Malaysia 2nd Among Efficiency-Driven Economies On Connectivity Scorecard

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 29 (Bernama) -- Malaysia is ranked second behind Russia among 26 resource and efficiency-driven economies on the recent Connectivity Scorecard 2013 index, said Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin. He said Malaysia even surpassed other Asean countries including Thailand in 13th position, Vietnam (14th), the Philippines (18th) and Indonesia (20th) in the global information and communications technology (ICT) index. "It's indeed a pleasure to note that Malaysia has been a consistent performer in the scorecard and has maintained its position at the top three of the rankings in the past few years," he said. Muhyiddin said this when launching V Telecoms' Global Internet Protocol (IP) Transit Service, here Monday. Present were Communication and Multimedia Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek and V Telecoms Global Limited chairman Syed Yusof Syed Nasir. The study was conducted by consulting firm Rajala Consulting in cooperation with Etiatieto (a subsidiary of ETLA, the Research Institute of the Finninh Economy) and Aalto University in Helsinki, Finland. Muhyiddin noted that the Connectivity Scorecard was the first of its kind to rank 52 countries on their deployment of information communication technology (ICT) infrastructure. It also measures the extent to which governments, businesses and consumers make use of connectivity technologies to enhance social and economic prosperity, so called "useful connectivity". Of the 52 countries, 26 other prominent economies such as the United States, South Korea and Japan are categorised as innovation-driven nations. "If electricity was the critical enabler for the industrial economy, then digital infrastructure and the digital superhighway are critical enablers during this age of a knowledge-based and innovation-led economy," Muhyiddin said. The Internet, he said, had become a global platform for communication, commerce and individual expression besides supporting breakthroughs in important national priorities such as healthcare and education. Meanwhile, Muhyiddin said that as of last September, Malaysia had succeeded to achieve the broadband penetration rate of 67.2 per cent compared with only 22 per cent in 2008. He said the government via the Communication and Multimedia Ministry and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) had taken and would implement various initiatives to achieve the 75 per cent broad band penetration rate in 2015. "They include the Wireless Village project, 1Malaysia Internet Centre, Sub-Community Broad Band Centre, Broad Band Library and IMalaysia Computer," he said. Muhyiddin said that in providing adequate infrastructure to cater for the market needs, the government in collaboration with the industry had assisted in raising the capacity and building new undersea cables. In addition, he said MCMC's efforts to create the Malaysian Internet Exchange Centre (MyIX) with an estimated cost of RM28 million (US$8.9 million)had also increased the internet access speed in Malaysia. V Telecoms is offering Global IP Transit at a very affordable price. The package is available for service operators and wholesale customers with Autonomous System Number (ASN) for as low as US$4 per Mbps in southern city of Johor Baharu and US$8 per Mbps in Kuala Lumpur. -- BERNAMA