Enough of expensive, slow and shoddy TM services

Telekom Malaysia’s (TM) services have gone from bad to worse. Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) is tired of complaining of the poor Internet and telephone services provided by TM.

We have experienced everything from crawling Internet speed to complete absence of Internet and telephone services over the years. When a similar incidence occurred recently TM technicians blamed our equipment, but this was proven to be otherwise by the equipment suppliers. In the meantime, we found out that nearby buildings suffered similar problems.

Upon repeated complaints, the TM technicians admitted that there was in fact a cable fault in the area. Why was this not detected in the very beginning? Over this period of complaining and waiting for TM to take action our work has been interrupted badly. It will only be proper for TM to give a rebate to all the affected subscribers for this period of service interruption.

For all the shoddy and slow service Malaysians have to bear with since day one, we are being charged unreasonably compared to our neighbouring countries. The Minister for Communications and Multimedia, Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak, claimed recently that Malaysians opted for slower Internet speed packages because they could not afford to pay for higher speeds.

When TM is not able to provide reliable Internet service for the lower speed packages and maintain the speed within 80% of the advertised speed, how will subscribers have confidence to upgrade their packages for a higher price? No wonder 71% of Malaysian subscribers prefer the 384Kbs and 1Mbs packages.

Malaysians have been ripped off with poor quality Internet service since day one. Therefore, it should be the onus of TM to win the confidence of the subscribers by providing reliable Internet services at the speeds that they advertise and at affordable prices. The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) should conduct a full audit like what was done on MAS.

Press letter, 6 October 2015