KUALA LUMPUR: Five telecommunication industry players, namely Celcom, Digi, Maxis, U-Mobile and Telekom Malaysia (TM), have agreed to extend the provision of 1 Gigabyte (GB) of free daily data to all respective customers until July 31, 2021.

In a statement today, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) said the provision of 1GB of free internet data daily which has been going on since April last year aims to help the people cope with the new digital norms during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The period had been extended several times and was supposed to end on April 30, 2021.

“The latest extension is to provide additional support to the people, courtesy of telecommunication companies as the COVID-19 pandemic situation in the country is still unstable.

“This is especially to help school students in switching back to the Teaching and Learning at Home (PdPR) method after Aidilfitri as announced by the Ministry of Education recently,” said MCMC.

The free 1GB daily quota is in addition to the existing data subscription packages and can be used to access video conferencing platforms as well as manage teaching materials via email throughout the day without any time restrictions.

However, it does not apply to social media browsing, video streaming, music streaming and online games.

“MCMC hopes that the extension of the provision of 1GB of free daily data until July 31, 2021 and other support provided will, to some extent, give relief to the people in facing the new norms in education, employment and others.

“The government will continue to drive initiatives such as the National Digital Network (JENDELA) and the MyDIGITAL Action Plan to ensure that the digitalisation-based development agenda is implemented inclusively and would not leave anyone behind,” it said.

Meanwhile, YTL Communications Sdn Bhd (YTL) said it will also continue to support the education system by extending its Learn From Home (LFH) initiative until Sept 30, 2021, which is also available for students of higher learning institutions.

Under the initiative, students from B40 families will receive a free SIM card with 40GB of data, free content and a free smartphone.

-- BERNAMA