‘MCMC always late in enhancing state’s Internet connectivity’

KUCHING: Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg yesterday lamented the delay by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission ( MCMC) in taking action to enhance Internet connectivity in Sarawak.

“Sorry to say that MCMC is always late in taking action. So we have to allocate RM1 billion to upgrade our facilities,” he said at the launch of 1Malaysia People’s Cable System ( Sistem Kabel Rakyat 1Malaysia - SKR1M) at a leading hotel here.

At a post- launch press conference, Abang Johari repeated a similar comment by pointing out that the state government had to initiate the step in order to get the rest on board.

“MCMC is always late, so we have to start and then the rest will come on board,” he said, while extending apologies to MCMC chief operating officer Datuk Dr Mazlan Ismail, who was present at the conference.

Abang Johari advised telecommunication providers to keep prices affordable even after the facilities had been upgraded.

He hoped that more investments would come in to Sarawak, pointing out that higher volume of usage would either help maintain or bring down the price.

At the launch earlier, Telekom Malaysia ( TM) Berhad chairman Tan Sri Datuk Seri Dr Sulaiman Mahbob said TM was honoured to be given the opportunity to become the strategic partner in SKR1M, which would accelerate customers’ access to the digital world.

“The SKR1M cable system is also testament of TM as the country’s key enabler for communications infrastructure. We are proud to be the one trusted to deliver this integral piece of the nation’s communication backbone,” he added.

According to Sulaiman, the new cable system, along with TM’s vast global network of submarine cables, serves to elevate Malaysia as a regional hub.

A press statement pointed out that TM owns and leases more than 20 submarine cable systems, which span more than 200,000 fibre-route miles around the globe and includes several submarine cable routes that the company uses to carry traffic between the Asia- Pacific region and North America region.

At present, TM has approximately 40 Tbps on its network to cater for future international bandwidth demand.