LAWAS, Oct 30: Sarawak Linking Urban Rural and Nation-Sarawak Rural Broadband Network (Saluran-MySRBN) initiative to bring internet to rural and suburban areas in Sarawak is set to be launched at Kampung Tengah in Trusan here tomorrow (Oct 31).
According to Sarawak Multimedia Authority (SMA) in a statement today, the initiative is expected to be launched by Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg.
The initiative is being implemented through the collaboration of various Sarawak government agencies such as the Sarawak Multimedia Authority (SMA), Sarawak Digital Economy Corporation (SDEC) and SAINS, as well as the Federal government through the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).
SMA emphasised that among the objectives of this initiative is to further expand the communication coverage to the rural and semi-urban areas in order for the people to enjoy better connectivity and to participate in the digital economy which covers a wide range of spectrum such as education, commerce, finance and banking.
SMA general manager Dr Zaidi Razak accompanied Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hassan, Assistant Minister for Modernisation of Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development Datuk Dr Abdul Rahman Ismail and SDEC chairman Tan Sri Morshidi Abdul Ghani to inspect the site at Kampung Tengah, located some 20km away from Lawas town today.
It is worth to note that the Sarawak government’s main focus through the Sarawak Digital Economy Strategy 2018-2022, is to increase accessibility and reduce the digital gap between the rural and urban areas in Sarawak.
This ‘inclusivity policy’ will provide wider internet access and is aimed to make Sarawak a high-income economy by 2030.
In Lawas alone, SMA disclosed that five MySRBN sites have been implemented, which would provide unlimited internet access with speeds of 30Mbps.
For the long term, it added that 25 towers will be implemented in Lawas under the Saluran initiative.
Once implemented, it will increase the current coverage of 72.4 percent to 92.1 percent of inhabited areas by the end of 2022.
As for the whole of Sarawak, 300 towers will be completed by the first quarter of next year and another 300 towers will be completed by the end of 2022.
In addition, under the National Digital Network (Jendela) initiative implemented by MCMC, 636 towers will be commissioned early next year.
For tomorrow’s event, some 250 participants are expected to attend including Awang Tengah and Deputy Transport Minister who is also Lawas MP Dato Henry Sum Agong.
SMA also recorded its appreciation and thanks to all parties involved for the success of this programme amidst the Covid-19 pandemic and travel restrictions.
It also assured that the government agencies involved will continue to carry out their tasks to ensure the vision of the leadership of Sarawak Chief Minister and his team could be achieved in order to provide good services to the rakyat. — DayakDaily
