THE Communications and Multimedia Ministry hopes to resolve issues on the pricing, speed and coverage of mobile services by year end, said its deputy minister, Eddin Syazlee Shith.

He said the ministry is studying the issue and wants to come up with a balanced solution that will protect the interests of consumers and telco companies.

“We understand that by asking telcos to reduce prices it might affect their profit, but we believe there is way to solve the issue and we will try and find a solution by the end of the year” he told reporters on the sidelines of Safer Internet Day 2019.

“We are focusing on speed and coverage as well,” he said. 

The Malaysian Insight reported that Malaysian consumers have been losing tens of millions of ringgit annually as a result of unsatisfactory services from their telecommunications providers.

According to the National Consumer Complaints Centre (NCCC) annual reports, customers lost RM16 million in 2016 and RM15.87 million in 2017 from telco-related issues, said senior manager for legal and policy matters Shabana Naseer Ahmad.

The losses stemmed from billing disputes, roaming charges disputes, broadband and mobile internet services, unsolicited messages and wrong charges.

Last week, Eastern Analytica reported a high level of consumer dissatisfaction with mobile service providers – Maxis, Digi, Celcom and U Mobile – based on pricing, customer service, speed and coverage. – February 13, 2019.