Foreword: few would have noticed it, but Jaring, Malaysia's first ISP, was
declared bankrupt in April 2015, and
folded for good in July 2015, bringing
an end to a chapter of Malaysian history.
No mention of Malaysian internet history would be complete without mentioning Dr Mohamed Awang Lah, arguably the closest thing to being the father of the Malaysian internet. A lot of what Malaysia takes for granted today all started with a research network that he led.
What is less known is that Dr Mohamed Awang Lah wrote a 10 part series on this memories of bringing the Internet to Malaysia, and Jaring. I decided to take a stab at translating such an important part of history, so that at least it would live on.
All credit goes to Dr Mohamed Awang Lah. I just translated.
Special credit goes to my friend Nurul Amarlina for assistance in translating this section.
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JARING Dalam Kenangan (Bahagian 4)
August 23, 2015 at 7:49pm
Source: https://www.facebook.com/notes/mohamed-awang-lah/jaring-dalam-kenangan-bahagian-4/10205936936037453
IP-over-Fibre, IP-VPN dan MPLS
1. Pada tahun 1999, JARING melaksanakan rangkaian 'IP-over-Fibre' yang terpantas dan terpanjang di dunia pada masa itu - melebihi 800km dari Johor Bahru ke Pulau Penang berkelajuan 2.5 Gbps dengan menggunakan kelengkapan Cisco versi paling awal, keluaran makmalnya. JARING menggunakan 'dark fibre' yang disewa dari Fibrecomm - pada masa itu sebuah syarikat usahasama antara TNB dan Celcom.Bila TM mengambil alih Fibrecomm kemudiannya, tidak ada lagi 'dark fibre' yang boleh disewa dari Fibrecomm.Kalau tak silap saya, kelengkapan Cisco tersebut bertahan lebih 10 tahun.
1. In 1999, Jaring was the proud implementer of the longest and fastest 'IP-over-Fibre' network in the world at the time –spanning over 800KM from Johor Bahru to Pulau Penang with a speed of 2.5 Gbps using early Cisco labatory equipment straight from the labs of Cisco. Jaring leased dark fiber from Fibrecomm – at the time a joint venture between TNB and Celcom. When TM acquired Fibrecomm, TM withdrew the ability to lease dark fibre from Fibrecomm. If memory serves me right, the Cisco equipment used lasted for more than 10 years.
2. Dengan wujudnya rangkaian pantas tersebut, JARING mula memperkenalkan sistem 'Virtual Private Network' (VPN) berasaskan teknologi 'Multi-Protocol Label Switching' (MPLS). TM, sebagai pembekal utama bagi 'Private Network' pada masa itu masih menggunakan teknologi 'Frame Relay' (FR) dan masih mengembangkan rangkaian 'Asynchronous Transfer Mode' (ATM).Saya agak TM masih belum yakin sepenuhnya dengan teknologi Internet.
2. With this high speed network, Jaring introduced Virtual Private Network systems based on Multi-Protocol Label Switching' (MPLS). TM, who was the main provider of Private Networks in Malaysia at the time, was still using Frame Relay technology and expanding their Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) networks. I had a feeling that TM still did not have faith/interest in the internet.
3. JARING mengambil masa lebih dua tahun untuk meyakinkan pengguna komersial untuk berpindah kepada IP-VPN dari FR. Kejayaan JARING terserlah bila DHL menanda-tangani kontrak dengan JARING untuk menggunakan IP-VPN secara global berpusat di Cyberjaya.Ia memeranjatkan industri dan membuka mata banyak organisasi lain. Mulai saat itu, hampir semua tender baru menetapkan spesifikasi IP-VPN /MPLS.Pihak yang masih menawarkan perkhidmatan FR terpaksa berubah haluan.
3. It took Jaring 2 years to convince commercial corporate users to move from FR to IP-VPN platforms. The first breakthrough by Jaring came when DHL inked a contract to use the IP-VPN platform globally with Cyberjaya as the base. It shook the industry and opened the eyes of other organisations. From that point onwards, nearly all new tenders specificed the use of IP-VPN /MPLS. Parties who were still using FR were forced to change trajectory.
