Jaring

WorldBrand briefing

AI supplement

Original synthesis to sit alongside the encyclopedia article below. Not part of Wikipedia; verify facts on Wikipedia when precision matters.

Jaring was Malaysia's first commercial internet service provider (ISP), widely recognized for launching the country's earliest public internet connectivity in the 1990s. Founded as a state-linked technology initiative, it played a foundational role in bringing widespread internet access to Malaysian households, universities, and businesses during the country's early digital transformation.

Key moments

1992Officially established as Malaysia's first national internet service provider under government tech development programs
1995Launched mass retail dial-up internet services for the general public across Malaysia
2000sFaced rising competition from newer ISPs offering faster broadband services, leading to gradual market share decline
2010sCeased independent operations and was absorbed into larger domestic telecommunications groups as part of industry consolidation

Jaring held an unrivaled first-mover advantage in Malaysia's early internet market, but its competitive edge eroded significantly once deregulation allowed new market entrants to roll out higher-speed broadband products.

Early on, no competing providers offered nationwide internet access, letting Jaring capture nearly 100% of the dial-up user base. Once competitors like Telekom Malaysia (TM) launched Streamyx broadband packages, Jaring struggled to match new players' investment in fixed-line fiber infrastructure. Smaller regional ISPs also undercut Jaring on pricing for consumer plans, while mobile operators eventually began offering 3G and 4G mobile data that captured younger demographics who previously relied on dial-up. By the 2010s, Jaring no longer had the scale or capital to compete in a market dominated by large integrated telecom groups, leading to its exit as an independent operating brand.

First-mover status gave it exclusive access to early government and educational institution contracts
Legacy dial-up infrastructure became a liability once high-speed broadband became the industry standard
Lack of bundled mobile and fixed-line service offerings put it at a disadvantage against full-service telecom competitors

As Malaysia’s first commercial internet service provider, Jaring holds unique pioneering brand equity that is deeply tied to the very origins of public digital connectivity in the nation. Its state-linked founding mandate positioned the brand as a trusted public-facing driver of national digital transformation through the 1990s, when it connected the first wave of Malaysian households, universities, government offices and small businesses to global internet networks. This first-mover status cemented its place in local tech history long after it ceased independent active operations.

Jaring’s residual brand strength today stems primarily from widespread nostalgic recognition among early generations of Malaysian internet adopters, who associate the brand with the first era of open digital access in the country. It remains a standard reference point in national digital policy retrospectives, telecom industry case studies, and public media coverage tracking Malaysia’s 30+ year journey from dial-up connectivity to modern high-speed broadband. No newer domestic ISP brand can claim the same level of foundational historic relevance for local digital communities.

While the brand no longer competes in the contemporary consumer broadband or enterprise telecom markets, its legacy continues to inform how local audiences evaluate and contextualize the evolution of Malaysia’s digital economy. Its performance trajectory also serves as a widely cited benchmark for industry analysts studying how first-mover telecom brands adapt (or fail to adapt) to market deregulation and rapid technological shifts.

Brand leadership in early Malaysian ISP market

Score: 82/100

As the first licensed commercial ISP in Malaysia, Jaring held near-total market leadership for the first decade of the country’s public internet rollout, setting foundational service standards, regulatory reference points, and user expectation frameworks that all later competing ISPs referenced during their respective market entry processes.

Historical user community interaction

Score: 71/100

During its peak operational period in the 1990s and early 2000s, Jaring built a tight-knit user community among university researchers, early tech enthusiasts and small business users, with dedicated local support teams that fostered high levels of brand loyalty among its initial subscriber base even after competing services entered the market.

Market development momentum

Score: 32/100

Following full deregulation of Malaysia’s telecom sector in the early 2000s, Jaring lost its exclusive market privileges, and failed to sustain sufficient investment in next-generation broadband, fiber and mobile data infrastructure, leading to steadily declining market share and its eventual exit as an independent operating brand by the mid-2010s.

Long-term brand operational stability

Score: 45/100

Though Jaring was backed by state-linked founding entities that secured its viability through the early dial-up era, the brand did not maintain consistent market positioning or sustained capital investment to adapt to rapidly evolving broadband and mobile internet market conditions in subsequent decades.

Brand heritage and longevity

Score: 78/100

Jaring’s founding in the early 1990s makes it one of the oldest documented internet service brands in Southeast Asia, with a 20+ year operational footprint that is deeply embedded in the recorded public history of Malaysia’s national digital transformation journey.

Telecom industry profile recognition

Score: 85/100

Jaring is universally recognized among regional telecom industry practitioners, regulators and academic researchers as the foundational pioneer of public internet connectivity in Malaysia, and is regularly cited in national digital economy policy retrospectives and industry case studies across the Southeast Asian tech sector.

Global cross-market brand footprint

Score: 12/100

Jaring never expanded its service footprint beyond Malaysia's national borders, as its entire operational scope was focused exclusively on domestic internet access deployment and serving local consumer, education and enterprise user segments throughout its active history.

