28 March 2024
Malaysia's communications minister reported that the government’s National Digital Network (a.k.a. JENDELA) programme to upgrade its broadband infrastructure is on track to be completed by the end of next year, with much of the work already done.
Communications minister Fahmi Fadzil said that of the 3,884 new telecoms towers planned under JENDELA, 2,395 have been built and activated as of the end of January 2024, and 39,983 transmitter stations (out of a planned 40,214) have been upgraded. On the fixed-line side, Fahmi said 3.32 million premises out of a planned 4.19 million have been equipped with fibre optic connectivity, the report said.
The RM21 billion initiative was launched in 2020 as part of the 12th Malaysia Plan (2021-2025) with the goal of achieving 100% broadband connectivity in populated areas by the end of 2025, as well as expanding use of 5G.
Fadzil added that 169 ‘naked’ towers in Sarawak (telecoms towers with no equipment on them) have been successfully reactivated between 1 January and 22 March.
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and telco companies have been allocated a government budget of RM206.98 million to activate 600 naked towers in Sarawak. Of the remaining 431 towers, telcos are ready to take up and operate 297 of them, another 44 are under construction, 59 are being transferred to new locations, and 31 face location-overlapping issues.
