Is Telekom Malaysia wrongly criticised?

THE general consensus seems to be that Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) is always to blame for most of our telecommunications woes.

Like many incumbent telcos around the world, TM is seen as a labyrinth that struggles to move with the times and is stingy about lending access to third parties to its widely built networks, despite the historical fact that much of the cost of those networks was borne by taxpayers’ money.

(TM like many other incumbents such as British Telecom and Deutsche Telekom were previously wholly-owned by the state.)

But the dynamics of the industry have changed, which makes one wonder if TM has a case in saying it is unjustifiably criticised. Consider these facts:

● TM can no longer be seen as the giant in the telecommunications sector. The mobile operators dwarf TM by many counts. For example, Maxis Bhd’s latest third-quarter pre-tax profit is almost four times what TM made in the same period. Maxis also has 11.4 million customers, compared with TM’s 4.3 million fixed-line users.

● TM still maintains a social obligation in wiring up parts of the country. Industry players do not dispute the fact that TM actually “loses money” for every fixed line it rolls out. Estimates are that it costs TM about RM45 a month to wire up a home with a fixed line but TM only charges a rental of around RM20 per month. On the flip side, TM is able to make back some of that investment from call charges but that too has come under increasing pressure due to intensifying competition.

● Technically, TM does not hold a monopoly over fixed line and by extension, fixed broadband rollout. That is by virtue of the fact that all parties holding a network facilities provider licence are able to do so but choose not to.

● While commentators (yours truly included) keep harping about why TM isn’t opening up its networks to third parties, there are other developments in the marketplace that need closer attention.

For example, when Astro – effectively a satellite pay-TV monopoly – recently inked a content-sharing deal with Maxis, one wonders if Astro is open to inking similar deals with other mobile operators in the market, on the same terms that it has done with Maxis? (At the point of writing, this has yet to be checked with Astro.)

So what we have now is that TM is no longer a giant, relatively speaking; it does play a social obligatory role although the extent of that isn’t entirely clear; it seemingly isn’t the only one that should be examined when it comes to infrastructure sharing and finally, it is going where others fear to tread, namely rolling out a high-speed fibre-optic network.

So these are things to think about before one takes a swipe at TM. Fair enough. But there’s just one more thing that would tend to tip the balance against TM, especially with regard to infrastructure sharing.

TM is getting help from the Government (in the form of RM2.4bil) to roll out its high-speed broadband network (HSBB).

No other telco or celco is receiving such help. Is the help justified? And why didn’t the Government go with the way of other countries like Singapore and Australia? These countries created a separate entity to build and own the network and the government, the incumbent telco and all other players jointly owned that company.

Such plans were talked about in Malaysia but in the end the Government chose to give it to TM on the rationale that the country needs the HSBB quickly and that the only party with the necessary expertise to pull this off was TM.

One wonders if TM itself sees the Government aid as something of a burden, as without it, perhaps TM would have come under less scrutiny. But then again, TM isn’t wasting much time in using that money, having already claimed from the Government a sizeable chunk of the allocation. And as long as that is going on, TM should expect its moves to be examined closely, especially with regard to how it shares the HSBB with other players for the benefit of the end users.

● Deputy news editor Risen Jayaseelan thinks that TM should quickly disclose the terms and conditions of open access to the HSBB, which in turn, should be considered a national asset, considering that taxpayers’ money is being used in its rollout.

dipetik dari SINI

duit: menyimpan atau menyimpang?

