Mobile Broadband in Malaysia

It will be noticeable nowdays with mobile broadband, consumers have the luxury of logging on to the internet on the go when they switch on their laptops. It is convenience to them but one question remain: ' Is it beneficial to consumers?

I have the opportunity to try out two types of mobile broadbands in Malaysia, one of which is from Maxis and another, from the new mobile broadband provider - U Mobile.

The Maxis broadband connection is quite good around my area. I have manage to secure up to 2Mbps during the day but when night falls, I would only be getting around 512kbps. Does this mean that Maxis have throttled the capacity of the wireless broadband service to consumers? Before I can answer that question, I would like to provide you with more information about Mobile Broadband in Malaysia.

First of all, the technology itself, mobile broadband, is still at the early stages in Malaysia. It is rather different to countries within the Europe including the UK. In the UK, the penetration of mobile broadband is much wider than in Malaysia. I think it takes time for the technology to mature. In the mean time, use wi-fi or the cheapest mobile broadband which does not tie you down to a contract will do so. Stick to Streamyx until a better WiMAX system is in place.

Secondly, you can see that there are many mobile broadband providers in the country. It is the same with other countries but what is important is that in Malaysia, charges for such a luxury is expensive. Looking at the average mobile broadband providers in the country will see that consumers having to pay around RM78 to RM88 for a cap of 5GB usages limit per month. Such cap usage varies from one provider to another provider. The worst is Maxis where by users are only allowed up to 3GB of data per month. Oh my... 3GB is pretty poor, don't you think? At least U Mobile offers 5GB of data usage per month!Why not just stick to Data plan from your mobile devices and forget about mobile broadband for a while? Good idea, right? With EDGE and HSDPA technology on your mobile devices, it will surely be sufficient, right? I think so. It is so much better compared to using your laptop as it is heavier than a mobile phone! Even the mighty Nokia E90 is much better than the laptop!!!

Well, there is always an exclsion to what the general rule is. With netbooks and minibooks around, it is lighter to carry portables around and thus, using mobile broadband will be more realistic, don't you think so? Ha! We have the Asus Eee PC and Dell Mini and both have around 9" screens and weight below 2kg. Good for carrying around. However, the bad news is that the firepower of such products are low so don't go and play online games with it, alright?

I am happy that mobile broadband have taken off and surely, the technology will take time to mature. Until then, Streamyx is the one broadband for unlimited usage and stability!!!