KUALA LUMPUR (June 5): Local telecommunication service providers have pledged to support the government's move to introduce free internet access for educational and videoconferencing purposes.

Axiata Group Bhd, DiGi.Com Bhd, Maxis Bhd, U Mobile Sdn Bhd, YTL Communications Sdn Bhd, Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) and TIME dotCom Bhd issued a joint statement to express support for the government's initiatives under the economic recovery plan announced today.

Celcom, Digi, Maxis, U Mobile and TM will offer free 1Gb of "productivity internet" daily from June 10 until Dec 31.

This is to be used between 8am and 6pm to access a range of education- and productivity-related services.

The telcos said this would replace the free daily 1GB high-speed internet mobile operators had been offering from April 1, which expires on June 9.

Meanwhile, YTL Communications will continue to offer its Learn From Home initiative — which involved the provision of free SIM cards with 40Gb of data to all parents with children in government schools, students and faculty of partner education institutions.

For qualified students in B40 families, free mobile phones with 120Gb of data are also available.

Furthermore, YTL Communications will continue to provide free online education created in collaboration with Teach For Malaysia and University Kebangsaan Malaysia.

TM and TIME dotCom, meanwhile, will support mobile operators by providing additional fibre capacity to serve higher traffic demands while continuing with their respective offerings for customers.

The statement added that mobile and internet operators will continue to offer free and unlimited access to a range of information-related apps and services so that Malaysians can keep abreast of Covid-19-linked developments.

Additionally, e-learning courses from Classruum, Udemy and Sungaolearn will be made free, with customers now having free unlimited access to the Microsoft Office 365 suite of applications and Zoom videoconferencing.

All operators have ensured zero-rated access to the Gerak Malaysia, MySejahtera and MyTrace apps, to support the government’s goal of contact-tracing and self-health assessments in confronting Covid-19.

Calls and access to the health ministry's Crisis Preparedness Response Centre, state branches and website will be zero-rated as well.

The same applies to the Movement Control Order hotline and World Health Organization website.

Daily SMS broadcasts to customers on Covid-19 information will continue to be sent, with all operators providing free data access to major news sources across the country.

TM has also developed the stayalert.my portal to help Malaysians stay connected with the official news and updates on Covid-19.

"The industry continues to work with the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission and other relevant authorities to implement new, relevant measures where needed in the interest of our customers, businesses, and the country," they said in their statement.