MIRI: Pujut assemblyman Andy Chia urged Telekom Malaysia (TM) to replace its copper cables with fibre optics to increase the internet speed and reduce service disruption.
ATTENTIVE: Zakinah (left) listens to feedback from Leong (right), witnessed by Chia (centre).
“Currently, areas such as Pujut, Piasau and Krokop are still using copper cables, thus the line is slower compared to new development areas using fibre optics.
“I hope the cables in the three areas are upgraded immediately,” Chia said yesterday during a visit of his constituency.
He led the walkabout at Pujut 7 and Krokop 5 shoplots, accompanied by TM representatives yesterday.
It was done in response to the increasing number of complaints from TM customers recently.
“We have experienced frequent internet interruptions for the past three weeks so this walkabout is to hear their complaints, especially in highly populated areas,” he said.
The walkabout was to get feedback from the people on the frequent interruptions of the land line and internet connection (streamyx).
Chia invited TM representatives to join the walkabout and take note of the feedback from its customers.
Telekom service engineer Zakinah Tuah said TM was doing a major overhaul of the system and it would be some time before it becomes fully functional.
“Troubleshooting of the system is still in progress. We have yet to disclose the causes of the problem. Should it persist, we might have to shut down the system temporarily for full maintenance and upgrading,” Zakinah said.
According to her, TM has 10,000 over streamyx users in Miri. Due to the high usage, TM has to upgrade their services promptly to meet customer needs.
Zakinah said the most common complaint from customers was slow speed or inaccessibility of the internet.
Chia suggested that TM give at least three days’ advance notice of temporary service suspension to the public via the newspaper or email.
This is to allow those using the internet to operate their business to make advanced preparations.
“We have been facing internet interruptions for the past three months either slow connection or unable to connect to streamyx. It is frustrating when you try to upload a webpage and it takes several minutes,” said Leong Choon Min, an internet user in Krokop 5.
Leong said the problem is troublesome, especially when the user is in the middle of doing online business transaction such as online ticketing and banking, and the page suddenly becomes inaccessible and transaction is incomplete.