During a Parliament session earlier today, the Minister of Communications and Multimedia, Gobind Singh Deo has stated the government is indeed looking for more ways to widen the broadband coverage in the country. The statement was part of his response to questions from Kota Melaka’s representative, Khoo Poay Tiong.
The minister pointed out that the high cost and long duration of fiber deployment made it quite hard to implement in rural and hard to reach areas within a short span of time. This is why the government is now considering using alternative methods such as satellite and others to tackle the situation.
Gobind has also stated the government has indeed received proposals from several parties regarding this matter and is now in the process of reviewing them. In relation to that, this is why the government has previously expressed its intention to change their approach from the original fiber-heavy National Fiberization Plan (NFP) to the new and technology agnostic National Fiberization and Connectivity Plan (NFCP).
While it is interesting to hear about the government’s plan to improve our broadband situation, it is quite clear that there is still a lot of work need to be done. We really hope that NFCP which is taking place from 2019 to 2023 will indeed accelerate all the improvements that the government has aimed to achieve.
(Source: Parlimen Malaysia. Image: Parlimen Malaysia’s live feed / MCMC- pdf)
