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TIME dotCom has signed an agreement with Facebook in Malaysia to invest in internet infrastructure to increase international connectivity and competitiveness.
The network infrastructure project is expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2020 and will be used to exclusively support the social media giant and “its family of applications”.
“Facebook’s mission is to give people the power to build communities and bring the world closer together,” said Nico Roehrich, manager of Network Investment across Asia Pacific at Facebook. “This partnership will allow us to build a faster and more efficient network to better support our family of apps and services.”
TIME goes to market as a telecommunications provider delivering domestic and global connectivity, data centre and managed services to customers across ASEAN. The business is powered by a fibre optic network of assets which span Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia.
“We look forward to the prospects that this partnership offers, as it opens the door for Malaysia to establish itself as a regional technology hub,” added Chiew Kok Hin, head of OTT, TIME. “More international connectivity and a robust domestic backbone will attract sizeable investments into Malaysia.
“It only makes sense for us to capitalise on the strategic location of Malaysia in Southeast Asia, ease of access and relatively lower cost of entry.”
The government in Malaysia is currently reviewing policies, laws and regulations to ensure the country can remain competitive from an international connectivity standpoint. For example, the Ministry of Transport has simplified regulatory approval by revising the existing cabotage policy, allowing local and foreign vessels carrying out undersea cable repairs within Malaysian waters to “start work without delay”.
“The joint effort between the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia is in line with the National Fiberisation and Connectivity Plan to promote investments in undersea cables and encourage the deployment of landing centres in Malaysia,” said Gobind Singh Deo, minister of Communications and Multimedia.
“Malaysia strongly encourages all undersea cables planned for deployment in this region to land in Malaysia to take advantage of the cabotage exemption for undersea cable repairs. With more undersea cables and a faster cable repair approval process in place, Malaysians can enjoy faster and more reliable internet access to international sites.”
The government is also taking “significant steps” to boost Malaysia’s competitiveness in a bid to attract global technology giants such as Facebook, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, Alibaba and Tencent.
“Let us break down the silos and stay agile to industry demands,” added Anthony Loke, minister of Transport. “As we attract more high value investments from global technology giants into Malaysia, our telecommunications and internet industry will grow from strength to strength resulting in the creation of more jobs and business opportunities.”
