KUALA LUMPUR, 3 DECEMBER 2009 – An initiative to promote the use of the mobile Internet to Malaysia's rural communities has been launched by MOSTI and communications firm Ericsson Malaysia.
Ericsson Malaysia president Krishnakumar Guda said the company is working with MOSTI (the ministry of science, technology and innovation) to create a Mobile Innovation Centre to promote mobile Internet applications and content to rural communities.
“During a showcase to media and the local residents in the town of Kota Marudu in Sabah, Ericsson collaborated with MOSTI and its agency MIMOS to demonstrate various Internet-based applications on the mobile phone,” said Guda.
“Such applications are part of MOSTI’s rural ICT outreach programme INFOSTI@MOSTI that includes e-government, e-healthcare, e-commerce, and e-learning,” he said. “Such applications have been promoted in the past with the use of the ‘big screen’ or normal desktop or laptop computers.”
MOSTI minister Datuk Dr Maximus Johnity Ongkili said: “MOSTI and the government of Malaysia are pleased to showcase the INFOSTI@MOSTI applications and content on the mobile platform to the people of Malaysia, especially to the rural and remote communities. This is a big step as the government of Malaysia is committed to not leave rural communities behind in the aspects of ICT and the progressive nature of the Internet.”
“This collaborative approach to develop the Mobile Innovation Centre with Ericsson is one of the many private public partnerships that the government is engaging with to drive the ICT agenda of 1Malaysia. Together with Ericsson, we believe that a speedy and fruitful execution will be implemented to benefit the people and in this case, the rural and remote communities of Malaysia,” said Ongkili.
Ubiquitous nature and affordability
Ericsson's Guda said the company would deploy its Mobile Service Delivery Platform [MSDP}, which is a key enabler in the Mobile Innovation Centre. “With the MSDP, various Internet-based applications will be automatically transcoded or re-formatted to fit into the screen of various mobile devices. This ensures a much better user experience given the limited device screen sizes and varied capabilities. The Ericsson MSDP is the leading service delivery platform globally, and caters for over 2,800 different devices in the marketplace today.”
He cited a recent 2009 report from market analyst firm Analysys Mason, which said Ericsson is the market leader in service delivery platforms with more than 70 deployments worldwide.
“We believe the rural community will have their first Internet experience over the mobile phone due to its ubiquitous nature and affordability,” said Guda. “The rural community cannot be left behind and we believe there are the right capabilities, technologies and business models to ensure that such communities will be able to embrace the ICT and innovation culture that is required to progress in today’s modern economy and society. We are very happy to be able to work with a progressive government in Malaysia to meet our company vision, that is, to empower the people, businesses and society.”
