PRESENT POINT POWER

Energy, Water and Communications Minister Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik said such an exchange would need to be formed to reduce the outflow of internet traffic that had caused the country to lose in terms of foreign exchange.
Meanwhile, Keng Yaik said the Ministry was in no hurry to roll out the Mobile Wimax Broadband service, the next level of broadband.

TravelFon service Hong Kong, China, Indonesia and US by 2007 and to 20 countries over the next three years

MCMC, Telcos And ISP Directed To Work On Malaysian Internet Exchange; September 16, 2006 17:02 PM

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 16 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has been asked to work with local telecommunication companies (telcos) and Internet Services Providers (ISPs) to form a Malaysian Internet Exchange.

Energy, Water and Communications Minister Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik said such an exchange would need to be formed to reduce the outflow of internet traffic that had caused the country to lose in terms of foreign exchange.

"If you want to develop Malaysia into an international ICT hub, we have to build up (our own internet exchange) and keep our local (internet) traffic local," he told reporters after chairing Parti Gerakan's monthly meeting here Saturday.

He said as of now, a point-to-point Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone call made within Malaysia would have to be re-routed to either Singapore or even the United States due to the absence of our own internet exchange.

"Even if I want to call Tsu Koon (Gerakan Deputy President and Penang Chief Minister Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon) in Penang using VoIP, my call had to go (re-routed) to Singapore and even United States. This is ridiculous," he said.

He added that at any given time, internet traffic in Malaysia would always be more than in Singapore but the reality that made the island state to enjoy higher traffic was due to the absence of Malaysia's own internet exchange.

He said in his initial consultations, local telcos and ISPs had expressed their agreement in principle on the idea but insisted that there should be an "industrial neutrality" once the internet exchange was put into place.

"I don't care who (would eventually) owns it (the internet exchange) but what is most important, the exchange must be neutral to all ISPs. (If) you charge so much for one ISP, you are going to charge the same for other ISPs," he added.

He said through industrial neutrality, the eventual internet exchange owners would also encourage international ISPs to utilise the exchange.

Meanwhile, Keng Yaik said the Ministry was in no hurry to roll out the Mobile Wimax Broadband service, the next level of broadband development planned in the country.

He said MCMC has been asked to look further into the Wimax usage especially to improve VoIP, Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), broadcasting and other data services in the country, while ensuring that the licence to operate it would eventually be given to the right company.

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EDtone To Expand TravelFon Service To 20 Countries

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 25 (Bernama) -- REDtone International Bhd plans to expand its TravelFon service to 20 countries over the next three years, says its group managing director, Wei Chuan Beng.

He said the company planned to introduce the services in Hong Kong, China, Indonesia and US by 2007.

"In markets where we are currently not represented, we can either enter into joint-venture partnerships with local partners, franchise the business or have a direct presence," he told reporters at the media briefing, here Monday.

Wei said the service would enable the company to tap the huge international roaming market which was estimated at US$50 billion (US$1=RM3.65).

He said the company may consider an initial public offering to raise funds to fuel TravelFon's expansion.

"We are optimistic of TravelFon's growth potential and are prepared to look into listing in another market to ensure that it is given every opportunity to succeed," he said.

He said the TravelFon service combined a proprietary phone routing technology and REDtone's network to deliver a full mobile service to users without any roaming charge and offered savings of up to 80 percent on call charges while overseas.

"The service's main customers are expected to be the corporate segment and small- and medium-scale enterprises which typically spend substantial sums on overseas calls made by their staff while they were out of the country.

"It will also benefit individuals who travel abroad frequently," he said.