at the 3.5-gigahertz spectrum issue in detail.

He thanked Charles F. Moreira from SURF! magazine, who cynically suggested that all it took was to send a team of engineers to the space to twig the frequency on the Measat satellites.

"That's a good idea. MCMC made the previous decision, so I will ask them to go the space and fix it. Whether they can come back or not... hehehe..."

On a serious, Dr Lim said the ministry and MCMC will now be more vigilant in giving out the various spectrums which are still available.

"We have seen other countries where the service providers just racked in the spectrum and leaving it to idle. The spectrum and the waveband are scarce national resources, so we have to be a little kedukut."

"There will be new technologies coming out that need these spectrums. So we got to be stingy in giving them out," he added.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DATUK SERI... Organisers of the iBurst International Forum greeted Dr Lim with a belated birthday... he used the occasion to engage media members in his trademark banter.

On the sideline of the iBurst Forum, Screenshots spoke to an industry insider on the issue, and understood that besides 3.5Ghz, the 2.5 Ghz spectrum is also currently under review.

According to information published on the MCMC website, there are seven companies which hold the 3.5GHz spectrum - Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM), Maxis Communications Bhd, Time dotCom Bhd, EB Technologies, AtlasOne, Airzed and NasionCom Holdings Bhd.

According to the industry insider, who requested anonymity, MCMC had allowed the companies to use the 3.5GHz spectrum to offer Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP), corporate leased lines services, access services for non-urban areas, and transitional services in the absence of copper lines.

The company likely hit most severely should the 3.5Ghz spectrum be withdrawn is likely to be NasionCom Holdings as it does not have a 2.5GHz spectrum at the moment.

During the iBurst Forum, MCMC Senior Director for Research and Planning Division, Toh Swee Hoe, disclosed that the 2.5 Ghz spectrum is currently under review.

The 2.5Ghz spectrum was formerly assignment to Cableview Services Sdn Bhd, the operators of MagaTV, a pay-TV service before MCMC came into being. Years after the operator became defunct, MCMC decided to withdraw the spectrum have it re-farmed for IMT and fixed WiMAX services.

It is learned that, in the age of corporate transparency, the authorities may have to consider withdrawing the 3.5Ghz and 2.5Ghz spectra and re-farm them via a beauty parade, a process globally used during the open tender for 3G and WiMAX wavebands.

Whatever Dr Lim decides on the TM and Maxis' plans to use 2.5Ghz for WiMAX services will be major decision on policy direction, said the industry insider.

The latest documents on the Spectrum Plan can be downloaded from MCMC website.