4. Cabaran utama JARING dalam mengembangkan pekhidmatan VPN / MPLS adalah kerana terpaksa menyewa talian dari syarikat telekomunikasi terbesar iaitu TM. Bila menyedari tentang kebaikan MPLS, TM pun mula melaksanakannya dan melihat JARING sebagai pesaingnya sedangkan JARING bergantung kepada talian TM. Tiada pilihan bagi JARING kerana ia tidak memiliki prasarana telekomunikasi sendiri.
4. Jaring’s biggest challenge in developing/expanding/growing the VPN / MPLS offering was that it was forced to lease telecommunications infrastructure from the major players aka TM. As TM woke to the benefits of MPLS, TM started to offer their own MPLS offering and started to see Jaring as its competitor even when Jaring was dependant on TM’s line infrastructure. For Jaring, there was no alternative, as Jaring did not have its own telecommunications infrastructure.
5. Pertembungan ini berlaku sejak pelaksanaan sistem dialup menggunakan nombor singkat - 1511 pada tahun 1996. JARING dan TM bertungkus lumus bekerjasama melaksanakan sistem itu di seluruh negara.Bila semua siap, TM pula melaksanakan nombornya sendiri iaitu 1515 untuk TMNet dan bersaing dengan 1511. Apakan daya!
5. This conflict of interest happened since the days of the unified national dial up number implementation – 1511 in 1996. For that Jaring and TM collaborated together to successfully implement it nationally. After it was done, TM implemented their own unified national dial up number of 1515 for their TMNet ISP arm to compete with 1511 [Jaring]. Such power!
6. Kedua-dua TM dan JARING dimiliki oleh kerajaan. Ini menimbulkan dilema besar kepada Kementerian Kewangan. Usaha telah dibuat untuk menggabungkan kedua-dua entiti ini namun ditentang oleh orang ramai kerana bimbangkan ia menjadi syarikat monopoli. Pada tahun 2001, terdapat usaha untuk menjual perkhidmatan dialup JARING kepada TM.Setelah berunding, kedua-dua pihak tidak mencapai kata sepakat untuk menentukan harga.Saya tidak terlibat dengan perundingan tersebut.Bagi JARING harga jualan adalah bersasaskan bilangan pelanggan. Bagi TM ia tidak bernilai kerana setiap pelanggan JARING telah pun menjadi pelanggan telefon TM. Usaha tersebut gagal.
6. Both TM and Jaring were Government Owned Corporations. This was a huge dilemma for the Finance Ministry. Attempts to merge the 2 entities were opposed by the public out of concerns that the merged entity would become a monopoly for internet access. In 2001, an attempt was made to sell off the dialup service of Jaring to TM. Negotiations between both sides however failed to come to an agreement. I was not involved in the negotiations. For Jaring the selling price was based on the subscriber numbers it had. For TM that was not value for money as each Jaring subscriber was also a TM customer. That attempt failed.
7. Pada tahun 2003, dalam ucapan belanjawan terakhir oleh Tun Dr Mahathir sebelum beliau meletak jawatan sebagai PM, beliau mencadangkan supaya JARING dan TMNet digabungkan. Cadangan tersebut mengejutkan banyak pihak kerana belum ada sebarang perbincangan mengenainya.Akhirnya penggabungan itu juga gagal dilaksanakan.
7. In his last budget speech before he retired from the Prime Minister post in 2003, Tun Dr Mahathir raised the suggestion that Jaring and TMNet be merged into one entity. The suggestion caught everyone by surprise as there was no prior discussion of such a suggestion. In the end that attempt also failed.
8. Banyak lagi usaha untuk menjual JARING selepas itu. Pilih punya pilih, akhirnya JARING terjatuh ke tangan seorang penyangat pada tahun 2014.JARING terbunuh.Ia telah menjadi sejarah.
8. Many other attempts were made to sell off Jaring after that. Suitor came and suitor went, eventually Jaring fell into the hands of a crooked scoundrel. Jaring was then left to the slaughter, and the rest, as they say, is history.
