In our recent story about UiTM receiving 10 Starlink Satellite broadband kits, some of our readers have pointed out that UiTM campuses are already on MyRen fibre network with bandwidth up to 10Gbps. While MyRen name is unknown to most consumers, they are actually an established fibre broadband provider under Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM).
MyRen which stands for Malaysian Research & Education Network was launched under the governance of the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) and the management of Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) in March 2005 with the main aim of enabling high-speed dedicated connectivity to the education sector while expanding research capability. According to MoHE, it has a community-managed network through 7 regional Points of Presence (PoPs) and it links over 800,000 researchers, academicians and students in Malaysia.
MYREN Network Sdn Bhd (MNSB) which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of UiTM Holdings Sdn Bhd was incorporated on 9th November 2015. According to MNSB, it was established to be a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) as dark fibre and to execute and implement MOHE’s mandate of being the cyberinfrastructure for education and research in delivering high-speed internet connectivity to Public Universities.
It received the necessary Network Facilities and Network Service Provider (NFP/NSP) licence from the Malaysian Commission of Multimedia and Commission (MCMC) on 24th October 2016 which is valid for 10 years. With the licence, MNSB can build fibre optic infrastructure nationwide (fixed links and cables, radio communications transmitters and links, towers, poles, ducts and pits) and supplying very high bandwidth internet connection including broadcasting distribution services, cellular mobile services, access applications service, space services, switching services as well as gateway services.
In 2017, an enhanced Myren-X was announced which aims to deliver even higher 100Gbps bandwidth capacity for public universities and up to 10Gbps for other institutions under the MoHE. During the launch, former Prime Minister Najib Razak said Myren-X was the outcome of efforts to increase the speed of broadband service in public universities to a maximum of 100Gbps as tabled in the 2017 budget.
Besides UiTM, they also serve UNIMAS, UniMAP, University of Southampton Malaysia, Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia, DRB-HiCOM University, Albukhary International Univerisity, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia and Universiti Teknologi Mara. Being a full-fledged provider, it has its own Network Operations Centre (NOC) which manages connections to higher education institutions and connections to upstream links such as GTT, TM, TEIN, MyIX, Google and MyGovnet.
Thanks Wang Mat for the tip!
Related reading
- Starlink now available in Malaysia, RM220/month for 100Mbps satellite broadband
- MCMC: Starlink allowed to operate in Malaysia as a 100% foreign-owned entity
- Anwar implies Elon Musk’s Starlink is cheaper than 5G. But is it true?
- UiTM is getting 10 Starlink satellites kits but their campuses already have fibre broadband access
