KUCHING, Oct 5: It will be important for the government to continue funding initiatives via the 2023 Budget aimed at closing the broadband gap between rural and urban areas, especially in remote locations nationwide.
This includes Orang Asli villages in Peninsular Malaysia and the longhouses and villages in East Malaysia, to accelerate the formation of a digitally-inclusive society.
Measat chief operating officer Yau Chyong Lim said today, Internet access is a basic necessity, on par with clean water and electricity.
“Government initiatives like the MyDigital blueprint and the Jalinan Digital Negara (Jendela) plan, that target to achieve 100 per cent Internet coverage in populated areas and increase mobile broadband speed to 100 Mbps by the end of 2025, require the utmost attention to ensure that any members of the population who are unconnected will finally be able to access the socioeconomic benefits of the Internet.
“Likewise, Internet connectivity has been identified as a key growth enabler in the 12th Malaysia Plan, in order to enable IR4.0 technology and the digital economy,” he said in a statement today.
Yau added that they were heartened to see the Jendela programme bringing forward plans to leverage satellite connectivity to improve mobile coverage in remote areas, to address connectivity challenges in rural and remote areas.
As Malaysia’s leading satellite operator, he said Measat remains ready to support national goals with its satellite fleet, by expanding high-speed satellite broadband coverage in the unserved and underserved rural areas, through its CONNECTme NOW service.
“Our newly launched Measat-3d satellite has been operational since August 2022, and villages across the nation with the CONNECTme NOW service are already beginning to enjoy access to higher broadband speeds than before.
“We hope to see more Malaysians in remote locations enjoying similar high-speed broadband services in the very near future,” he added. — DayakDaily
