Telecommunication is transmission over a distance for the purpose of communication. In earlier times, this may have involved the use of smoke signals, drums, semaphore, flags or heliograph. In modern times, telecommunication typically involves the use of electronic devices such as the telephone, television, radio or computer.
Telecommunication industry in Malaysia is continuing to grow over the past decade. There has been tremendous growth especially in the usage of mobile communication of late. The government has taken measures for the implementation of the National Broadband Plan as a step to drive Malaysia into knowledge-base society. The government is aiming at 75% broadband penetration into the households by the end of 2010. The country is well-bestowed with good telecom infrastructure, especially in populated areas.
Malaysia has worked hard to generate one of the more advanced telecom environments in the developing world. A boom in mobile market has attracted a lot of attention. While in expansion stage the nation’s telecom sector has undergone some significant restructuring. This has involved in introducing reforms. In the beginning of 2009 almost all of 27 million people in the country had a mobile phone connection. Malaysia has the second largest mobile usage amongst Southeast Asian countries after Singapore. 2009 has seen a major push into 3G services. The story of fixed-line services has been modest in recent times. The number of fixed-line subscribers dipped from 4.7 million in 2002 to 4.3 million by the beginning of 2009.
But the development of broadband has been disappointing to an extent. This is surprising considering that IT is a major component of government policy. The take-up of internet has been restrained. But there have been efforts to improve broadband penetration. The results have been encouraging. From a measly 1% penetration at the end of 2004, it had increased to 6% by the end of 2008. Malaysia’s broadband market is dominated by DSL-based services.
