MyIX seeks more investor-friendly policies, including reinstatement of cabotage exemption policy

  • Exemption for telcos & data centres on potential increase in power tariffs
  • MyIX lowered port pricing by 33% last year to further benefit country

NTT Data is not only the earliest global data centre operator in Malaysia but operates one of the largest data centres as well. MyIX is asking the govt ot exempt data centres from increases in power rates in order to make the country more attractive to FDI. File pix of NTT data centre in Cyberjaya, Selangor.
MyIX seeks more investor-friendly policies, including reinstatement of cabotage exemption policy  ChatGPT and Artificial Intelligence (AI) may be the hottest tech trends sweeping across the world but in Malaysia, the digital economy and increasing utilization of the internet are the two hot developments. 

One recent data point shared last week by the Malaysia Internet Exchange (MyIX) attests to this. Demand for Internet bandwidth in the country continues to soar with a peak of 1.9 Tbps usage last month (December 2022). This was more than three folds from the 588 Gbps posted in May 2020, said MyIX.

MyIX chairman, Chiew Kok Hin (pic), said this record shows that the internet and digital economy are deeply entrenched in Malaysian lifestyle and work cultures, especially hybrid, today.

“Digitisation is indeed accelerating in Malaysia, which is a good sign considering that studies have shown that a country's ability to compete in the 21st century increasingly depend on efficient use of information and communication technologies,” he said.

MyIX commended the Malaysian Government for its efforts in making the digital economy a strategic engine of growth for the country. According to Department of Statistics Malaysia, the digital economy contributed 22.6% to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020, and is set to rise to 25.5% by 2025.

MyIX said it is looking forward to more investor-friendly policies to further strengthen Malaysia’s position as a regional tech hub. Suggestions include reinstatement of cabotage exemption policy for foreign vessels to conduct undersea cable repairs. This is because various foreign multinationals have already invested substantially in submarine cables connecting Malaysia to other parts of the world. 
 
“As it stands, a growing number of data centre operators have moved and are moving to Malaysia to enhance data speeds to cater for densely populated cities within the Southeast Asian region. 

“This includes hyperscale data centres which offer robust, scalable applications and storage portfolio of services to individuals or businesses. Hence, a reinstatement of this policy would enable Malaysia to attract more submarine cable investments leading into Malaysia.”

Other suggestions include exemption for telecommunications companies and data centres on potential increase in electricity tariffs to attract more foreign direct investments (FDI) into the country. 

At its end, MyIX consciously lowered the exchange's port pricing by 33% last year to further benefit the country including members and end-users, and to further support the growth of Malaysia's digital economy. 

“MyIX is already today one of the cheapest exchanges in the region,” said Chiew. 

“We will continue championing its cause of 'keeping Internet traffic local' without having to take indirect international routes.”

Established as an initiative under the Malaysian Communications Multimedia Commission (MCMC), MyIX today has a total of 132 autonomous systems (ASNs) with 210 ports. 

The exchange also welcomed two new members recently: Symbio Networks (M) Sdn Bhd and IP World Technologies Sdn Bhd.

Its members would be convening for the next Annual General Meeting in March 2023.

 

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