KUALA LUMPUR (July 13): Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo has called on other telecommunication (telco) players to follow Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM)'s move by cutting the price of their broadband offerings.

"I call upon the other telcos to come up with their proposals on how they can reduce price and increase the speed of broadband services. I hope they too will make efforts to realise PH (Pakatan Harapan) government's push for more affordable and improved quality internet services in Malaysia," the minister said in a statement today.

His statement came after TM rolled out a new RM79 entry-level high-speed broadband plan yesterday, targeting the bottom 40% (B40) of Malaysian households which earn less than RM4,500 per month.

Welcoming TM's new plan, Gobind commended it for being in line with the PH government's policy to provide greater internet services with higher speeds and quality broadband to all.

"I have also asked TM to consider extending new and improved price packages to all sectors of society, as opposed to just the targeted group," said Gobind.

Upon his ministerial appointment following PH's victory at the May 9 polls, one of the earliest statements he made was to call on broadband operators to double the speed of their service at half the price.

Today, he also touched on complaints related to Streamyx's internet services, and said discussions have been held with TM on the issues raised, which include the need to replace copper cables with fibre to enable Streamyx users to move to Unifi, a high-speed broadband service that TM rolled out in 2010.

"TM is currently working on these matters and will make an announcement of their proposals soon," he shared.