Cloud Service Providers (CSP) will have to apply for a license from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) starting from next year onwards.
The new policy was announced by the Communications and Multimedia Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa on 15 Oct and an advisory was released by the MCMC on 16 Oct.
The advisory was presented in the form of an FAQ (frequently asked questions). In it the MCMC defined cloud services as any service made available to end-users on demand via the Internet from a cloud computing provider’s server.
According to MCMC the move was made to keep user’s data safe and ensure that CSPs deliver high level of data privacy, protection, and data flow to customers.
The new regulation is said to also ensure legal protection for both consumer and provider.
For international CSPs that provide cloud services to Malaysians via data centres located in the country, the data centres themselves will have to apply for a license.
The ASP (C) license, which is MCMC’s Applications Service Providers class license, is only valid for one year. This means that CSPs will have to apply for the license annually.
Exemptions are given to web hosting and client server services, as they have for the past 21 years through the Communications and Multimedia (Licensing) (Exemption) Order 2000.
