The non-profit MyIX is the first neutral Internet Exchange where local Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and content providers connect to exchange Internet traffic.
He said with the deal entered into with the entertainment company, neighbouring countries such as Indonesia could also obtain the content from Malaysia at a nominal fee, hence paving the way for the country to become a content hub in future.
“We hope with the sealed deal, we can attract other international players to come to Malaysia in the future as we are working to position the country as a regional Internet exchange gateway,” he said.
Netflix is a popular online American entertainment company that provides a range of videos and movies and is also the world’s ninth-largest Internet company by revenue (US$8.83bil).
Chiew added that with the country being positioned as an Internet exchange gateway, it would attract South-East Asian countries such as Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia to make Malaysia their content hub.
“It will bring the content nearer to us, and neighbouring countries will not only save cost but also improve on content quality,” he said.
Since MyIX’s inception in 2006, it has closed deals with various parties including Alibaba and Yahoo.
Chiew also said the cost to bring the content had dropped over the years, allowing telecommunication companies (telcos) to reduce their pricing and offer more data and bandwith to their clients.
“With this in effect (cost reduction), the pricing set by telcos is being monitored by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission to ensure it is fairly set,” he said.
As for the Internet speed in the country, Chiew, who is also AIMS Data Centre Sdn Bhd chief executive officer, said overall, the speed offered to Malaysian Internet users was satisfactory.
However, there still remained certain areas in the country that did not have receive good Internet coverage.
“Telcos have taken steps to widen their connectivity but it is acknowledged that there are still obstacles in providing fast Internet speed nationwide,” he said.
The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) early this year mentioned at an international conference that the accelerated 5 Generation (5G) schedule, which would enable 3GPP-based large-scale trials and deployments as early as 2019, would be commercialised worldwide by 2020.