The CIA World Factbook Every edition, 1990 to 2024 Southeast Asia

Telecommunication systems Malaysia, in 35 editions.

The entry for Malaysia published Telecommunication systems in 35 editions of 36, from 1990 to 2024. The text changed in 28 editions. Each is shown as published. Telecommunication systems in every entry.

editions changed the text
28
the first edition with it
1990
the latest edition with it
2024

Published as “Telecommunications” (1990 to 1994), “Telephone system” (1995 to 2019) and “Telecommunication systems” (2020 to 2024).

field in that editiontext changed from the edition beforenot in that editionthe edition shownChoose an edition on the strip beside the text, or step through them with the arrows. Mark changes compares it with the edition before: the marks are ours, words added and words removed.

2024

Changed since 2023
Mark changes

Open the 2024 entry

general assessment:
  • as part of a diverse range of initiatives designed to move the country from developing to developed status by 2025, Malaysia has enabled and encouraged open competition in its telecommunications market;
  • the result is very high penetration levels in both the mobile (147%) and mobile broadband (127%) segments, and near-universal coverage of 4G LTE networks;
  • steady growth is occurring as more fiber optic cable networks are being deployed around the country;
  • consumers are the main beneficiaries of the highly competitive market;
  • they enjoy widespread access to high-speed mobile services as well as attractive offers on bundles to keep data use up but prices low;
  • the downside is that most of Malaysia’s MNOs and MVNOs have struggled to increase revenue in line with growth in subscriber numbers as well as demand for broadband data;
  • while the operators have been very successful in moving a significant proportion (now over 30%) of customers from prepaid over to higher-value postpaid accounts, ARPU continues to fall year after year as a result of competitive pricing pressures;
  • the mobile market, in particular, has become overcrowded and the government is keen to see further rationalization and consolidation with the operators;
  • while customers will no doubt continue to enjoy high quality services at competitive rates, the new entity will be hopeful of squeezing better margins through improved economies of scale;
  • in 2022, the government abandoned its single wholesale 5G network model and committed to deploying a dual 5G network;
  • currently, 80 percent of Malaysia’s population is covered by 5G (2023)
domestic:
fixed-line roughly 25 per 100 and mobile-cellular teledensity roughly 141 per 100 persons (2021)
international:
  • country code - 60;
  • landing points for BBG, FEA, SAFE, SeaMeWe-3 & 4 & 5, AAE-1, JASUKA, BDM, Dumai-Melaka Cable System, BRCS, ACE, AAG, East-West Submarine Cable System, SEAX-1, SKR1M, APCN-2, APG, BtoBe, BaSICS, and Labuan-Brunei Submarine and MCT submarine cables providing connectivity to Asia, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Australia and Europe;
  • satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean, 1 Pacific Ocean);
  • launch of Kacific-1 satellite in 2019 (2019)

general assessment: as part of a diverse range of initiatives designed to move the country from developing to developed status by 2025, Malaysia has enabled and encouraged open competition in its telecommunications market; the result is very high penetration levels in both the mobile (147%) and mobile broadband (127%) segments, and near-universal coverage of 4G LTE networks; steady growth is occurring as more fiber optic cable networks are being deployed around the country; consumers are the main beneficiaries of the highly competitive market; they enjoy widespread access to high-speed mobile services as well as attractive offers on bundles to keep data use up but prices low; the downside is that most of Malaysia’s MNOs and MVNOs have struggled to increase revenue in line with growth in subscriber numbers as well as demand for broadband data; while the operators have been very successful in moving a significant proportion (now over 30%) of customers from prepaid over to higher-value postpaid accounts, ARPU continues to fall year after year as a result of competitive pricing pressures; the mobile market, in particular, has become overcrowded and the government is keen to see further rationalization and consolidation with the operators; while customers will no doubt continue to enjoy high quality services at competitive rates, the new entity will be hopeful of squeezing better margins through improved economies of scale; the government’s next move is to encourage the private mobile operators to sign up to in 2022, the country’s government abandoned its single wholesale 5G network; this will develop and deploy the 5G infrastructure across the country; the government’s stated intent was to avoid duplication of networks and infrastructure, network model and thus reduce investment costs for the operators; to date, no MNO has agreed committed to the deal and are instead demanding the development of deploying a dual wholesale network model (one that no doubt offers more flexible terms, at least in the eyes 5G network; currently, 80 percent of the MNOs); Malaysia’s population is covered by 5G rollout has, in effect, come to a standstill while the government tries to find a way to restart negotiations (2022) (2023)
domestic: fixed-line roughly 25 per 100 and mobile-cellular teledensity roughly 141 per 100 persons (2021)
international: country code - 60; landing points for BBG, FEA, SAFE, SeaMeWe-3 & 4 & 5, AAE-1, JASUKA, BDM, Dumai-Melaka Cable System, BRCS, ACE, AAG, East-West Submarine Cable System, SEAX-1, SKR1M, APCN-2, APG, BtoBe, BaSICS, and Labuan-Brunei Submarine and MCT submarine cables providing connectivity to Asia, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Australia and Europe; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean, 1 Pacific Ocean); launch of Kacific-1 satellite in 2019 (2019)

Central Intelligence Agency. “Malaysia: Telecommunication systems.” The World Factbook, 1990–2024 editions. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/malaysia/telecommunication-systems.

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