Kelantan Plans To Use Satellites To Provide Internet In Rural Areas

The Kelantan government is planning to use satellite technology in order to increase internet coverage in rural areas after it identified 200 locations in the state that lack internet access. Menteri Besar Ahmad Yakob said that the improvement efforts are being implemented with the cooperation of state agency Kelantan ICT Gateway and BinaNet.

According to Ahmad, BinaNet will provide internet connectivity that will help people in terms of education and e-commerce through the Rural Satellite Internet Service initiative (PeSAT). He added that telecommunication transmitters would be installed in 50 schools that are under the supervision of Yayasan Islam Kelantan (YIK).

As for the cost of using the satellite internet, the state chief said the pricing would be up to the service provider, as Kelantan ICT Gateway is only providing the infrastructure. He said that there will be daily and monthly plans while based on photos from the PeSAT launch event showed that it will be a prepaid Wi-Fi service, though the price wasn’t revealed.

Last year, Economic Affairs Minister Mustapa Mohamed said that 4G network coverage in Kelantan will reach 96.3% in 2022, with an allocation of more than RM700 million to improve the state’s digital infrastructure. Phase 1 of Jalinan Digital Negara (JENDELA), which will run throughout 2022, aims to expand broadband coverage to 96.9% of all populated areas nationwide.

(Source: Bernama, Harakah Daily.)