5G closing digital divide among key focuses of KKMM

KUALA LUMPUR: Digital technology has greatly changed the way people live, especially in the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has fast-tracked the use of online tools and resources.

Not only has the 'work from home' concept been adopted by the public and private sectors, but the prolonged Movement Control Order (MCO) also saw school children and students at institutions of higher learning attend classes online.

Taking note of the advances in digital technology, the government is now in the process of rolling out the 5G network in the country to capitalise on these latest advancements.

Digital Nasional Bhd (DNB), which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Ministry of Finance Incorporated, has currently been appointed as a neutral party to implement the 5G network nationwide through a single wholesale network (SWN) model.

Communications and Multimedia Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa was previously reported to have said that consumers were not expected to bear high costs to get 5G services, as the government had taken the matter into account before its implementation.

By the end of December, 5G coverage is expected to stand at 10 per cent with about 500 sites, namely in Putrajaya, Cyberjaya and Kuala Lumpur.

This will be expanded to 4,018 sites or 40 per cent coverage in populated areas in Penang, Johor, Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Perak by 2022, while DNB aims to cover 80 per cent of populated areas by 2024, with 7,509 sites throughout Malaysia.

Meanwhile, 3G services in Malaysia will be completely shutdown by Dec 31, and users have been urged to switch to 4G devices to avoid being affected and left behind in the wave of digitalisation.

The termination of the 3G network is in line with the government's efforts to increase high-quality broadband coverage under the National Digital Network (JENDELA) initiative.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob when presenting the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) on Sept 27, said the government would close the digital divide between the urban and rural areas, which is mainly due to the availability of broadband infrastructure.

As part of the effort, Internet centres, Rural Internet Centres and Rural Community Centres will be transformed into Malaysian Family Digital Centres, to provide better and more integrated services to local residents to engage in e-commerce, skills training, learning and community activities.

The year 2021 also saw a change in government administration, with Annuar appointed as the Minister of Communications and Multimedia replacing Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah, who now heads the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Annuar said the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia (KKMM) had achieved all its targets under the 100-day Aspirasi Keluarga Malaysia (Malaysian Family Aspirations) through three key performance indicators (KPIs), which included the reopening of creative industry activities, especially filmmaking, which had stopped for a long time due to the MCO.

Through its target of having 2,000 film industry-related companies revived through license renewals, a total of 3,990 companies have now successfully restarted filming activities.

The ministry's achievements also include the launch of the Device Package and the Malaysian Family Youth Package benefiting more than 90,000 individuals, as well as the offering of grants, funds and incentive schemes to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), digital creative industry and digital industry firms.

-- BERNAMA