YTL Communications Sdn Bhd (YTL Comms) might get the RM1.5bil 1Bestarinet project from the Malaysia Education Ministry. According to a recent media report, YTL Comms is the frontrunner for the project which involves in wiring up schools in the country.
Sources said on Tuesday at about 1pm the YTL Comms’ name appeared as the winner of the contract on the Education Ministry’s website but two hours later the announcement was taken off the website for reasons unknown.
The project involves providing Internet access and a virtual learning (VLM) platform for 9,924 schools in the country from January. All sorts of technologies can be used, be it fibre or wireless technologies including Vsat, wireless, WiFi, but the link to the school should be via fibre. The winner will only be paid based on how much access is provided, the source said.
The contract is for a five-year period, with an option to extend for another five plus five years, totalling 15 years, and this would include installation, maintenance and provision of a VLM.
Ironically, YTL Comms, TM and TDC had initially wanted to put in a joint bid but at the last minute the parties could not agree on terms and YTL Comms put in its own bid while TM and TDC submitted a joint bid.
Some have expressed surprise that YTL was the frontrunner.
Said an industry player: “If indeed they are the winner, it is shocking as they are an unproven service provider. They also do not have fibre so how are they going to offer the services?”
For 1Bestarinet, the Internet speed has to be constant and cannot be based on “best effort.” For urban areas, the access speed is 2Mbps to 10Mbps, and for rural and remote schools 1Mbps to 4Mbps.
[Full Report]– TheStar
