Telecommunications in Malaysia

The primary regulator of telecommunications in Malaysia is the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC). It issues licenses under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, the Postal Services Act 2012 and the Digital Signature Act 1997.

SARAWAK
For Sarawak, Sarawak Multimedia Authority (SMA) is the operating regulatory body established pursuant to Section 3 of Sarawak Multimedia Authority Ordinance 2017 which allows the Sarawak Government to spearhead, oversee and facilitate the development and implementation of the communication, multimedia and Sarawak's Digital Economy Initiatives within the region.

Contrary to critics' claims, SMA and MCMC complement one another in managing and developing Sarawak's telecommunication and digitalisation sector, and have been in a cooperative relationship since SMA's inception in 2017.

In 2022, the Telecommunication Division was added as a portfolio to the then Sarawak Ministry of Public Utilities (now Sarawak Ministry of Utility and Telecommunication), effectively allowing the ministry to monitor and manage as well as report the development of telecommunication and digitalisation sector in the region directly to the Sarawak Legislative Assembly (Dewan Undangan Sarawak) sessions.

History

Main article: History of telecommunications in Malaysia

The British, who had a presence in Malaysia from the 18th century, were responsible for setting up the country's earliest telecommunications facilities, which eventually evolved into TM. They first establishing telegraph lines under the Posts & Telegraphs Department, and telephones made their debut in the late 19th century, with the earliest hand-cranked Magneto operated devices used in Perak in the 1880s. The country's first public telephone exchange was also set up in Ipoh in 1902.

In 1891, telephones made its debut in Kuala Lumpur. At the turn of the century, a major telephony line from Province Wellesley (Seberang Prai) in Penang to Johor Bahru was built. In 1915, the first underground cable was laid linking Ipoh, Taiping, Kampar and Teluk Anson.

Along with increased trade and the development of townships, the number of telephone subscribers in Peninsular Malaysia increased significantly. By 1930, to deal with the volume of telephony traffic, an automated magneto exchange was commissioned in Kuala Lumpur on Jalan Weld. In the 1930s, all telephone exchanges in the Malayan Trunk System could communicate with exchanges in Java, the Philippines, the United States, Canada and Mexico using shortwave radio-telephone transmitters. Towards the end of the decade, a Marconi Radio Terminal was installed at the Kuala Lumpur Telephone Exchange to handle overseas calls.

Much of this telecommunications infrastructure was damaged during the Second World War and the Japanese occupation. In 1946, when the British re-established their position in Malaya, they repaired the trunk routes, restored fallen telephone poles and installed the copper wires that had either been damaged or stolen. During the Japanese occupation, the Posts & Telegraphs Department had been split into two separate units. When the British returned, they initially re-united the two entities, but this effort was short-lived. Along with the formation of the Malayan Union on 1 April 1946, the Malaysian Telecommunications Department and the Postal Services Department were born, with the former controlling telegraph, telephone and wireless services and the latter overlooking mail, money orders and savings accounts.

Telephones system

Number of fixed-telephone subscriptions: 6.474 million as at 4Q 2019

Number of Direct Exchange Line (DEL) subscriptions: 2.199 million as at 4Q 2019

Telephone system

Domestic:

• Communication connectivity in Peninsular Malaysia is covered by both fixed and wireless infrastructure such as fibre network, Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) network, mobile base stations, earth stations and microwave link stations
• Communication connectivity in East Malaysia mainly provided by the coverage of fibre network, ADSL network, earth stations, mobile base station and microwave link stations
• Intercity communication service (backhaul) provided in Peninsular and East Malaysia is mainly by fibre optic connections and fixed wireless systems (microwave links). In addition, there are also deployment of Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) for service provisioning in rural areas
• Major telecommunication operators in Malaysia include Celcom, Digi, Maxis, U Mobile, Telekom Malaysia and Time dotCom

International:

• Connectivity via submarine cables to Tier 1 networks that can reach every other network on the Internet solely via settlement-free interconnection
• Major submarine cable providers in Malaysia are Telekom Malaysia and Time dotCom
• Satellite services coverage to most world continents by MEASAT, the Malaysian satellite service provider

Broadband

Total broadband subscriptions are at 43.378 million as at 4Q 2019, with broadband penetration rate per 100 inhabitants standing at 131.7%.

Fixed broadband development

In 2019, fixed broadband contributed 6.79% of total broadband market share or 2.947 million subscriptions (2018: 2.7 million).

