INGENIEUR
has widened to 22.6 per 100
inhabitants. Looking at the
industry players, there has been
massive capital expenditure in
the telecommunications sector,
reaching RM9 billion in 2012.
As at end of 2013, there were
916 service providers licensed
by MCMC.
Chairman of MCMC, Dato’
Mohamed Sharil Tarmizi, in
an interview with the Board of
Engineers Malaysia, notes that
MCMC has to delicately balance
its role as a regulator and
developmental agency, taking
into consideration the different
needs of licensed Service
Providers, consumers and the
Government. “We regulate for
the purpose of development,
using regulations as tools of the
trade,” he explains. He is of the
view that overall service levels
have improved and consumer
complaints
have
increased
because
there
are
more
consumers. According to MCMC
statistics, there were 18 million
3G mobile phone subscriptions
and
3.8
million
wireless
broadband subscriptions in
2013.
Dato’ Mohamed Sharil Tarmizi, Chairman of MCMC.
Billing charges plus poor
mobile phone service were noted
as the top consumer complaints
in
the
Consumer
Forum
Malaysia (CFM) 2012 Report.
The Consumer Forum (under
MCMC’s supervision) mediates
complaints between consumers
and Service Providers of fixed,
mobile, Internet, broadcast TV
and radio services. Before CFM
perkhidmatan yang mencukupi.
Various engineers at work in the communications field
6
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VOL 58 APRIL 2013 2014
VOL 55 JUNE – JUNE
becomes involved in a complaint
about a Service Provider, the
Service Providers are first given
the opportunity to sort the
dispute out.
(See Complaints Statistics
on page 69)
Responding
to
rising
complaints,
MCMC
issued
a stern warning to cellular
phone companies and three
major telcos were served with
fines totalling RM190,000 on
complaints about dropped calls.
Dato’ Sharil acknowledges that
the level of service has improved
since then but adds that there is
room for improvement.
Dato’ Sharil emphasizes
the importance of engineers,
notably electrical and electronic
engineers in building the network
communications infrastructure,
ensuring compliance and saf