If you have been researching enterprise internet options in Malaysia, you have probably encountered the term Metro Ethernet — or Metro-E — alongside DIA, leased line, and TM DOME. Most telco brochures describe it in technical language that assumes you already know what it means.
This guide explains Metro-E in plain English, using real examples from Malaysian industries. By the end, you will know exactly what Metro-E is, how it differs from DIA and leased lines, when your business should use it, and what it costs in Malaysia in 2026.
Metro Ethernet in one sentence
Metro Ethernet (Metro-E) is a private fibre network that connects two or more of your business locations together — as if they were in the same building — without using the public internet.
That is the entire concept. Everything else in this guide is just detail.
The analogy that makes Metro-E click
Think about how your office network works today. Every computer, printer, and server in your office is connected on the same local network (LAN). Files transfer instantly. The ERP system responds in milliseconds. CCTV footage streams without lag. You do not need an internet connection for any of this — it all happens on your private internal network.
Now imagine you had two offices — one in Kuala Lumpur, one in Penang — and you wanted both offices to operate as if they were on that same network. Staff in Penang access the KL file server at full speed. CCTV footage from the Penang factory streams to the KL security room live. The ERP system in KL sees the Penang warehouse inventory in real time.
That is Metro Ethernet. It stretches your private office network across city-level or even nationwide distances, using the telco’s fibre backbone, but on a private, dedicated connection that never touches the public internet.
How Metro-E works (simplified)
- A telco (TM, Maxis, or TIME) runs fibre cable into your premises and installs a network port.
- The same telco runs fibre into your second location (or more) and installs another port.
- Both ports are connected to the telco’s Metro Ethernet backbone — a high-speed private fibre ring running through the city or region.
- The telco creates a private VLAN (Virtual LAN) that connects your two ports together. To your router and your computers, it looks exactly like a single network — because it is.
- Traffic between your locations travels over this private backbone at the speed you contracted — not shared with anyone else.
Diagram: What a typical Metro-E setup looks like
|
Office A — KL
HQ / Main Office
100Mbps Metro-E port
|
━━━━━━━━━━━━
TM / Maxis Metro-E
Private fibre backbone
Layer-2 VLAN — no public internet
━━━━━━━━━━━━
|
Office B — Penang
Branch / Factory
100Mbps Metro-E port
|
| Both offices share the same private Layer-2 network — same ERP, same file server, same CCTV system — as if they were in the same building. Traffic never touches the public internet. | ||
Metro-E vs DIA vs Leased Line — what is the difference?
This is the most common point of confusion. All three are enterprise-grade, dedicated, fibre-based connections — but they do very different jobs.
| Feature | Metro Ethernet (Metro-E) | Dedicated Internet Access (DIA) | P2P Leased Line |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Connect two or more offices on a private network | Connect your office to the public internet | Connect two specific points — HQ to factory, DC to branch |
| Traffic type | Private internal traffic (LAN extension) | Public internet traffic | Private internal traffic |
| Includes internet? | No. Metro-E is not an internet service. You still need DIA or broadband for internet. | Yes — this is your internet connection | No — private traffic only |
| Latency | Ultra-low (<5ms between sites in same metro) | Low (<10ms domestically) | Ultra-low (similar to Metro-E) |
| No. of endpoints | Two or more (multipoint available) | One (single location) | Exactly two only |
| Typical price (100Mbps) | RM 2,500 – RM 6,000/month | RM 3,500 – RM 9,000/month | RM 2,500 – RM 8,000/month |
When does a Malaysian business need Metro-E?
You need Metro-E if any of the following are true:
- You have two or more locations that need to share data, systems, or applications in real time.
- You run ERP, MES, or SCADA systems that need to communicate between your HQ and factory or branch offices — and you cannot tolerate latency or packet loss.
- You back up or replicate data between a main site and a disaster recovery or data centre site, and the volume is too high for internet-based backup.
- You have CCTV cameras at a remote location (factory, site, branch) that need to stream footage to your central security monitoring room.
- You have compliance requirements (BNM RMiT, ISO 27001, PCI-DSS) that require private, auditable connectivity between specific systems.
- You are an MNC setting up in Malaysia and need to connect your offices to each other on a private network.
You probably do not need Metro-E if you have a single office location, or if your inter-office communication needs are light enough to be handled by a site-to-site VPN over standard DIA.
Metro-E pricing in Malaysia — 2026
Metro-E pricing depends on: bandwidth, distance between your sites, telco provider, and whether your buildings are already on their fibre network.
| Bandwidth | TM Metro-E | Maxis Metro-E | TIME Metro-E | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 Mbps | RM 800 – RM 2,000 | RM 900 – RM 2,200 | RM 800 – RM 1,800 | Small retail, POS, CCTV backhaul |
| 50 Mbps | RM 1,500 – RM 4,000 | RM 1,800 – RM 4,500 | RM 1,400 – RM 3,500 | Branch offices, SME HQ-to-branch |
| 100 Mbps | RM 2,500 – RM 6,000 | RM 2,800 – RM 6,500 | RM 2,200 – RM 5,500 | Mid-size company, ERP, VoIP across sites |
| 200 Mbps | RM 4,000 – RM 9,000 | RM 4,500 – RM 10,000 | RM 3,800 – RM 8,500 | Manufacturing plants, CCTV + ERP combined |
| 500 Mbps | RM 7,000 – RM 14,000 | RM 7,500 – RM 15,000 | RM 6,500 – RM 13,000 | Data centre, large MNC, high-bandwidth replication |
| 1 Gbps | RM 12,000 – RM 22,000 | RM 14,000 – RM 25,000 | RM 11,000 – RM 20,000 | Enterprise backbone, campus, financial HQ |
What affects Metro-E pricing most?
