NEWS: Mobile broadband: Clear, consistent plan for spectrum allocation needed

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia should be able to realise its 50% broadband penetration by year-end goal, with help from wireless technologies. But the Government must do more to support these technologies, said the GSM Association (GSMA), which represents the interests of the worldwide mobile communications industry.

The GSMA believes the Government needs to consider developing a clear and consistent plan for spectrum allocation, including the licensing of 2.6GHz spectrum as soon as possible for future LTE deployments.

Malaysia should also not delay the re-farming of existing 900MHz spectrum and the aligning of digital dividend spectrum plans across Asia, the GSMA said.

"While Malaysia has demonstrated keen adoption of mobile broadband - with year on year growth of 118% by end of Q1 2010 - more needs to be done to drive widespread availability across the country," said Jaikishan Rajaraman, senior director for Asia Pacific at GSMA.

"With further support and commitment from the Government facilitating these key spectrum levers, GSM mobile operators across Malaysia have the opportunity to become key innovators driving this broadband uptake."

The GSMA also announced the findings from an exclusive Telecom Advisory Services (TAS) report on mobile broadband taxation.

The report (bit.ly/dniQMI) shows that the Malaysian Government has put in place some of the most flexible levels of taxation on mobile broadband service provision in the world.

This tax regime is having a positive impact on mobile broadband penetration. Malaysian operators benefit from tax levels of just 6.1% of the total cost of mobile services (applied as VAT) on mobile broadband services.

By comparison, in Brazil the additional taxes can be as high as 38% of the total cost of mobile services (33% VAT and 5.1% from other taxes).

The Government is targeting delivery of broadband connectivity to 50% of all households across Malaysia by the end of this year.

With just 1.5 million fixed-line broadband connections currently available, compared to a growing ecosystem of some 31.5 million mobile users, HSPA (High-Speed Packet Access) and LTE (Long Term Evolution) mobile broadband will be instrumental in helping Malaysia achieve its goals.

Spanning 219 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world's mobile operators, as well as more than 200 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, and equipment providers.