KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 9): A total of 6.47 million premises in the country have been approved for fiberisation so far under the implementation of the National Digital Network Plan (JENDELA), according to Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) chairman Dr Fadhlullah Suhaimi Abdul Malek.

Speaking at the Invest Malaysia 2021 event held virtually on Tuesday (Nov 9), Dr Fadhlullah said the country's 4G coverage is currently close to 95% of the populated areas and the average mobile broadband speed is at 31 megabits per second (Mbps).

“The first phase of JENDELA is to improve coverage and we will then improve the quality of the services. 

“We currently have a JENDELA map whereby individuals could then log in and tell us where exactly the quality of services is lower than expected,” Dr Fadhlullah elaborated.

He also shared that all states in Malaysia except for Selangor had adopted making broadband as a public utility and shared that the local governments had also adopted various procedural requirements to meet that requirement for all new developments. 

“And in the last 14 months since the implementation of JENDELA, this has been taken on positively by the state governments at large,” he said. 

In August last year, the government unveiled the RM21 billion JENDELA plan to steer Malaysia towards greater digital connectivity by boosting the efficiency of the national infrastructure and optimising spectrum usage.

The JENDELA action plan, which is part of the 12th Malaysia Plan (2021-2025), lays the foundation of comprehensive and high-quality broadband coverage as well as prepares the country for the transition towards 5G technology.