The National Digital Network Plan (Jendela) is moving towards its Phase 1 target to reach 7.2 million premises provided with fibre connectivity and 4G coverage at 95.82 per cent as at June 30, 2022.
Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) chief operating officer Datuk Mohd Ali Hanafiah Mohd Yunus said in terms of speed, it has achieved 47.04 megabits per second (Mbps) on mean and 29.89 Mbps on medium.
“We are working closely with the telecommunication (telco) industry and stakeholders at the state level, and we are have the highest level of cooperation in terms of dealing with policies and bureaucracies,” he said at Jendela’s second quarter 2022 Report (April-June) virtual media and analyst briefing today.
Jendela Phase 1 target is to hit 7.5 million premises with fibre connectivity, at a speed of 35 Mbps and coverage at 96.9 per cent by year-end.
It had a baseline of 4.96 million premises passed with fibre connectivity with 25 Mbps (mean) and 4G coverage standing at 91.8 per cent in August 2020 when the initiative started.
Mohd Ali Hanafiah also said the cost allocation for Phase 1 cost was initially RM20 billion, but during its first year of implementation in 2021, this expanded to RM28 billion, with 60 per cent being funded by private finance initiative (PFI) and the rest from the government via the Universal Service Provision (USP) fund.
“Currently, the work pending for Phase 1 is the construction of 1,661 new sites across Malaysia to extend mobile 4G coverage in rural and remote areas. Site surveys have been done in most of the sites and (we are) at the stage of getting approvals from state entities and local councils.
“Another work pending is to fiberise 929,631 additional premises. Today, we have 304,676 premises yet to be completed (624,955 premises have already been completed),” he said referring to Jendela Phase 2020-2022 action plan.
He also noted that during the April-June 2022 period, service providers were able to complete the construction of 57 new 4G towers, exceeding its target of 52, a 109.6 per cent achievement.
It also completed upgrading 1,710 base stations against its targeted1,607 for Q2 2022.
However, 167,758 premises (or 96.7 per cent) were provided with fibre connection versus its Q2 2022 target of 173,508.
Meanwhile, he said MCMC received 40,863 network complaints via MCMC ADUAN portal between Jan 1, 2022 and June 30, 2022, a 66 per cent drop over the same period a year ago.
The was due to the spectrum band being “re-farmed” to provide 4G after completely shutting down 3G, and more new 4G sites being completed and upgraded, especially in urban and suburban areas.
On the country’s 5G needs versus a stable 4G connection, Mohd Ali Hanafiah said it (5G) will benefit high-technology industries such as medical and oil and gas. — Bernama
