Broadband Speed

I was walking in a shopping mall recently in Malaysia. As I was walking, I saw the promotional booth of the internet broadband - up to 4.0Mbps!

That got me kinda excited because it is now a 4 times increase speed from what we have currently.

And it also got me thinking, maybe that was the reason why the internet was slowed down in the past few weeks - for the upgrading works. Well, I could 'close my eyes' for the 'lil inconvenience caused' if that was the case.

As my business relies much on the internet, this upgraded speed comes in as Super Good News because now, the speed is 4 times faster than what it was before.

And this in a way closes the gap to Singapore's internet speed - which has a package of up to 10Mbps. Not bad, or so I thought.

That was until when I headed back to Singapore and was browsing the weekend papers (usually there is broadband offers on Friday/ Saturday papers)... and I saw an ad by a broadband service provider:

100Mbps!

I actually had to take a double look. I couldn't believe my eyes. I mean, while Malaysia has increased its broadband by 4 times, Singapore is increasing their relatively fast broadband by 10 times!

If 4Mbs could get me a lil excited, what more with 100Mbs! Wow, now the web pages will pop up faster than my clicks!

It Can Only Get Better
I applaud this high speed introduction. By having this private company pioneering this service, Singapore's broadband will only get better & better, as I'm sure the rest of the competition will follow suit soon (currently, the rivals are still at a distant 10Mbs).

I still remember, I was subscribed to the lowest 256kbps (or was it 312kbps). Then I received a letter from my broadband provider - announcing that there is no more room for such services, and they are automatically upgrading us to 1Mbs - like it or not (who won't? by the way, without having to pay more?). So, gone is the 256kbps in Singapore.

And now with 100Mbps as its fastest, I think it wouldn't be too long when the 1Mbps becomes obsolete as well. That means, the nation's broadband will go up a notch once again.

Small, Easier & Kiasu?
Yes, it's true, a small/ smaller nation like Singapore is able to be better connected. But even then, not too small-neither too big, South Korea is known to have one of the fastest (if not fastest) internet connections in the world. If not wrong, they have 1Mbps since 2002(?) And I think they have 60Mbps for a while now.

So, Singapore is in a way playing catching up with the fastest. I'm not sure if this overtakes South Korea, but it has definitely put them back on same playing field.

And finally, I don't think this is a Singapore's kiasuness of 'since Malaysia upgrade, they also upgrade'. More so, it's a business concept to make this city state an advance city with good infrastructure.

This is mainly for the city to attract & be a platform for internet businesses & other businesses that relies on internet for that matter.

Just Enjoy-lah
So, for now, I get to enjoy both super fast speed in Singapore & an upgraded speed back in Malaysia. And though the broadband speed does seem quite a vast difference, but well, I'm not complaining... maybe a next round of upgrades might come soon :)