cencurut

What happen when you subscribe to local ISP for either normal dial up internet access or a broadband internet connectivity. Do you feel victimized by their product or services. Do you have a very slow internet connectivity?

One of the biggest problem lurking inside all Malaysian based ISP or ASP is due to “oversell”.

Oversell means;

1. To contract to sell more of (a stock or commodity) than can be delivered.
2. To be too eager or insistent in attempting to sell something to.
3. To present with excessive or unwarranted enthusiasm; overpraise.

So, this thing is one of the major downturn in Malaysia. For most of the time, you can subscribe to TMNET for dial-up or broadband (Streamyx) internet as this network node is scattered throughout the whole country. Before TMNET monopolised the internet business, you can subscribe to JARING for dial-up internet.

Now in Malaysia, we can use WiMAX provided by PacketOne (P1).

All these ISP provides services via an International backbone provided by many backbone consortium (i.e BBN Planet, UUNET, FLAG and SEA-ME-WE) which carries all the data and voice communication.

Last week I meet my youngest brother who work with one of the telecommunication provider in Malaysia. He told me that the problem lies in the usage of the backbone circuit. Almost all internet connectivities in Malaysia get their link from one backbone circuit provided by the main license holder of backbone landing point. All backbone landing point in Malaysia has being controlled by Telekom Malaysia.

Meaning that, each and every ISP or ASP in Malaysia got their precious link from Telekom Malaysia. And Telekom Malaysia provides the link via only one backbone circuit for all Internet connectivities which is connected to Hong Kong – Japan and goes to USA.

If anything goes wrong on this backbone circuit, we surely have a network lags as Telekom Malaysia didn’t started to acquire a support backbone link to Indonesia – Australia and goes to USA. I wonder why Telekom Malaysia didn’t try their best to acquire some portion of this link. The only other ways for Telekom Malaysia is to use FLAG network in India to connected to Arab country and cross over to UK.

Okay.. back to TMNET issue.

TMNET has a good network but the marketing services oversell the package which given the TMNET Streamyx a bad image. If TMNET Streamyx want to became a major provider, all they need to do is to upgrade and give more room for Internet services via their backbone circuit.

JARING in other hand have a good fiber-optics network (known as Super Jaring), but their sales and marketing services is very slow in promoting broadband services. They should capitalised and utilised their fiber-optics network and internet services to rural areas where not everyone know that you can subsribe Jaring Broadband using your Telekom Malaysia normal telephone line. JARING own it SOMA Network (a wireless Internet services) which is much better in term of coverage against WiMAX but JARING provides it only in Klang Valley (it’s not a good move to provides the services in a urban area).

Why don’t JARING try to provides SOMA Network in rural area (in Kemaman for example).

So what about P1 WiMAX? I’m sure if the sales and marketing make killing by providing tremendous oversell technique, their services will be as bad as TMNET Streamyx in the future. The only way to overcome this “oversell” problems is to get more bandwidth to their services.

Telekom Malaysia should open more backbone circuit for Internet connection in the future. No more depending on only one backbone circuit. The should have a good and reliable redundant services. The bottom line is no more overselling.

Overselling Kills.