PUTRAJAYA: Persons with disabilities (OKU) are now eligible for discounts between RM10 and RM15 for mobile prepaid and postpaid services, and between RM10 and RM44 for specific fixed line packages as well.
Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo said this initiative will be carried out through a collaboration between the government and main telecommunication operators as well as fixed line operators.
This will ensure Malaysians from all walks of life are not sidelined from the global digital revolution and the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0), where the use of technological applications will be part of everyday life in the future.
“We (government) are very concerned about the plight of the OKU and want to make sure they, too, get to enjoy the benefits of the digital revolution, and are not left out should they want to boost their online businesses by upgrading their facilities,“ he said at an Aidilfitri celebration hosted by the ministry here, today.
Gobind said an announcement will be made very soon as to when these discounts will take effect.
Gobind said the telcos - Celcom, Digi, Maxis and uMobile - will offer discounts for post-paid lines, and YTL for the pre-paid services.
As for fixed lines, Telekom Malaysia is offering discount rates of between RM22 and RM44 for its Streamyx and RM10 for its Unifi packages respectively.
Celcom, meanwhile will be offering a RM10 discount for its Home Wireless package, he said.
“I want to thank all the telcos for taking this proactive move to first propose and then offer these packages,“ he added.
Meanwhile, Gobind said he was reserving his comments for now on reports that Apple Inc may relocate its operations from China to Southeast Asia, with Malaysia being considered as a possible base.
According to report published by the Nikkei Asian Review, Malaysia was one of the countries said to be under consideration as the company’s new operation base for the manufacture of components used in its Iphones.
Besides Malaysia, the other countries also mentioned as possibilities are Indonesia, Vietnam, India and Mexico. — Bernama
