70 more small cell towers to be built in Sarawak - Jailani

A total of 70 small cell towers will be built in Sarawak this year, said Deputy Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Jailani Johari.

He said the towers, worth a total of nearly RM500,000, would be built to improve the telecommunications network in the state.

"Currently, there are 60 small cell towers in Sarawak. The construction of the additional 70 towers are expected to be completed by the end of this year," he told a press conference after opening the Kampung Tanah Hitam 1Malaysia Internet Centre (PI1M) here today.

He said the towers could provide a coverage radius of up to five kilometres with at least 2G and 3G mobile networks.

Asked about the telecommunications network in Tanjong Datu, Jailani said the area had six telecommunication towers and five small cell towers.

Jailani said 13 more telecommunication towers worth RM10 million would be built to improve the telecommunications coverage in the area.

"This is also in line with the Sarawak Barisan Nasional (BN) manifesto for the Tanjong Datu state by-election, which among others will accelerate the provision of telecommunications in the area," he said.

Jailani said there were a total of 352 telecommunication towers with the height of between 200 and 350 metres statewide.

He added that there were 124 PI1M throughout Sarawak with each costing RM1 million.

"In Tanjong Datu, there are three PI1M, namely in Pandan, Lundu and Sematan," he said. - BERNAMA