This AI-assisted brand value analysis draws on publicly available historic market and industry context to deliver illustrative, non-binding reasoning of Jaring's full brand equity trajectory. No figures or observations presented here represent formal audited brand value metrics. Parties seeking verified, independently audited brand valuation data for this asset are advised to contact the World Brand Lab directly for official, certified assessment outputs.

Overview

JARING Communications Sdn Bhd

type	State-owned enterprise
foundation	1992
defunct	22 August 2015
location	Technology Park Malaysia, Bukit Jalil, 57000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
key people	Datuk Dr Md Khir Abdul Rahman (chairman) Datuk Norhisam Mohamed @ Mohamed Nor (CEO) Dr. Mohamad Awang Lah (CEO) - 2002 to 2010 Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Yaacob (CEO) - 2011 to 2012
industry	Internet service provider
products

homepage	http://www.jaring.my/

JARING (Jaring Communications Sdn Bhd) was a Malaysian Internet service provider based in Technology Park Malaysia (TPM). It was the first Internet service provider in the country and was formerly owned by MIMOS Berhad.

The word "JARING" was derived from "Joint Advanced Research Integrated Networking".

JARING underwent liquidation on 23 April 2015 and is no longer in business.[1]

History

JARING was Malaysia's first and pioneer Internet access service provider.

JARING was commercialised in 1992 after installing its first international satellite leased-circuit at 64kps, connecting Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia to Stockton in the United States. The circuit had then enabled JARING network users to be linked directly with Internet, including the BITNET and NSFNet.

In June 1997, JARING became the first Internet service provider (ISP) in South East Asia to install the T3 (45 Mbit/s) line, which provided JARING users with faster access to the Internet.

In 1999, JARING went a step further by introducing SuperJARING Internet backbone infrastructure with 2.5 Gigabits per second transmission speed, making it the fastest and longest (841 km) IP-over-fibre backbone service available in the world then.

The SuperJARING infrastructure that runs across Peninsular Malaysia from Kuala Lumpur through Ipoh, Penang, Kulim, Johor Bahru, Melaka and back to Kuala Lumpur has the capability to provide next-generation, bandwidth-intensive services like video-on-demand, secure virtual private networks (Secure VPNs), Internet telephony, Internet TV, distance learning and telemedicine.

As a pioneer in providing Internet access in Malaysia, JARING was committed in exploring new technologies and setting standards for others to follow in order to facilitate the creation of a knowledge-based society. Up until its closure, JARING had multiples of 622 Mbit/s links (STM4) to the global Internet, providing highly redundant circuits riding on the latest APCN-2, FLAG and PACNET submarine cable systems.

JARING Communications Sdn. Bhd. was later established as a spin-off company under MIMOS Berhad on 1 April 2005 and by December 2006, the Ministry of Finance, Malaysia, officially takes over JARING from MIMOS Berhad.

In 2008, JARING is first again to implement Internet telephone interconnect with traditional telephone services allowing Celcom subscribers to directly dial to JARING MY015 telephone subscribers. The Interconnect was later expanded to other telecommunications providers such as Maxis, Telekom Malaysia, TIME, Packet One and DiGi.

In February 2009, JARING was awarded "The International Customer Service Standard (TICSS)" Certification by the British Standards Institution (BSI), United Kingdom. JARING is the first telecommunication company in Malaysia and the Asia-Pacific to receive this award.

JARING had strategically committed its resources in embarking on an initiative to pursue the globally recognised certifications in Information Security Management System. On 20 July 2011, SIRIM QAS International formally awarded the ISO/IEC 27001 and ISO 9001 certifications for JARING Internet Data Centre, Virtual Private Network and System Operations.

On 1 January 2013, JARING becomes a private entity under Utusan Printcorp Sdn. Bhd. (UPSB) when the latter took over 100% of the withholding of the company from Ministry of Finance.

Up until its closure, it had ventured into expanding Malaysia's Internet experience by becoming among the first to provide high performance computing over the cloud, big data analysis, integrated solution for Internet of Things (IoT) and sentiment analytic for data processing.

JARING has finally closed and undergoes liquidation as of 23 April 2015.[1]

Milestones

JARING has distinctly positions itself to be firsts in the Internet industry and its evolving technologies and applications in Malaysia. Among JARING accomplishments are:

1992: Pioneered the Internet gateway in Malaysia establishing itself as the first Internet service provider (ISP).

1999: The launch of SuperJARING Internet backbone that runs from North to South of Peninsular Malaysia at a speed of 2.5 Gigabits per second, establishing it the first, fastest and longest (841 km) IP-over-fiber backbone service in the world at that time.

1999: JARING was the first ISP to be awarded the Cisco Powered Network Certification. This certification is recognized to be of international standard that identifies JARING as a reliable provider with a high-performance secured network.

2000: The first broadband Internet service based on IP-over-Optical Fibre was introduced and catered for business entities at 8 Mbit/s, 34 Mbit/s and 155 Mbit/s.

External links

References

Jaring, the first Malaysian ISP, winds up The Star Online, 4 May 2015, retrieved 23 May 2017^