Telekom Malaysia and Time dotCom have signed a memorandum of understanding for the deployment of the Sistem Kabel Rakyat 1Malaysia (SKR1M). The submarine cable system was first announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak during the Bajet 2014 speech and is intended to improve the quality of the internet connection in East Malaysia.
Originally awarded by the MCMC to TM through a Public-Private Partnership agreement; this MoU establishes a SKR1M consortium for the next phase of the project. The parties will now move on to the tender exercise to determine the preferred technology partner to supply, deliver and implement SKR1M.
During this MoU period, the parties would also develop the principles for the construction and maintenance agreement (C&MA), where it would establish the rules governing the implementation and management of SKR1M. TM is currently contracted to operate and maintain the cable network for 20 years, in addition to building the six submarine cable landing stations for the project.
The cables are expected to cover some 3,500km by connecting stations in Mersing, Kuching, Bintulu, Miri, Kota Kinabalu, and Cherating. This new network is expected to have a an initial capacity of 4Tbps, and is scheduled to be full functional by 2017.
[Source: Bernama]