- Building readiness: If TM, Maxis, or TIME already have fibre in your building, installation is fast and costs less. New fibre runs may incur a one-time civil works charge of RM 5,000–RM 30,000+.
- Distance between sites: Connections within the same city are cheaper than long-distance connections (e.g., KL to Penang).
- Contract duration: 36-month contracts typically reduce the monthly rate by 10–20% versus 24-month terms.
- Redundancy: Adding a second diverse path doubles the cost but provides near-100% uptime — essential for financial and manufacturing clients.
Metro-E use cases by industry in Malaysia
| Industry | Why they use Metro-E | Typical setup | Typical speed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | Connect factory floor to HQ for SCADA, MES, ERP, and CCTV — without traffic going over the public internet | Factory (Selangor) ↔ HQ (KL) | 200Mbps – 1Gbps |
| Financial institutions | Replicate transaction data between branches and data centre. Compliance requires private, auditable links | Branches ↔ Data centre | 100Mbps – 500Mbps |
| Retail chains | Sync POS systems, inventory data, and CCTV footage across all outlets to HQ in real time | All outlets ↔ HQ | 10–50Mbps per branch |
| MNC regional offices | Private connectivity between Malaysian offices — lower latency than VPN over internet | KL ↔ Penang ↔ JB offices | 100Mbps – 1Gbps |
| Universities / colleges | Connect multiple campuses on a single private network for shared library systems and admin | Main campus ↔ satellite campuses | 100Mbps – 500Mbps |
| Construction / project sites | Temporary high-bandwidth connection from site to HQ for BIM file transfers and project management | Project site ↔ HQ | 50Mbps – 200Mbps |
TM DOME — Metro-E with internet access included
TM DOME (Direct Over Metro-E) is Telekom Malaysia’s branded Metro-E service with one key addition: it delivers DIA internet access over the same Metro-E infrastructure. This means you get your internet connection and your private inter-site connectivity over one fibre connection — one contract, one invoice, one point of contact.
TM DOME is particularly useful for businesses that want to simplify their infrastructure rather than managing a separate DIA line and a separate Metro-E line.
Read more: TM DOME Malaysia — features, pricing, and coverage
How to get Metro-E in Malaysia — the process
- Building check: Confirm whether your building is on TM’s, Maxis’s, or TIME’s Metro-E network. This determines your options and lead time.
- Quote comparison: Once building readiness is confirmed, you receive pricing from available telcos. Pricing for the same bandwidth can vary 20–40% between providers.
- Contract signing: Standard Metro-E contracts are 24 months. The telco provides a Letter of Offer (LOO) for your company to sign.
- Installation: For buildings already on the network: 4–6 weeks. For buildings requiring new fibre: 8–16 weeks. The telco installs CPE (router/switch) at each end.
- Go-live and testing: DACS performs end-to-end testing including latency, throughput, and failover testing before handover.
Frequently asked questions
Does Metro-E include internet access?
No. Metro-E is a private network connection between your locations — it does not connect you to the internet. You still need a separate DIA or broadband line at each location for internet access. The exception is TM DOME, which bundles internet access over the Metro-E infrastructure.
Can I connect more than two offices with Metro-E?
Yes. This is called a point-to-multipoint (P2MP) configuration. You can connect 3, 5, or 10 locations on the same private Metro-E network. Each additional location is priced separately. DACS manages the entire multipoint design and provisioning.
What happens if the Metro-E connection goes down?
Metro-E comes with an SLA covering uptime (typically 99.5%–99.9%) and fault response time. If the connection drops, the telco’s NOC is alerted automatically and a fault team is dispatched. DACS also monitors your connection proactively and contacts you if we detect degradation before you do.
Can Metro-E support CCTV, VoIP, and ERP on the same connection?
Yes. Metro-E supports Quality of Service (QoS) settings, which means you can prioritise certain types of traffic — for example, VoIP gets priority over file transfers so call quality is never degraded by a large backup job running in the background.
Is Metro-E available outside Klang Valley?
TM has the widest Metro-E coverage in Malaysia, including Penang, Johor Bahru, Ipoh, Kuantan, and most major industrial estates. Maxis and TIME have strong coverage in the main cities. DACS checks all three telcos simultaneously to find the best available option for your specific locations.
How is Metro-E different from a VPN?
A VPN is software that creates an encrypted tunnel over the public internet. It is inexpensive but performance depends entirely on your internet connection — if your internet is congested, your VPN traffic suffers too. Metro-E is a dedicated physical fibre connection that never uses the public internet. Performance is guaranteed, consistent, and does not degrade regardless of what is happening on the internet.
Ready to check Metro-E availability for your locations?
Tell us your two (or more) locations, your bandwidth requirement, and what applications you need to support — DACS will check building readiness and come back with a comparison from TM, Maxis, and TIME within 24 hours. No obligation.
- 📧 Email: info@dacs.com.my
- 📱 Phone / WhatsApp: +6011 1673 0468
- 🌐 Website: dacs.com.my/contact-us/
Related reading: DIA vs Business Broadband — what Malaysian companies actually pay in 2026
Related reading: Metro Ethernet service page
Related reading: Malaysia DIA Price & TM DOME Price Guide