LIPIS – The ongoing construction of 244 telecommunication towers to provide Internet access to users in Pahang is expected to be fully completed before the end of this year.
Pahang Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) director Mohd Faisal Md Nor said the construction of the towers was one of the four major projects carried out through the implementation of the National Digital Network (Jendela) Phase One (2020-2022), which is expected to complete in December.
He said that since the start of the implementation of Jendela in August 2020, MCMC had successfully erected 26 towers, including in rural areas such as Lipis.
“Construction work is in full swing and we are optimistic that the target to complete all the towers within the stipulated period can be achieved as the state government has also been supporting and facilitating matters in terms of approval for site acquisition and land use,” he told Bernama and RTM recently.
Apart from that, he said 867 or 96% of the 902 transmission stations had also been upgraded with 4G networks, while the rest were expected to be fully upgraded soon.
Faisal said networks at 75,653 premises had been upgraded to fibre-optic networks so far, out of the total of 118,260 premises targeted for Pahang under Jendela’s Phase One, while 69 Orang Asli villages in the state had also received satellite broadband Internet services for free.
“The implementation of these projects has succeeded in boosting the 4G coverage rate in Pahang from 89.1% in the second quarter of 2020 before Jendela started, to 92.56% in the fourth quarter of 2021.”
Meanwhile, Faisal also shared the challenges faced by MCMC in implementing Jendela in Pahang, such as the state’s hilly terrain and other geographical features.
“Besides, we already have two towers, namely in Pos Lemoi and Kg Telimau in Cameron Highlands, which were completed last year but have yet to be activated as the fibre optic installations could not be completed following the frequent landslides due to heavy rain.
“So far, more than three landslides have occurred with the latest being last week, cutting off the road to the tower’s location and disrupting the fibre optic installation work,” he said.
In the meantime, Faisal encouraged the public to use the Jendela Map portal developed by MCMC to check and channel their feedback related to the communication service coverage at their respective locations.
He said the portal is available at https://Jendela.my or via a mobile app that can be downloaded from Google Playstore or Apple Store. – Bernama, April 5, 2022
