equates to value. This of course depends on the fiscal cost of achieving the speed. This may include environmental cost - Concorde comes to mind. It also depends on the additional value achievable from additional speed. Canal journeys may take longer but may be more efficient and in some instances the net gain over faster alternatives, for example trains and lorries, may be greater. If the commodity being transported is increasing in value over time, the longer takes to get there the more it will be worth. But surely the canal analogy cannot be applied to the economic theory of telecommuni- cations? The benefits of broader-band telecommunications must surely outweigh investment cost? Well, that depends on the economic scale of the benefit and the time scale required for a return on the investment. If the cost of delivering broadband to rural areas could be amortised over 50 years, effectively what happens with telegraph poles, then almost certainly a net gain will be achieved. If the cost has to be amortised over five years then almost certainly it will not. This explains the present lack of appetite for private sector broadband investment. It also implies a need for a longer-term plan. 12.7.1 Telecom Politics in Malaysia - An Example of Long-Term Planning and Mixed Results In 1991 the Prime Minister of Malaysia Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad produced a social and economic plan that would make Malaysia a self-sufficient industrialised nation by 2020 based on an annual growth of 7% between 1990 and 2020. The building of a multimedia supercorridor stretching from Kuala Lumpur to Penang was promoted as a key enabler in the industrialisation process, alongside ambitious plans to upgrade the roads, railways and utility sector (power and water), transforming Malaysia into an Asian economic tiger. Wireless Radio Access Network Hardware The multibillion dollar telecoms plan was formalised in 1998 as a connectivity corridor 15 kilometres wide and 50 kilometres long, a Malaysian Silicon Valley to include two smart cities that wou