ISP Merger - Greater forces at work

The PM's annoucement on the merger of Malaysia's top two ISPs seemed to have stirred the Malaysian internet users nest. Here are some response to the issue:
Jeff's response
Alphaque's initial shock
Alphaque trying to make sense out of it
Haxa's Dismay
NoorHidayat snubs the monopoly
Alphaque giving it back

But not all are angry with the merger, at least some one is happy with the merger.

Now, my thots on the issue:

As i commented on Haxa's blog;
Obviously, the proposal from telekom to acquire Jaring came from the Government. When the rakyat cry foul, the matter was silenced for a while.
"They" let the dust settle down before reverting to Plan B.
The PM then tabled the budget, announcing the merger.
Now it make sense right?
My next quetion is, who are "they"?

In today's news, Energy, Communications and Multimedia Minister commented that "the perception was that competition would cause the ISPs to provide the best service and cheapest rates were not seen." Hence, the need to merge the two ISPs. Heck, if the government is serious enough perhaps they should open the internet market to international players. Not the best move, but that will surely create competition, and technology advancement.

Two years ago, Telekom Malaysia made a bid to acquire Jaring. When the public learned about this, there was a public furor and Telekom's Chief Executive made a statement saying that Telekom will not take over Jaring. When the PM tabled the budget and announced the merger, "they" would certainly be smiling.

For me, Jaring should instead merge with other smaller ISPs such as Time.net, Celcom.net (currently available for Celcom subscribers) and (eventhough they might just snub at the proposal) Maxis.net. This new entity should go head to head with TMNet.

But Telekom will be Telekom. Here are a few scenarios that Telekom might do with Jaring:
1. TM will take over Jaring. Jaring would then buy over TM Net and run both entities (Celcom-TM Touch merger model)
2. TM take over Jaring, but Jaring will retain its brand and business
3. Jaring will focus mainly on dial-up while TMNet focus on broadband
4. TM take over Jaring and change its brand to TM Net. TM Net runs the whole show.

Although the news struck me like a concrete wall in the middle of the highway, I sincerely hope that whatever happens will be for the best of the Internet industry in Malaysia. A little voice in me said the merger does not mean anything afterall Jaring is partly owned by the government and Telekom is also part of the government. So when the head of the government decides to merge them together, who is stopping him?
Having said that, the question still remains... we still dont know who are "they".

Somewhat related: Telekom Malaysia Case Study (PDF, 440kb)

Comments

[alphaque]

they may have the same owners, but they have different people manning them. the ones manning jaring are still in shock, me thinks. i think tmnet got a sucker punch as well, i'm willing to bet that they lobbied the govt to merge jaring with them, but did not expect the pm to announce the price cuts on broadband either. now they're trying to backpedal, with tmnet folk today saying that it'll take a few months to effect the price cuts.

[mawar]

just came across over here and still keeping the
eyes on it. Nice blog and nice photos!

[vlad]

As expected, any cut down, it will take ages. Any increment, they will raise it as soon as possible. Feel like robbing cigarette supplier.

[KaZ]

Mawar: thnks for dropping by... :)

Vlad: The British American Tobacco Office is near the Rothmans roundabout in PJ. Wanna break in? :)