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KUCHING, July 27: Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii states that the Ministry of Communications and Digital (KKD) has provided assurance regarding the allocation of Elon Musk’s Starlink Broadband Kits to rural areas in Sarawak, especially schools, hospitals, and clinics, to ensure that these areas have access to essential Internet coverage.
Dr Yii stated in a statement that he appreciates the Federal government’s and KKD’s efforts to purchase 40 units of Elon Musk’s Starlink Broadband Kits to address some of the gaps in connectivity, particularly in rural and hard-to-reach communities in Sarawak and Sabah, or even Peninsular Malaysia, to ensure they have access to the basic necessity of Internet coverage and do not fall behind.
“I had a good discussion yesterday with the Minister of Communications and Digital, YB Fahmi Fadzil, regarding the needs of these assets in rural areas, especially in smaller communities such as longhouses, rural schools with few students, rural hospitals and clinics, and even mobile services for rural communities.
“He has given his assurance that he will allocate for these Starlink assets in these targeted areas especially in rural clinics and schools in Sarawak, and we are in the process of identifying target key areas in need of immediate connectivity.
“I will be working closely with the Deputy Health Minister YB Lukanisman and the Ministry of Health (MOH) to identify clinics in need, as well as the Ministry of Education (MOE) for schools in need,” he said.
Dr Yii also said that the target areas prioritise areas that do not have fibre broadband coverage and access to a high-speed fibre broadband network.
He also pointed out that in addition to low latency connectivity, Starlink had the advantage of portability.
“It is mobile and can be used in areas where it is more difficult to reach logistically, such as clinics and schools in rural communities.
“Many of these facilities do not have access to a broadband network, despite the fact that they have existing programmes and services that require data transmission.”
Dr Yii, who is also special advisor to the Ministry of Health, stated that with the efforts of both the federal and State governments to install fibre in more areas, these assets will be able to be moved further to the next location in need due to their portability.
He also stated that Starlink should only be a transitional solution, not a permanent one, in order to fully connect Malaysia with fibre networks.
“We hope that this can serve as an interim solution for schools, clinics, and communities that already require broadband internet but are in the process of fiberisation.
“As satellite Internet devices are portable, they can be passed on and deployed to the next communities in need once permanent connectivity has been established in the previous batches.”
SpaceX’s Starlink satellite broadband service uses a constellation of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites. Starlink can provide lower latency (ping) that is closer to 4G networks than geostationary satellites, which have an average ping of 500ms due to their greater distance from Earth.
Satellite broadband service is frequently deployed in areas where commercial 4G or fibre broadband access is not yet economically feasible. — DayakDaily
