KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 1 -- The Communications and Multimedia Ministry (KKMM) will focus on efforts to speed up the provision of facilities for internet access in last mile locations or the interior of several areas throughout the country this year.

Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah said although various initiatives under the National Digital Infrastructure Plan (Jendela) would be implemented as scheduled, efforts to provide infrastructure for internet access should be speeded up.

He stressed that it was KKMM's target to ensure that internet would be made available to about four per cent of areas in the east coast and several other locations in the peninsula and the interior of Sabah and Sarawak which are still without this communication facility.

“The internet facility provided should be practical; for example, longhouses in Sarawak are not compatible to fibreoptic or broadband infrastructure but suitable to use satellite.

“(In Sarawak) I told SKMM (Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission) we need to speed up proposals, determine and provide the suitable type of satellite. Do not wait for proposals to come,” he said.

Saifuddin said this when interviewed on the Selamat Pagi Malaysia programme aired by RTM 1 this morning.

On another matter, Saifuddin said KKMM through the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) aimed to increase the number of high-value jobs in the gig economy.

He said the growth in high-value jobs in this sector was only 20 per cent and the ministry was targeting at least 40 per cent for this year.

“The challenge being faced by us and MDEC now is not to attract workers in the gig economy because there are many but we want to increase high-value job opportunities in this sector,” he said.