KUCHING, March 13: Batu Kawah assemblyman Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian emphasises the new fully operational telecom tower in Rantau Panjang, Batu Kawah being operated by Maxis Berhad will address long-standing issues with mobile network reception in the area which is relatively sparsely populated.
In a Facebook post today, Dr Sim, who is also the Deputy Premier of Sarawak, congratulated Sarawak Multimedia Authority (SMA) and Borneo Restu Sdn Bhd for building the new telecom tower at Rantau Panjang and getting it up and running in less than three months.
“With Maxis fully on air, it will solve the long-standing issues of the mobile signal at Rantau Panjang’s sparse populations, but it is hoped that more telcos will come on board as social services rather than just based on profit considerations,” he said.
He highlighted the controversy which sometimes accompany the setting up of telecom towers because residents complain of no mobile signal but don’t want the towers near their homes due to misunderstandings and disinformation about radiation safety.
“No country in the world can have a good signal without telco towers, even if they are disguised creatively,” he noted.
Dr Sim, who is also the Minister for Public Health, Housing, and Local Government, stated that each telecom tower with all of the facilities and equipment can cost up to RM300,000, not including the monthly rental fee for land paid to landowers owners and the monthly electricity bill.
“We truly need the best of public-private partnerships,” he added.
In a separate Facebook post, Dr Sim also noted that residents of Rantau Panjang will have access to Unifi due to the installation of 800 poles with 2.4km of fibre optics, a RM2 million capital expenditure.
“Thanks Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) for doing social responsibility before profit for Rantau Panjang, which has less than 100 houses, by providing high-speed internet access which the residents had been wishing for a long time,” he said.
Meanwhile, in another Facebook post about the Batu Kawah multipurpose closed circuit televisions (CCTVs)/security towers, Dr Sim stated that 93 of them have already been completed but are in various stages of going ‘live’, such as awaiting for Sesco to set up electricity connections.
“Others are (in) various stages of construction or site changes, such as inability to reach agreement with landowners or other utilities competing for the same site, or stages of piling and foundation, erecting the tower, etc.
“Looking forward to the final integration and going ‘live’ with the Sarawak Integrated Operations Centre (SIOC),” he added.
Dr Sim also revealed that the Batu Kawah multipurpose CCTVs/security towers are part of Phase 1, which will see the installation of 209 towers with over 800 cameras for Greater Kuching as part of the ‘Smart City’ initiative. — DayakDaily
