Ministry of Education (MoE) has announced that the role of the Internet service provider (ISP) for more than 10,000 schools throughout Malaysia will be taken over by new companies starting this July. This is due to the fact that the government will not be renewing its 7-years contract with YTL Communications’ 1BestariNet which will end on 30 June 2019.
According to the media statement, MOE has chosen Celcom, Maxis, and TM to become ISP for these schools. At the same time, they will also be responsible for Internet connection to selected departments within the ministry as well as 366 Pusat Kegiatan Guru nationwide.
However, this deal will only last for six months as the ministry is now currently in the look for the next long-term ISP which is expected to begin its tenure starting from 1 January 2020. MOE didn’t clarify within its announcement today whether these three companies are being considered for that role or otherwise.
Since MOE’s previous contract with 1Bestarinet also inclusive of the virtual learning environment (VLE) called Frog VLE, the ministry has also stated that it will be replacing the said VLE with Google Classroom. Despite the new arrangement though, the YTL subsidiary that was responsible for Frog VLE, FrogAsia has stated in its official website that the VLE will continue to be available for schools that want to continue using them.
(Source: Ministry of Education // FrogAsia.)
