KUALA LUMPUR, May 24 — Celcom Axiata Bhd will cooperate with the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia to increase broadband speed and reduce the price.

Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Business Operations Azwan Khan Osman Khan said the network provider was very much looking forward to engaging the Minister, Gobind Singh Deo to see what could be done to really support his vision.

"We look forward to meeting him when things settle down a bit, as he has been in his position for just three days,” he told a media briefing here today.

Recently, Gobind said he would work towards achieving broadband connections that are "double the speed, half the price” for Malaysia and that the public had been complaining about the quality of broadband in the country, which was far behind developed countries.

The newly-minted minister will also look at various aspects including problems faced by telecommunications companies and find solutions to improve the quality of broadband services in the country.

Meanwhile, Celcom Chief Executive Officer Michael Kuehner said the network provider had continuously worked to increase its top speed over the last 18 months.

"There is a technology roadmap to increase speed which we are actually engaging in. Another element to increased speed for mobile broadband,  is the amount of spectrum (you have),” he added.

Celcom’s total revenue has been showing an improvement of 2.3 per cent year-on-year, with the first quarter ended March 31,  2018 recording RM1.636 billion compared to RM1.599 billion in the same period last year, with 47 per cent of total revenue in the quarter contributed by data.

Asked on the impact of the zero-rated Goods and Services Tax (GST), Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Wong said the move would not pose a significant impact to its financial performance as most customers had already moved to postpaid-inclined products.

She said the company will also be seeking more details on the Sales and Service Tax (SST).

The Ministry of Finance has announced that the GST will be set at zero per cent next month from the current six per cent, with the government also reintroducing the SST at a later unspecified date. — Bernama