KOTA KINABALU (Mar 22): Sabah is expected to enjoy 5G coverage in the next phase of the Malaysia Plan, said Assistant Science, Technology and Innovation minister Datuk Seri Ruddy Awah.

“Currently we are using the allocation from the Federal Government to upgrade the existing coverage to 4G. 5G will be implemented in the next Malaysia Plan from 2023 to 2025,” he said.

“We are working on it YB Senallang … we are not sleeping on the job,” he said in reply to Senallang assemblyman Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal on Tuesday.

Speaking in the question and answer session of the State Assembly sitting, Ruddy said the allocation provided to implement connectivity related projects in Sabah in 2022 will be utilized and completed.

He said that the upgrading works not only covers areas like Kota Marudu and Kudat but encompasses the whole state.

“We at the ministry are going down to the ground and making our rounds throughout the state whether there are any requests from elected representatives, both government and the opposition, for us to do so.

“We provide all the facilities because this is a pressing need of the rakyat … give us some space and opportunity because we are doing our best,” he said.

Earlier when replying to Likas assemblyman Tan Lee Fatt, Ruddy said the federal government had allocated RM3.61 billion to implement the Pelan Jalinan Digital Negara (JENDELA) Phase 1 (2020-2022) during the 12th Malaysia Plan.

The allocation is for the construction of new towers, upgrading of towers to 4G, providing fiber optics to the premises and providing satellite broadband.

He said that through JENDELA in Sabah, a total of 607 new towers will be built to expand 4G coverage in rural and remote areas. As of 31 January 2022, a total of 119 towers have been completed.

In addition, a total of 3,738 existing transmitter stations will be upgraded to 4G to improve the quality of coverage to consumers. Of the total, a total of 3,128 transmitting stations have been upgraded.
 

According to Ruddy, to expand and improve the quality of fixed line broadband services, fiber optic available premises have also been built around residential and commercial areas.

A total of 251,165 premises available with fiber optics have been planned for this purpose and 118,241 have been completed.

This achievement is expected to increase by the end of 2022. The rural areas in Sabah are also given priority through the provision of broadband services using satellite technology.
 

“For this purpose, a total of 138 locations in the interior of Sabah will be provided with satellite technology by April 2022. In addition to the MCMC initiative, KSTI has installed a total of 24 VSATs so far and plans to install 300 VSATs throughout 2022,” he said.

Ruddy disclosed that as of January 31 this year, a total of 63 locations have been completed with satellite broadband by MCMC.

The implementation of JENDELA will be constantly improved from time to time based on detailed planning as well as requests from the public.

For areas that are not included under the JENDELA Phase 1 initiative, they will be taken into account under the Phase 2 plan which will start from 2023 to 2025, he added.