HSBB penetration reaches 81.8 pct

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Speed Broadband ( HSBB) of households nationwide has reached 81.8 per cent as of the first quarter of this year, said Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Dr Salleh Said Keruak.

He said the government, in collaboration with industry players, was actively implementing various communications infrastructure development initiatives to ensure 95 per cent of broadband coverage could be achieved by 2020.

“Satellite technology has been used in the provision of broadband service using the Very Small Aperture Terminal ( VSAT) in remote areas such as in the interior of Sabah, Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia. The ministry finds that satellite technology is not a long-term solution to improving the country’s broadband service because it has several weaknesses,” he said when replying to a question from Senator Datuk Chai Kim Sen at the Dewan Negara sitting here yesterday.

Salleh said the weaknesses included limited capacity, high operational and maintenance costs as well as service stability problems in the event of weather disturbances and power supply disruption.

In developing the country’s telecommunications services and infrastructure, he said the government through the Communications and Multimedia Commission ( MCMC) strives to provide terrestrial broadband services such as 3G and 4G services that are cheaper and more stable than satellite services.

He said, hence, to enable the people, especially the B40 group to enjoy broadband services, the ministry also ensured telecommunications companies offer basic packages at low prices.

“For example, the basic package of mobile broadband ranges from RM20 monthly while Telekom Malaysia Berhad ( TM) also offers a basic broadband package of 1 megabit per second at a price of RM38 per month,” he added. — Bernama