A group of students making use of the facilities at the 1Malaysia Internet centre in Rompin on Aug 11. Bernama File Photo
KUALA LUMPUR: The rate of broadband penetration in households nationwide had reached 76.8 per cent as at second quarter this year, said Communications and Multimedia Deputy Minister Datuk Jailani Johari.
He said the ministry was trying to improve the broadband penetration rate with the RM1 billion allocation announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak during the tabling of Budget 2017 last Friday.
“We will ensure that the areas in the country (which have no coverage) benefit from the provision,” he said when replying to a supplementary question from Datuk Jumat Idris (BN-Sepanggar) at the Dewan Rakyat here today.
Jumat wanted to know when broadband connections would be available in all areas of the country.
The Prime Minister had announced an allocation of RM1 billion to increase the coverage and quality of broadband throughout the country to at least 20 megabits per second.
Replying to Jumat’s original question on the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia’s plans to expand internet coverage at high altitudes such as in Inanam, Sabah, Jailani said that so far a total of 6,584 port connections had been made available under the High Speed Broadband (HSBB) project in the area.
A total of 49 communication towers had also been erected to provide mobile broadband coverage in the area.
“With the implementation of all these initiatives, access to the Internet can be improved, and at the same time it can benefit the local population in the Sepanggar parliamentary constituency which comprises highlands such as Inanam,” he said. – Bernama