History of communications in Malaysia
The first telegraph line
The first telegraph line connecting from the British Resident at Perak house in Kuala Kangsar to the house of Deputy British Resident in Perak at Taiping by the Department of Posts and Telegraph in 1874. This telegraph line measured 42.5 km and travelled across forest at Bukit Berapit, it signalled the beginning of the era of telecommunications in Malaysia. However, during Japanese occupations, the telegraph lines were nearly broken down by the Japanese army.
The telecommunications in Malaysia
- In 1968, the SEACOM cable line was introduced, connecting the Peninsula Malaysia to Sarawak via the South China Sea.
- In 1983, the Data Telecommunications System (Datel) was introduced.
- In 1985, the ATUR, first wireless telephone system was introduced by Jabatan Telekom Malaysia (JTM).
- In 1987, JTM was incorporated as Syarikat Telekom Malaysia Berhad (STMB) or Telekom Malaysia (TM) following the National Corporatization Policy, which was launched in the 1980s.
- In 1988, Celcom Malaysia Sdn Bhd was founded under its name STM Cellular Communications Sdn Bhd. The first to provide GSM based mobile services.
- In 1992, Celcom was controlled by Technology Resource Berhad (TRI)
- In 1997, Telekom Malaysia introduced CDMA based mobile homeline services
- In 2003, Celcom Malaysia Sdn Bhd became the first provider to introduce video call base on 3G WCDMA technology.
- In 2008, Packet One Networks Malaysia Sdn Bhd became the first provider to introduce Wireless Wimax Service on 802.16e spectrum technology.
- In 2013, Maxis Malaysia Sdn Bhd became the first provider to introduce "4G LTE" mobile network before any other service provider.
Evolution of telecommunications
Today, telecommunications in Malaysia is managed by 4 licensed cellular operator.
End of Telegram Services
In June 2012, Telekom Malaysia announced the discontinuation of telegram services with effect from 1 July 2012.
