Not impressive for telcos to earn RM1bil profit if service not satisfactory, says Annuar

KOTA KINABALU: Communications and Multimedia Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa (pic) said it was not impressive for telecommunication service providers or telecommunication companies (telcos) to record profit of RM1bil, but still provide unsatisfactory services to the people.

He said the government had invested billions of ringgit to provide telecommunication infrastructure, including fiber optic network hub point of presence (PoP), costing nearly RM4bil, for the people without expecting any financial return.

Annuar said he had no objection to telcos making profits, but they had to be responsible by investing part of the profits to improve the quality of their services in line with the infrastructure development implemented by the government.

“The infrastructure is provided by the government, TM and others, but the last mile is provided by the telcos depending on the equipment they install at the tower… but for the telcos, they have their priority, if there are many customers in one area, they will concentrate in that particular area, elsewhere the equipment is not upgraded.

“This is why the 4G internet (speed) can be 10mbps to 100mbps depending on the ‘last mile’ hardware provided by the telcos. As such, I call on our telcos to go hand-in-hand (with the government) to provide the best service for the people,” he added.