REDtone aims to extend IT services in rural areas

0

KUCHING: Broadband service provider REDtone International Bhd (REDtone) hopes to extend Internet and broadband facility in rural areas nationwide, provided the requirement has been identified.

INTERNET-READY: Dr Rais ‘unlocks’ the broadband gateway for SMK Lui Barat, as Ibrahim (right) and REDtone’s group chief executive officer Zainal Amanshah (second left) look on.

INTERNET-READY: Dr Rais ‘unlocks’ the broadband gateway for SMK Lui Barat, as Ibrahim (right) and REDtone’s group chief executive officer Zainal Amanshah (second left) look on.

Its chairman Datuk Ibrahim Che Mat stated that such measures were timely and appropriate, in accordance to government’s efforts to increase IT-awareness among all Malaysians.

“It is time that all advantages and benefits that broadband access be made available to the rest of Malaysia, not just those living in the urban areas and those who are better off.

“REDtone has been actively supporting the government’s efforts to bridge the digital divide. After all, broadband services should no longer be considered a luxury. It is a necessity if one seeks to live an informed life in this day and age,” he said during the recent launch of the broadband service at SMK Lui Barat in Jelebu as part of the group’s ‘Connected 1Malaysia’ campaign.

For the CSR (corporate social responsibility) project, REDtone invested over RM200,000 to enable and facilitate the school with Internet line, laptops and on-going technical support.

Officiating at the ceremony was Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Utama Dr Rais Yatim.

At the same time, Dr Rais also presented 20 students with cash contribution of RM300 each. Adding to this, four laptops were also given away to schools within the Jelebu district-two to SMK Lui Barat, while each one was presented to SJKC Ladang Glendale and SJKT Ladang Air Hitam. All contributions were from REDtone.

On the broadband sponsorship, Ibrahim mentioned that SMK Lui Barat that had over 1,000 students was REDtone’s third project under the campaign.

“Our first one was for Kota Marudu in Sabah in the last quarter of 2009, where we provided WiFi services to the residents there.

“This was followed by another initiative last March, also in Sabah, where REDtone sponsored 30 selected residential homes in Kota Kinabalu with broadband access for six months.”

For the SMK Lui Barat project, the backbone of the technology is REDtone’s own ‘Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line’ (ADSL) with a bandwidth of three megabytes per second (Mbps). ADSL is one form of digital subscriber line technology that enables faster data transmission over copper telephone lines than a conventional voice band modem can provide.

As such, REDtone had made the public areas of the school compound a fully WiFi area, encompassing areas from the playing field to the main hall and canteen.

“Getting connected will open up a whole new world for SMK Lui Barat’s teachers and students. We are happy to be able to provide them this opportunity,” noted Ibrahim adding that there should be more similar undertakings elsewhere in the country as and when the need is identified.