KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians are into texting in a big way - they sent about 73 billion SMSes last year, a big increase over the 3.6 billion messages sent in 2002.
Many Malaysians also have more than one mobile phone account, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili said.
“This proves that we simply love to talk.Malaysians obviously enjoy communicating with each other via SMS.
"Malaysians obviously enjoy communicating with each other via SMS"- DATUK DR MAXIMUS ONGKILI “Today, more people prefer to keep in touch wirelessly, resulting in a decrease in fixed line connections to about 44.5% of households, but a huge rise in mobile phone penetration to almost 100% of the population,” he said at the MSC Malaysia’s 10th Asia Pacific ICT Alliance (Apicta) Awards 2009 on Thursday.
In 2000, only 22% of the population had mobile phones.
He added that more people were also using the Internet with the household broadband penetration rate currently at 24.8%.
“We are working hard to meet the 50% penetration rate target by the end of next year,” he said.
He said the ministry was also looking at ways to enable more Malaysians to purchase personal computers at a cheaper price.
The ministry’s proposal for the upcoming Budget, he said, would call for wider access to personal computers, cheaper broadband and wider local content development to complement increased usage.
A high-speed broadband network, he added, was being put in place via a partnership between the Government and TM Bhd.
Dr Ongkili suggested that ICT companies consolidate to reach greater heights.
“There is enough talent, creativity and hunger in the industry but it is hard to find giant ICT companies here despite their capability. It is time to consolidate and work together,” he said.
Dr Ongkili also credited MSC Malaysia for its achievements including helping to create 80,000 jobs annually.
There were over 2,000 MSC-status companies with close to RM18bil in annual revenues, he added.
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