KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 3 — The percentage of 4G broadband coverage in populated areas in Sarawak increased to 82.84 per cent in the second quarter (Q2) of this year compared to 73.67 per cent before the implementation of the National Digital Network JENDELA) Plan Phase 1 (2020-2022).
Deputy Minister of Communications and Multimedia Datuk Zahidi Zainul Abidin said as of Q2 of 2022, a total of 91 new tower sites had been built in the state, 3,082 transmitter stations upgraded, 523 areas provided with satellite broadband coverage while 79,766 premises had fibre optics Internet access.
“Improving (broadband) coverage throughout the country including in rural and interior areas will continue through Phase 2 of the JENDELA Plan (2023-2025),” he said during the question and answer session in the Dewan Rakyat today.
He was replying to a question from Datuk Seri Richard Riot Jaem (GPS-Serian) regarding the ministry’s commitment in ensuring comprehensive and stable broadband coverage in the interior areas of Sarawak can be realised.
Zahidi said all the initiatives involved government allocations through the Universal Service Provision (USP) and commercial investment by service providers exceeding RM4 billion in Sarawak.
He said of that amount, a total of RM2.12 billion had been utilised while the remaining RM1.9 billion was in the implementation stage.
Zahidi said in addition to the construction of telecommunication towers through the JENDELA Plan and satellite projects, the government also implemented the provision of broadband infrastructure using the Point of Presence (PoP) method.
According to him, overall, Phase 1 of the PoP Project will involve 630 locations and Phase 2 will cover 3,693 locations near schools in rural areas throughout the country, while the total number of PoPs in Sarawak will be 741.
“Out of that number, five areas near rural schools in the Serian parliamentary constituency and one area in the Betong parliament constituency will be involved in the implementation of Phase 1 of the PoP while for Phase 2 there are 31 in Serian and 20 in Betong,” he said.