hm, topic for today. tiba2 aku tertarik ng aspek perancangan kewangan. pada awal bulan, biasanya kita berhasrat untuk menyimpan sebahagian daripada wang gaji kita, namun adakalanya kita menyimpang daripada apa yang telah dirancangkan pada awal gaji tersebut. kalau plan asal tersasar tu, kenalah kita muhasabah balik apa yang patut. if ikut dari apa yang aku baca, the most important ialah macamana nak simpan duit atau nak urus wang. if xleh nak menyimpan, camne la nak merancang kewangan untuk masa depan. bila dah mula simpan duit, barulah boleh nk membuat seperti yg dirancang, melabur and so on. then, nk kena fikir plak. antara islamic banking ng conventional. yg mana perlu kita pilih. hm, in my opinion yang tak seberapa ni, selajur ada perbankan islam dan takaful sekarang ni, better kita support perbankan islam la. benda dah ada, maka pada aku la, dah jatuh hukum wajib tuk aku amik perbankan islam ataupun takaful ni. lagipun if dibandingkan dengan perbankan dan insurans konvensional, perbankan islam dan takaful lebih bersifat membantu dan beramal jariah. bunyi macam skeptikal je ni. haha. mungkin proses permohonan agak rumit, tapi yg paling penting ialah manfaat keberkatan tu seniri. itu yang kita nak sebenarnya dalam kehidupan ni. keberkatan, keberkatan dan keberkatan. aku tertarik dengan pdf file by akpk ni. baru jumpa tadi. pdf file ni boleh membantu la dalam memahami perihal term2 kad kredit, pembiayaan peribadi dan sebagainya. ye lah, aku pun baru je 8bulan keje, still in process nak adapt ng dunia sekeliling yg aku tau penuh ng cabaran. tambah2 lg pasal2 kewangan ni. pelaburan haram, skim pelik2 byk kt sekeliling. web ust zaharuddin dan juga web azizi ali banyak membantu. yang penting skali, minat membaca untuk mendalami dan mendidik diri sendiri. aku dlm proses memahami dan menghayati takaful insan dan kad kredit ikhwan by maybank. if rasa mcm ok, nak apply la. slps accident dpn masjid um last april (nasib baik xjd pape), terus aku cari takaful ikhlas utk register. risau kt famili aku, if jadi apa2 kat aku anak sulung ni, sapa nak support adik2 aku yg masih berderet lg. lgpn aku sorang je setakat ni yg berjaya masuk u and keluar u. smga aku menjadi anak yg soleh dan mentaati kedua ibubapa. amin. one more thing, kalu dh byk simpan duit tu, kalu dh kuarkan, jgn lupa lak nk kuarkan zakat simpanan 2.5%. lain la kalau simpan kt tabung haji. okeh.

p/s: syukur sbb hobi membaca memang dah sebati dalam jiwa aku. tambah2 kalau baca novel ramlee awang murshid yg penuh ng thriller n saspen, mesti aku pn skali termasuk dlm novel tu. best gak if abang ramlee boleh selitkan isu perancangan kewangan ataupun takaful dlm novel akan datang.

yea, dh abis shift.. sok dh nak balik kg..

yes, dh abis shift keje. hari ni tak banyak kes, so agak boring sket kat ofis. walau camner pun, lok mesti ikhlas dalam bekerja, akim. baru penat and boring tak terasa. fuh, tak sabarnye nk balik kg esok.. jap lg balik rumah, nk basuh baju, pack barang and all that and terus tidur, rest cukup2. esok pagi2 buta dah nak merempit ke puduraya. hm, tinggal motor kat menara tm kot, then amik putra lrt going to masjid jamek n menapak ke puduraya. bas den kul 9.00 pg. doakan den selamat sampai ke kg. hm, apa nk buat nti ek, lama tu cuti.. 12ari.. yg dh plan, raya ke4 ade gathering almashoor (sekolah menengah dulu). hari2 selepas tu, ape2 je lah yang boleh dibuat. roger.

p/s: td tengahari makan nasi beriani. best gak. haha :)

beraya di ofis

allahuakbar, allahuakbar, allahuakbar..
lailahaillallah huwallah huakbar..
allahuakbaru walillah hilhamd..

sayu aku terdengar takbir raya memuji kebesaran yg Esa. tepat jam 7.00 pg, aku terus merempit ke opis cyberjaya dari rumah di desaminium rimba. jalan memang lengang habis. kelibat kenderaan lain memang sukar la aku nk jumpa. tambah2 bila dah masuk exit ke cyberjaya tu. langsung takde kereta ke motor ke sehinggakan basikal pun aku tak nampak. ditambah dengan angin yang menampar2 dan mengelus-elus lembut jaket biru yang kupakai, diiringi dengan rintik-rintik kecil hujan yg berpusu-pusu, berkejaran menghentam visor plastik helmetku, aku terus melajukan kecepatan motosikal rempitku jgt6430. dengan jalan yang begitu lengang, langsung tidak terdengar sebarang suara, rekod aku merempit paling cepat ke ofis sebelum ni (10minit) berjaya di atasi. yihaa.. 8minit je, memang betul2 rempit tadi walaupun motosikal aku modenas kriss sg je. masuk je dalam ofis, aku orang 1st yg sampai dengan berbaju melayu lengkap biru laut bersama sampin songket.

