Malaysia to be wired with optical fibre for mega-speed Internet

The country's telecommunication company Telekom Malaysia has been tasked with laying the optical fibre and is expected to complete half the job by next year.

Prime Minister Najib Razak said the high-speed broadband network of between 10Mbps and 1Gbps would give the public, businesses and government agencies a competitive boost via cutting edge communications.

He said Malaysia needed a new paradigm not only to help the country catch up from where it was left behind but also take on a quantum leap to the ranks of developed nations.

It would also offer the country a platform to develop the information and communication technology of tomorrow, Najib said yesterday at the opening of the 12th Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) International Advisory Panel meeting here.
He said the step would help the country catch up with global leaders in industrial developments.
He felt that the country's prior focus on attracting foreign investment as a lowcost producer had now created a dilemma.

"Our industrial advancement has not kept pace with global leaders and we remain somewhat under- developed in this respect" Nazib said. A new economic model would be introduced by the year-end with emphasis on innovation, creativity and high-value activities, he added.

Najib said the push for Multimedia Super Corridor Malaysia as a platform for developing world class ICT applications and a seeding ground for Silicon Valley-type entrepreneurs was vital, saying no economy could claim to be developed without having a significant technological component.
"Countries which are technologically advanced have and will continue to triumph while those that fail to make innovation a centrepiece of the economy will fall behind".

"It is no accident that technologically-advanced countries, like the US, Japan, Switzerland, Sweden, Canada and Australia, also dominate the list of the world’s wealthiest nations," he was quoted by local New Starits Times as saying.