Regulators often forget the difference between “Dictation” and “Regulation” in Asia. As a result, competition becomes the fist victim of such hegemony and the consumers get punished. For example, the monthly rental and installation cost for 2Mbps circuit would cost an operator in Malaysia US$4,564 while it is only US$374 in Hong Kong. Indonesia is also equally bad.
Comparing the regulatory environment of these two countries unveils the cause of such disparity. Malaysian telecom operators paid the most for their Ethernet broadband lines in the Asia-Pacific region while their peers in Hong Kong enjoyed the lowest access bills, according to the recently published “Access Price Benchmarking” report by the Asia-Pacific Carriers’ Coalition (APCC).
The survey revealed that Malaysia topped four out of five categories–differentiated by network speeds–covering Ethernet broadband monthly rental and installation costs. It was second highest in the fifth category, the study said.
The level of competition is the main reason for the large disparity in local access prices within Asia, says APCC, which consists of AT&T, BT, Cable&Wireless, IDT, Macquarie Telecom, Orange Business, Pacnet, Reach, T-Systems, and Verizon Business. Download full report.
2 Comments
John
Consumers will suffer in the end no doubt, thanks for the article.