KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) is upgrading its website to allow quicker access to youths applying for the RM200 smartphone rebate.
An MCMC spokesman said the move was in response to numerous complaints of difficulty accessing its site,
Distribution of the rebate, costing the Government RM300mil to benefit youths aged between 21 and 30 earning RM3,000 and below, was announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in Budget 2013.
Mohamad Fazli Nordin, 25, said he waited until late at night to access the website easily and fill the online application form for the Youth Communication Package.
However, his attempts over four consecutive nights failed.
MCMC had earlier announced they were trying to increase their bandwidth to cope with around 50,000 unique visitors a day for the rebate.
Kenny Lai, 22, an operations executive with a manufacturing company in Kuantan, Pahang, feared he might not be able to get the rebate, which was limited to 1.5 million youths, because of difficulty in accessing the website.
The rebates were meant only for 3G mobile phones costing up to RM500.
However, earlier this week, Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim said youths could utilise the rebate to purchase any type of smartphone and that no cap would be set on the price.
Meanwhile, MCMC said seven telcos would issue a list of smartphones offered under the scheme next week.
They are Celcom, Maxis, Digi, U Mobile, Clixster, Tune Talk and YTL Communications (YES). MCMC will consolidate the lists for the respective telcos.
As at 8am yesterday, 22,000 applicants had been approved for the rebate.