3.3 Current Information Service Industry
There are already a few existing IPs and several others planning to implement
their systems, all of them offering information delivery through networking.
These include IPs for KLSE information, news and articles (i.e. Bernama,
NSTP Online), information on the civil service (Civil Service Link), JARING
for Internet access, etc.
A common factor among all current IPs is that each one requires users to subscribe separately to their individual services. By themselves, the information offered fall into two categories:-
-
Information that is used regularly by a small group of users.
- Information that is useful to a large group of users but is not needed on a regular basis.
Most of these IPs deliver their information only through specific delivery mechanisms like personal computers and dedicated terminals, requiring investment in equipment that is quite substantial for most people.
Due to the above factors, most potential users from the general public find it difficult to justify paying subscriptions to these current IPs, in terms of cost-benefit and economies of scale. Therefore, the public network services and information providing industry in Malaysia is not growing at the same rapid rate as the telecommunications and television industries, and is certainly slower than the rate that the government wants.