by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjong, Lim Kit Siang, in Petaling Jaya on Friday, 3rd November, 1995:
Telekom must not be allowed to impose charges on local calls according to time used to subsidise its reduction of tariffs for international trunk calls to fight cheaper international trunk tariffs provided by “call-back” service providers
Energy, Telecommunications and Posts Minister, Datuk Leo Moggie, confirmed yesterday that Telekom Malaysia Bhd.’s proposed new tariff rates for international and trunk calls are expected to be reduced while local calls will be charged according to the length of time used.
Telekom must not be allowed to impose charges on local calls according to time used to subsidise its reduction or tariffs for international trunk calls to fight cheaper international trunk tariffs provided by “call-back” services.
At present, overseas phone bills could be cut by half or more if they make use of long-distance “call-back” service offered by overseas telecommunications companies.
In a September article in a regional magazine, it was reported that five years ago, there were only six call-back providers in the United States, where customers place international trunk calls through an American dial number. By the end of the year, the number would have grown to more than 100. Between 1993 and 1994 alone, revenue from calls originating in the U.S. leaped more than 350% to US$300 million.
The Cabinet has a duty to protect the interests of the Malaysian consumers to ensure that Telekom does not exploit them by making use of its monopoly position to charge local calls according to time used so that it could reduce international trunk calls to be able to compete with the call-back providers overseas.