Fixed broadband is being provided via Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL), Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line (SDSL), Very-high bit-rate Digital Subscriber Line (VDSL), Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH), Satellite, Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) and Evolution-Data Optimized (EVDO).

The High Speed Broadband project known as HSBB was introduced since 2008 to improve the quality of broadband access and enable the users in major cities and high-impact economies areas to enjoy broadband speeds up to 100 Mbit/s; The Suburban Broadband (SUBB) and Rural Broadband (RBB) provide broadband speeds up to 20 Mbit/s for users in suburban and rural areas.

On 28 August 2019, the Government approved the implementation of the National Fiberisation and Connectivity Plan (NFCP) over a five-year period from 2019 to 2023.

NFCP is a plan that aims to put in place a robust, pervasive, high quality and affordable digital connectivity for the well-being of the people and progress of the country with the following targets:

1. Entry-level fixed broadband package at 1% of GNI by 2020

2. Gigabits availability in selected industrial areas by 2020 and to all State Capitals by 2023

3. 100% availability for premises in State Capitals and selected high impact areas with a minimum speed of 500 Mbps by 2021

4. 20% availability for premises in sub-urban and rural areas with up to 500 Mbps by 2022

5. Fibre network passes 70% of schools, hospitals, libraries, police stations and post offices by 2022

6. Average speed of 30 Mbps in 98% of populated areas by 2023

7. Improve mobile coverage along Pan Borneo highway upon completion

Mobile broadband development

In 2019, mobile broadband contributed 93.21% of total broadband market share or 40.431 million of subscriptions as at 4Q 2019 (2018: 36.8 million).

Upgrading and expansion of network coverage

The Time 3 and Time 3 Extension initiatives involved construction of 1,833 new communications towers in rural areas nationwide. Apart from that, a total of 4,895 base stations at existing communications towers were upgraded from 2G to 3G/4G to cater higher broadband speed in rural areas.

Submarine Cable System to Sabah & Sarawak

Introduced in 2014 through a public-private partnership between MCMC and Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM). The project was completed in 2017 and this will be a redundancy to the existing domestic submarine cable services that have been operating since 1995. It was aimed to meet the growing demands for bandwidth between Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia.

Submarine Cable System to Islands

The project started in 2017 and was completed in 2018, which involved in upgrading of existing communications infrastructure network, together with the submarine cables connecting between the mainland with three islands - Perhentian, Tioman and Pangkor islands.

Broadband service providers

Service providers	Service
	Fixed broadband	Mobile broadband
Telekom Malaysia (TM)	Y	Y
Maxis Berhad (Maxis)	Y	Y
Celcom Axiata Berhad (Celcom)	Y	Y
Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd (Digi)	Y	Y
U Mobile Sdn Bhd (U Mobile)	N	Y

Mobile cellular

The major service providers for mobile cellular services in Malaysia are Celcom Axiata Berhad, Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd, Maxis Berhad and U Mobile Sdn Bhd. The number of mobile cellular subscriptions stood at 44.601 million as at Q4 2019 with penetration rate per 100 inhabitants is 135.4%.

Mobile cellular service is also provided by Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO). As at Q4 2019, there are 10 MVNOs operating in Malaysia.

In March 2021, Digital Nasional Berhad was officially launched to develop 5G infrastructure and networks across the country. Nationwide, 5G coverage for Malaysia is targeted to be 80% coverage of populated area (COPA) by end of 2024.

As of Q3 2024, the mobile (4G) coverage by settlements for each regions in Malaysia are listed below:
i) Peninsular Malaysia : n/a
ii) Sarawak : 93.87%
iii) Sabah : n/a

Internet

Internet Users: 28.304 million (2018)²

Country code (Top level domain): MY

As of Q3 2024, the internet coverage in populated areas for each regions in Malaysia are listed below:
i) Peninsular Malaysia : n/a
ii) Sarawak : 90.09%
iii) Sabah : n/a

See also

• History of Communications in Malaysia
• Internet in Malaysia
• Malaysian telephone codes
• Malaysian mobile phone codes
• Media of Malaysia

Notes

¹ Network that can reach every other network on the Internet without purchasing IP transit or paying for peering

² Internet user population is calculated from Internet Users Survey 2018 (IUS 2018) based on 87.4% of total population of Malaysia in 2018 (32.385 mil). Population data from Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM).