KUALA LUMPUR – The Communications and Multimedia Ministry (KKMM) has pledged to focus its efforts this year to speeding up the provision of internet facilities in interior areas nationwide this year.
Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah said although various initiatives under the National Digital Infrastructure Plan (Jendela) would be implemented as scheduled, efforts to provide infrastructure for internet access in so-called last mile locations should be expedited.
He stressed that it was KKMM’s target to ensure that internet would be made available to about 4% of areas in the east coast and several other locations in the peninsula and the interior of Sabah and Sarawak which are still without this communication facility.
“The internet facilities provided should be practical; for example, longhouses in Sarawak are not compatible with fibre optic or broadband infrastructure but suitable for satellites.
“(In Sarawak) I told the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission we need to speed up proposals, determine and provide the suitable type of satellite. Do not wait for proposals to come,” he said.
Saifuddin said this when interviewed on the Selamat Pagi Malaysia programme aired by RTM’s TV1 this morning.
On another matter, Saifuddin said KKMM through the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) aimed to increase the number of high-value jobs in the gig economy.
He said the growth in high-value jobs in this sector was only 20% and the ministry was targeting at least 40% for this year.
“The challenge being faced by us and MDEC now is not to attract workers in the gig economy because there are many, but we want to increase high-value job opportunities in this sector,” he said. – Bernama, January 1, 2021
