Internet in Malaysia
(From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_in_Malaysia)
The year 1995 was considered the beginning of the Internet age in Malaysia. The growth in the number of Internet hosts in Malaysia began around 1996. The country's first search engine and web portal company, Cari Internet, was also founded that year.
According to the first Malaysian Internet survey conducted from October to November 1995 by MIMOS and Beta Interactive Services, one out of every thousand Malaysians had access to the Internet (20,000 Internet users out of a population of 20 million) (Beta Interactive Services, 1996). In 1998, this number grew to 2.6% of the population. The total number of computer units sold, which was 467,000 in 1998 and 701,000 in 2000 indicated an increasing growth (Lee, 2000c).
MIMOS
(http://www.mimos.my)
In the early 1980s a group of academicians, led by Dr Tengku Mohd Azzman Shariffadeen, the Dean of School of Engineering University of Malaya, discussed and realized that Malaysia was a leading country in exporting electrical and electronics products but none of the product’s design, brand and marketing belong to Malaysian companies and to develop indigenous products
1987: The Institute introduced the Internet by managing the RangKom project (Rangkaian Komputer Malaysia or Malaysia Computer Network).
It also conducted a presentation of the Memorandum on the Establishment of MIMOS as a corporation owned by the Government under the Prime Minister’s Office.
1989: Collaborated with the Ministry of Education for the development of and introduction of Computer Integrated Education in the national curriculum. This led to the country’s first, among many, education authoring tool, COMIL, to help teachers develop learning materials in BM. Other contributions include Cikgu.net, Learning Management System, Kamillion Eduweb and Bijak.net.
1990: In November, MIMOS was transferred as a department under the Ministry of Science Technology and Environment (MOSTE).
1991: RangKom was turned into an Internet Service Provider, offering services to limited members of the public.
1992: MIMOS launched Malaysia ’s first Internet Service Provider (ISP), JARING.
1994: MIMOS was appointed as the Secretariat to the National IT Council , chaired by The Prime Minister. Dr Tengku Mohd Azzman, MIMOS’ Director General was appointed as Permanent Secretary. MIMOS, through the National IT Council (NITC), played a pivotal role in the development of the framework for Malaysia ’s Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC).
2000
Launched Cikgu.net, a dedicated portal for educators in March 2000. It rides on iGalaksi: a portal engine developed by MIMOS.
MIMOS’ business unit, JARING, began offering high-quality VOIP services with an 80% cheaper call rate compared to conventional phone call rates.
MIMOS became the first Malaysian organization to join the Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPV6) registry.
In April, OICnetworks Sdn Bhd, a joint-venture company between MIMOS and the Islamic Development Bank in Jeddah was formed as the global internetworking exchange that contributes to the socio-economic growth of OIC member countries.
Encipta Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary, was incorporated on 8th December 2000 as a venture fund company
Today: MIMOS is focusing on eight applied research areas: cyber space security, encryption systems, grid computing, wireless broadband, micro systems (MEMS/NEMS), advanced informatics, knowledge technology and micro energy systems.
Jaring
(http://www.jaring.my)
History JARING introduced the Internet to the Malaysian community in 1992 when it was commercialised after its first international satellite leased-circuit at 64kps was installed, connecting Kuala Lumpur to Stockton in the United States. Started humbly with only 28 subscribers, it has grown to 0.8 million in 2005 and is expected to grow to more than one million by end of 2007.
In June 1997, JARING became the first Internet Service Provider (ISP) in South East Asia to install the T3 (45Mbps) line, which gives JARING subscribers faster access to the Internet. The circuit has then enabled JARING network users to be linked directly with the Internet, including the BITNET and NSFNet.
In 1999, JARING went a step further when an Internet backbone infrastructure which travels at the speed of 2.5 Gigabits per second transmission called SuperJARING was launched, making it the fastest and longest (841 km) IP-over-fibre backbone service available in the world at that time.
SuperJARING that runs across Peninsular Malaysia including the east coast has the capability to provide next-generation, bandwidth-intensive services like Internet telephony, secure virtual private networks (Secure VPNs), video-on-demand, distance learning and telemedicine.
JARING Communications Sdn Bhd was later established as a spin-off company under MIMOS Berhad on 1st April 2005.
In December 2006, the Ministry of Finance, Malaysia officially takes over JARING from MIMOS Berhad.
History JARING introduced the Internet to the Malaysian community in 1992 when it was commercialised after its first international satellite leased-circuit at 64kps was installed, connecting Kuala Lumpur to Stockton in the United States. Started humbly with only 28 subscribers, it has grown to 0.8 million in 2005 and is expected to grow to more than one million by end of 2007.
In June 1997, JARING became the first Internet Service Provider (ISP) in South East Asia to install the T3 (45Mbps) line, which gives JARING subscribers faster access to the Internet. The circuit has then enabled JARING network users to be linked directly with the Internet, including the BITNET and NSFNet.
In 1999, JARING went a step further when an Internet backbone infrastructure which travels at the speed of 2.5 Gigabits per second transmission called SuperJARING was launched, making it the fastest and longest (841 km) IP-over-fibre backbone service available in the world at that time.
SuperJARING that runs across Peninsular Malaysia including the east coast has the capability to provide next-generation, bandwidth-intensive services like Internet telephony, secure virtual private networks (Secure VPNs), video-on-demand, distance learning and telemedicine.
JARING Communications Sdn Bhd was later established as a spin-off company under MIMOS Berhad on 1st April 2005.
In December 2006, the Ministry of Finance, Malaysia officially takes over JARING from MIMOS Berhad.
MSC
Multimedia Super Corridor
MSC Malaysia is your gateway to growing profits in Asia's booming information and communications technology (ICT) markets. Modeled after Silicon Valley, it gives you the best of first-world knowledge and infrastructure, at developing-nation costs.
The Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) is a government designated zone, designed to leapfrog Malaysia into the information and knowledge age. Originally, it includes an area of approximately 15km by 50km squared, which stretches from the Petronas Twin Towers to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, and also includes the town of Putrajaya and Cyberjaya. It has since been expanded to include the entire Klang Valley.
This corridor houses core MSC initiatives (also called Flagship Applications), which include high-technology projects such as e-Government, Telemedicine, Smart School, Multipurpose Smart Card System, Research and Development Cluster, e-Business and Technopreneur Development.
By the year 2020, the MSC will be extended to the whole country, transforming Malaysia to a knowledge-based economy and society, as envisaged in Vision 2020.
The Government recognises local and international companies that undertake ICT activities in the MSC by awarding them with a MSC Status. MSC-status companies enjoy a host of incentives and benefits from the Malaysian Government that is backed by the ten-point Bill of Guarantees.
Companies wishing to attain a MSC Status need to abide to several guidelines provided by the Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC).
MDeC is committed to:
-drive MSC Malaysia by empowering businesses and connecting communities through ICT -facilitate Malaysia’s goal of becoming the preferred location for ICT and multimedia innovations, operations and services