Free internet data a boon for students, traders

Siti Sarah Zulkarnain, 26, has made full use of the 1GB free daily internet data provided during the Movement Control Order (MCO) to study and attend virtual classes.

The student of the Urban Planning at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) in Shah Alam said, she was grateful for the initiative - which was recently extended by the government until Dec 31 - as she had to spend at least three hours a day to attend classes online.

“It has made things easier and helped me to interact with my lecturers and revise my lessons. The free internet data has greatly reduced the burden on students, especially those who are less fortunate,” she told Bernama here today.

On Friday, Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced the National Economic Recovery Plan (PENJANA) which also includes a collaboration with the telecommunications providers to extend 1GB of free Internet data usage to all customers from 8 am to 6 pm daily.

The providers that offer free internet data include Celcom, Digi, Maxis, U Mobile, YTL Communications and Telekom Malaysia (TM).

On March 27, Muhyiddin, when presenting the PRIHATIN Rakyat Economic Stimulus Package, announced an allocation of RM600 million to provide free internet data to users throughout the MCO period beginning April 1.

The free data has also been useful to small traders to conduct their business online.

Amira Syazwani Abdul Rahman, 31, who runs an online clothing shop, said she utilised the free internet data to post video clips of her product on all her social media platforms.

“It is a given that an online business requires lots of internet data, as I have to constantly update on the latest products via video recordings or use live video conferencing to interact with customers. I usually spend half an hour to one hour to interact with my customers this way.

“Alhamdulillah, my sales have been good and this is very encouraging as online purchases have become a trend since the MCO began, hence, the additional free internet data is very helpful to reduce my expenditure of subscribing to additional data,” she said.

Meanwhile, a customer service officer at a private company, Mohd Luqman Hakim, 27, said he used the free internet data to work from home, including attending virtual meetings.

“It is true that many will return to the office for work, but there are also workers who will continue working from home… internet data is very important for us to communicate with each other with regards to work,” he said. - BERNAMA