The government today dismissed as inaccurate information in a report released by global broadband speed test operator Ookla that the Internet speed in the country was worse than in Cambodia and Vietnam.

Deputy Communication and Multimedia Minister Jailani Johari said the method of calculation used by Ookla only took into account the average speed of each city in its sample.

“The number of samples used in Cambodia, for example, is just one, namely Phnom Penh.

“While in Malaysia, it involves 50 cities and towns across the country with varying speeds, from 4 Megabits per second (Mbps) to 30Mbps,” he said in reply to a question from Senator Hamzah Mohd Kasim pertaining to the issue in the Dewan Negara.

He said that if a direct comparison was made, the broadband speeds of a city in Selangor was 15Mbps, much higher than that of Phnom Penh with 10Mbps.

Ookla currently ranked Malaysia 128th in the world in terms of broadband speed, with a 7.42Mbps average, compared to Vietnam in 55th place (18.04Mbps) and Cambodia at 100th (10Mbps).

According to Jailani, the government was always reviewing and taking into consideration the need to implement various initiatives, including the expansion of cellular coverage through the construction of new telecommunication towers, to ensure residents had access to broadband.

Among the other initiatives were the High Speed Broadband Project, which would provide speeds of up to 100Mbps, and the Sub-Urban Broadband Project, which would provide speeds of up to 20Mbps in the suburbs.

The 1Malaysia People’s Cable System, or SKR1M, involving the construction of a submarine cable network connecting peninsular Malaysia and Sabah and Sarawak, was also being actively implemented in stages, he said.

- Bernama