INTERNET bandwidth demand in Malaysia has continued to soar, with the Malaysia Internet Exchange (MyIX) recording a peak of 1.9 terabytes per second (Tbps) in December 2022 which represents a more-than-threefold surge from the 588 gigabytes per second (Gbps) posted in May 2020.
MyIX chairman Chiew Kok Hin said this record peak at MyIX showed that the Internet and digital economy are deeply entrenched in Malaysian lifestyle and work cultures, especially hybrid formats.
In a statement, he also said demand would keep on rising, as the Malaysia Digital strategy continued to drive adoption and opportunities in the digital economy to support the national recovery plan.
“In addition, due to the rapid growth of video conferencing and traffic, together with large-scale display technologies, which brings about video traffic requiring very high bandwidth, we foresee demand for Internet bandwidth increasing in the months and years ahead.
“Digitisation is indeed accelerating in Malaysia, which is a good sign considering that studies have shown that a country’s ability to compete and evolve in the 21st century increasingly depends on its efficient use of ICT,” he added.
Chiew commended the Malaysian government for its efforts in making the digital economy a strategic engine of growth for the country.
According to Malaysia Digital Economy Corp, the digital economy is contributing 22.6% to the country’s GDP, and this is set to rise to 25.5% by 2025.
Established as an initiative under the Malaysian Communications Multimedia Commission, MyIX today has a total of 132 autonomous systems with 210 ports.
Chiew said MyIX was looking forward to more investor-friendly policies to further strengthen Malaysia’s position as a regional tech hub.
Suggestions include reinstatement of the cabotage exemption policy for foreign vessels to conduct undersea cable repairs, as various foreign multinationals have already invested substantially in submarine cables connecting Malaysia to other parts of the world.
“As it stands, a growing number of data centre operators have moved or are moving to Malaysia to enhance data speeds to cater to densely populated cities within the South-East Asian region.
“This includes hyperscale data centres which offer robust, scalable applications and storage portfolio of services to individuals or businesses. Hence, a reinstatement of this policy would enable Malaysia to attract more submarine cable investments leading into Malaysia.”
He said other suggestions include an exemption for telecommunications companies and data centres on potential increase in electricity tariffs to attract more foreign direct investments into the country.
On its end, MyIX consciously lowered the exchange port pricing by 33% last year to further benefit the country, including members and end-users, and to further support the growth of Malaysia’s digital economy.
“MyIX is already today one of the cheapest exchanges in the region. We will continue championing its cause of keeping Internet traffic local without having to take indirect international routes,” said Chiew. – Bernama / pic TMR File