KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of Communications and Multimedia (K-KOMM) is monitoring companies that have been awarded tenders to instal fiber optic Point of Presence (PoP) network hubs in 700 rural schools in Sabah.
Its Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa said there was slow progress to the implementation of the project, which was supposed to be completed by the end of this year, and therefore the companies needed to improve their performance under the Phase One of the PoP initiative.
“All PoP projects in the schools in Sabah will continue and the ministry will launch the Phase Two of the PoP initiative before the end of this year. Sabah and Sarawak will also be given priority for this project,” he said in reply to a supplementary question from Vivian Wong Shir Yee (PH-Sandakan) during the question and answer session at the Dewan Rakyat here today.
Vivian wanted to know the progress of the PoP project in rural schools in Sabah which was announced last March.
The PoP method uses fibre optic hubs as an alternative in ensuring that the network and coverage of broadband infrastructure can be expanded to school and populated areas better.
Meanwhile, in his reply to a question from Datuk Wilson Ugak Anak Kumbong (GPS-Hulu Rajang), Annuar said a total of 85 telecommunication tower sites had been developed in Sarawak while another 741 were being built under Phase One of the National Digital Network (JENDELA) programme.
As for works to upgrade transmitter stations, he said a total of 2,933 towers had been upgraded while another 247 towers throughout Sarawak were in the process of being upgraded.
“The federal government’s commitment to ensure that Sarawak has the best internet connections is clear, a total of RM4.09 billion under Phase One of the JENDELA intitiative has been allocated and (various projects) are being implemented,” he said.
Annuar said for the Hulu Rajang area, a total of 59 telecommunication towers were under construction, while 38 transmitter towers had been upgraded and 12 more were being upgraded.
He said all the initiatives were still in the implementation stage and were expected to be completed in stages by the end of 2023.
Meanwhile, Annuar said the percentage of 4G network coverage in populated areas in Sarawak increased to 84.24 per cent in the first quarter of 2022 compared with 73.67 per cent before the implementation of the JENDELA initiative.
— BERNAMA
