Roslan during the networking session with members of the media.
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah will get the highest number of telecommunication towers to be installed this year under the first phase of National Fiberisation and Connectivity Plan (NFCP 1).
Head of Sabah and Labuan Federal Territory, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) Roslan Mohamad said from the total of 152 towers to be installed nationwide, a total of 50 sites are in Sabah, which is 32.9 per cent from the total number.
“A total of 13 towers will be built in Pitas alone, while 13 other towers will be covering Nabawan, Tenom, Keningau and Papar.
“Four districts, namely Tawau, Semporna, Kunak and Beluran will be installed with 13 towers and four other districts namely Tongod, Tuaran, Kudat and Kota Marudu will have 11 towers,” he said.
Roslan added the installation of the network facilities would implement network services for cellular using 3G and 4G technology with an average speed of 30 megabits per second (Mbps), Roslan said this to reporters yesterday during a networking session with members of the media at Hilton Hotel.
NFCP is government initiative aimed at providing Malaysians with robust, pervasive, high-quality and affordable digital connectivity for the well-being of the people, and progress of the country.
The government has allocated RM21.6 billion to implement the five-year NFCP which was also partly funded by participating telco companies in the country.
Apart from Sabah, seven other states involved in the NFCP 1 are Pahang (18.3%), Kelantan (11.8%), Johor (8.6%), Terengganu (8.6%), Kedah (6.6%), Negeri Sembilan (6.6%) and Perak (6.6%).
Under the second phase (NFCP 2), Roslan said it would involve 500 locations at 210 areas in 10 states, namely Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Terengganu, Sabah and Sarawak.
Sabah, he said, once again would be one of the highest with the number of tower to be installed.
When asked about challenges in installing telecommunication towers in the state, he said apart from the geographical part, there are other factors that need to be taken into consideration such as basic infrastructure, electricity supply, population, and other things.
However he is confident the installation process will be completed as planned, improving the current 3G and 4G services.
He also revealed that as of the first quarter of 2020, percentage of network penetration in Sabah is 85.1 percent for 3G and 60.2 percent for 4G.
Meanwhile, the current wired broadband penetration in Sabah is 2.7 percent.