Undersea cable system in Sabah to be ready next year

The installation of undersea cable in Sabah waters to boost the country's Internet coverage is expected to be completed end of next year.

Deputy Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Jailani Johari said an allocation of RM1 billion had been set aside to widen and improve the broadband quality in the country, especially in the rural areas.

He was replying to a supplementary question from Wong Tien Fatt@Wong Nyuk Foh (DAP-Sandakan) in the Dewan Rakyat today.

Wong wanted to know when would the rural folks in Sabah, especially in Sandakan, could enjoy better quality broadband which would be on par with the service in the town areas.

Jailani said under the High Speed Broadband (HSBB) programme, a total of 31 exchanges would be upgraded in Sabah to provide better and faster broadband access for the people.

To an original question from Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan) on the government's plan to widen the telephone coverage and 4G access in the rural areas, Jailani said the 4G access had increased to 63 per cent.

On the smartphone network coverage, Jailani said a total of 2,963 locations nationwide were now able to enjoy 3G mobile broadband service since 2010.

Efforts were being made to provide the facility in another 1,008 locations nationwide and expected to be ready in stages by 2017, he added. - BERNAMA