Minister: 4,662 telco tower structures completed to date
File photo for illustration purposes
KUCHING (May 26): A total of 4,662 telecommunication tower structures, including those on buildings, have been completed to date, said Utility and Telecommunication Minister Dato Sri Julaihi Narawi.
He said this was an increase of 81 towers when compared to the 4,581 completed towers which were reported in the last sitting in November last year.
'Of the completed towers, 4,446 or 95 per cent are on-air while the remaining 216 (5 per cent) will be operational in stages by the end of 2025.
'To date, the internet service coverage has increased to 90.2 per cent compared to 84.8 per cent as reported in the last DUN sitting,' he said in his ministerial winding-up speech today.
Julaihi also updated the august House on the Sarawak Linking Urban, Rural and Nation (Saluran) initiative where to date, the state government has allocated RM2.3 billion as an intervention measure to accelerate internet coverage expansion in rural areas under this initiative.
'A key component of Saluran is the construction of Sarawak Multimedia Authority Rural Telecommunication (SMART) towers.
'So far, 585 out of 618 SMART towers have been completed of which 18 of them are repeaters. Of the completed towers, 480 are operational, while the rest will be fully operational in stages by the fourth quarter of 2025,' he said.
On the federal government's National Fiberisation and Connectivity Plan (Jendela), Julaihi said a total of 906 out of 909 telecommunications towers have been completed under the initiative's first phase.
'Of this number, 795 towers are operational with 4G services, while the remainder will be fully operational in stages by the fourth quarter of 2025.'
For 5G services, he said 574 out of 576 5G sites were now in operation with the remaining expected to be operational by the second quarter of 2025. DUN sitting internet coverage julaihi narawi lead telecommunication tower
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