UM wi-fi facilities will be enhanced - Shabery

Wi-Fi facilities at University Malaya (UM) will be enhanced to allow its students to enjoy a better Internet network, said Communication and Multimedia Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek.

To meet the expectations of students, he said the matter would be discussed with the university's top management in the near future.

He said Internet access was now considered an essential requirement to students to acquire knowledge.

"I was the UM Student Representative Council president from 1981 to 1982. Then we fought for things like lower prices of tea and food items and photocopying costs. But today I understand, Internet access is important to the students.

"So I am making a commitment to help students on this. I will discuss with the university to implement it (provide a better Wi-Fi network)," he said after receiving a petition from Penggerak Mahasiswa UM (a student movement at the university), here today.

He said the cooperation of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and Telekom Malaysia would be enlisted for the purpose.

"As the minister in charge of ICT, I will go all to help them (Penggerak Mahasiswa, in collaboration with MCMC and TM," he said.

Penggerak Mahasiswa chairman Mohd Faridzuan Karim said they submitted the petitition because Internet access was very slow at many locations at the university and that the Internet service there did not commensurate the fees they were paying for broadband access.