In light of Malaysia’s interest in IPv6, we are not only curious as to whether this will mean that the monopoly of DOT COM DOT MY (.com.my) extensions will come to an end and finally allow private companies that do not drink coffee to start providing the country with some real domain name management services (where it should be possible to register domains instantly like it is in almost every other country), but will obviously have an impact on the way the internet works and what is to come.

Internet service providers (ISPs) in Malaysia have passed the Internet Protocol version 6 (Ipv6) level one compliant test. The major ISPs are Celcom, TMNet, Digi, Jaring and Maxis, which had their IPv6 connectivity tested by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) late last year. ”The ISPs will have to undergo two other in-depth and advanced IPv6 compliant tests, which will be carried out before the end of the year,” said National Advanced IPv6 Centre (Nav6) director Prof Dr Sureswaran Ramadass at the Asean IPv6 Workshop here Monday. Also present was MCMC international affairs director Nur Sulyna Abdullah, who represented MCMC chairman Datuk Dr Halim Shafie at the function.

Only another 3 years, and by that time, we should have six or seven underground submarine cables stretching across the ocean floor connecting us to every major city in the world (sarcastically speaking of course)…

However, such exciting times these are for Malaysia, especially after TM showed off its up-coming fibreoptic service:

Telekom Malaysia Bhd staged a sneak preview of its fibre-to-the-home (FFTH) broadband access service, at the Mont Kiara Pines Condominium in Sri Hartamas. FFTH is an end-to-end last-mile fibreoptic connection for the deployment of high-speed broadband (up to 100 megabits per second).

A day after this rather weak article was left flapping in the wind, TechCentral followed-up with another more descriptive account of what went down and what is to come…

It will not be long before Malaysians join the ranks of privileged Internet users in other parts of the world who are already enjoying blazing fast broadband access.  Telekom Malaysia (TM) Bhd is moving to provide 100-megabits per second (Mbps) access to the home through the use of fiber-optic connections and the electrical wiring in our houses, apartments and condominiums.  

“We are heading for the digital home era where IPTV (Internet Protocol Television), VoIP (Voice-over-Internet Protocol) and home surveillance (via the Net) are necessities,” said TM Malaysia Business CEO Zamzamzairani Mohd Isa.  ”This will pave the way,” he added. 

The telco plans to start the first phase roll-out of its service in the third quarter of next year.  Initially, the connection speed will be 10Mbps, but this will increase as the roll-out continues.  “It may take two to three years before the service becomes widely available,” he added.