Lack of knowledge slows SME broadband adoption
M. Madhavan
The Star: InTech-10/07/01
Broadband connectivity is still not popular among small to medium enterprises (SMEs) because they lack the knowledge to utilise the Internet to conduct their business, according to Cordoda Corporation Sdn Bhd (www.cordod.com).
KUALA LUMPUR: Broadband connectivity is still not popular among small to medium enterprises (SMEs) because they lack the knowledge to utilise the Internet to conduct their business, according to Cordoda Corporation Sdn Bhd (Cordoda).
If the SMEs don’t see that broadband Internet connection is going to improve their business, they are going to stick to dial-up connections, said Shane Hodge, the broadband service provider’s chief operating officer.
Broadband is a type of high speed data transmission technology that allows a single line to carry more than one channel at a time.
While Malaysia is pushing towards a knowledge driven economy (K-economy), some of the SMEs choose to just jump into the Internet bandwagon without much knowledge, Hodge claimed.
“They don’t realise that there is much more to the Internet than just setting up a corporate webpage; they are not moving towards doing business online,” he said.
“Only when they want to do business online will they embrace broadband. There must be a need first,” he said.
Cordoda has 18 points-of-presence (POPs) which allow its customers to connect to the Internet throughout East and West Malaysia.
Its Enterprise Broadband Network (EBN) is made of last-mile connections from several telecommunication companies including Telekom Malaysia Bhd, Maxis Communications Bhd and Time dotCom Bhd.
It gets its Internet access from both Jaring and TMnet.
“By leasing Internet access from two Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and lines from multiple telcos, EBN provides redundant capable Internet access,” claimed Hodge.
Cordoda plans to increase its number of POPs to 26 by year-end, and has invested RM47mil in infrastructure to date, he said.
To give a more compelling reason for SMEs to pick broadband, the company is developing online applications such as human resource management and sales information software, Hodge said.
“We would host these applications for the SMEs so that they would not have to worry about managing the software and can concentrate on their business,” he said.
Cordoda plans to roll out these software within 90 days, to be followed by seminars to encourage SMEs to jump online.
Education is not the only issue; cost is also a big reason why SMEs stay away from broadband, said Hodge.
He said that when the software was ready, the company would be able to provide cheaper broadband-software packages.
To date, its 47 Malaysian customers are mostly large companies such as TA Securities, Lon Pac Insurance, KL City Securities, Public Bank Bhd and Triumphal Associates.
Cordoda launched EBN in April and made RM5mil in revenues last month, according to Hodge.
For more information, contact Cordoda at (603) 8994-1628.
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