A 30m telecommunications tower provides digital connectivity to the local residents of Kampung Pulau Salak, a small and geographically-isolated island settlement near Santubong.
KUCHING: The implementation of the National Fibre Connectivity Plan (NFCP) next year will benefit companies such as Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd’s 50 per cent-owned subsidiary Sacofa Sdn Bhd (Sacofa).
As revealed in the federal Budget 2019, the government will launch the NFCP in 2019 with an allocation of RM1 billion, to support the growth of the digital economy.
According to Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, the plan will develop Malaysia’s broadband infrastructure to ensure more efficient spectrum allocation to achieve the targeted 30 megabits per second (Mbps) speed at rural and remote areas in the country within five years as part of the overall plan to achieve world class infrastructure at affordable prices.
“The implementation of NFCP will benefit companies engaging in the manufacturing of fibre optic cables and cable related products and-or fibre optic services,” the research arm of MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd (MIDF Research opined.
“This includes Sacofa and Opcom Holdings Bhd.”
Lim also announced that the Government has also enforced the Mandatory Standards for Access Pricing (MSAP) which will result in fixed broadband prices to be reduced by at least 25 per cent by the end of 2018.
On the enforcement of MSAP, MIDF Research noted that it is currently on-going, with telecommunications service providers which offer fixed broadband services namely Telekom Malaysia Bhd, Time dotCom Bhd, Maxis Bhd and Celcom (Axiata Group Bhd) having revised downwards their fixed broadband proposition.
“Following the revision, the starting price point of fixed broadband offerings fall below the RM100 per month level,” the research arm said.
“Nonetheless, the revision would translate into lower revenue for the fixed broadband service providers as lower price proposition translate into lower average revenue per user (ARPU).
“It would also encourage low usage broadband user to downgrade their packages.”