dengan penuh kehenseman, aku terus on pc and pasang lagu raya skali ng takbir raya la. nak keluar gi masjid, tapi hujan renyai-renyai. kang kebasahan, tak best la plak. masjid paling dekat pun, masjid mmu la, dalam 2km. bleh lencun gak tu. nk gi masjid pulau meranti, sah2 akan bersolat dalam kelencunan (4km dr ofis aku). so, lepak kt ofis je la. sempat gak YM ngan member2 aku yang raya kt dubai ng doha, qatar. nah amik ko nk gi keje jauh2, kan dah menyesal xbleh makan lemang ng ketupat. hm, sampai la aku balik, problem xbanyak. ada memang ada tp minor la. yg bestnya, makanan disediakan untuk kitorang yang beraya ni. tengahari makan nasi ayam kfc. malam makan pizzahut. pergh, balik rumah, terus aku terbongkang. hm, sekian la ulasan raya pertama dari aku.

p/s: best lagi beraya kt rumah. next year, if xde aral, aku konfem raya kt rumah.. hehe.. sunyi raya kt sini :(

berbuka kt ofis

isnin yg sungguh meletihkan. banyak pula la problem ng network time2 nk dkt2 raya camni. line down la, slow browsing la, packet loss la, routing issue la, penin den nk memikirkannye. arini pn byk kali dpt call n kene marah since suma bergegas nk suruh settle problem cpt. dh la kitorg 2org je arini, just aku ng pijan je, mana la nk cukup kaki dan tangan. hm, sabar je la. aku pn, dh bolayan, asal dgr phone berbunyi je, aku tersenyum dgn penuh lebar, n greeting, haloo, slmt pagi, OSC. pas tu, borak mcm kawan je. haha. time berbuka, aku just melantak 4bungkus roti (sardinx2 n coklatx2) and air coklat. total up rm6.00. sgah beli kt petronas tepi jalan tu dlm kul 5.00 ptg td..

p/s: aku rasa episod ari ni akan berulang lagi sok, since sok aku bertugas sorg2. lagi la sakit kepala. lok mesti ikhlas, akim. baru xterasa. ganbatte!

esok keja..

hm, 4days to go sebelum aku dpt balik kg beraya kt rumah. mcm lama lak rasanya. td baru lepas abis basuh baju. penat siot. pas maghrib td, terus aku terbongkang xsedar diri smpi la adik aku main misscall2 ng aku. saja nk suruh aku call la tu. haha. kul 1.00pg terbangun, teringat lak mission malam ni nak basuh baju tak accomplish lg. so, terpaksa la aku menggunakan tulang empat kerat membasuh baju secara manual. hm, ok gak tu, baik untuk kesihatan badan. azam nk khatam alQuran malam ni pn xtau lg bleh capai ke x. xabis lagi juz 29. esok dh start keje, memang susah dh nk buat ibadah yg sepatutnya menjadi rutin harian ni. mcm xpercaya akhirnya dpt gak aku hampir nk mengkhatam tahun ni. tahun lepas kt utm, kitorg baca ramai2 secara berkumpulan sorang sket. tu yg xterasa sangat. tahun ni xjoin pn bertadarus kt surau. dh masuk alam kerja ni mcm susah sket. tp aku tau, tu sume just alasan, nk seribu daya. rutin hari keje aku, gi keje kul 7.30pg, masuk keje kul 8.00pg, kuar keje kul 8.00mlm, smpi rumah kul 10.00mlm lepas menyembang2, then terus tido. esok bgn sahur dlm kul 5.00pg mcm tu n terus prepare apa yg patut. beg nk balik kg pn xkemas lagi ni.. waa..

p/s: agak byk barg yg nk dibawak balik sepanjang percutian aku kt kg 12ari nti. kuih raya, buku2 latihan spm ng pmr adik2 aku, takaful tuk mak ayah sign, baju2. harap2 xde mende yg terlupa la.. :)