800 more telco towers to be set up in rural areas

Wednesday, 22 February 2012 22:58

KUALA LUMPUR: Over 800 more telco towers will be set up in rural areas throughout the country by the end of the year, said Deputy Information, Com­munications and Culture Minister Datuk Joseph Salang.

He said the exercise came under the purview of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission’s (MCMC) Time 3 Programme, aimed at bridging the digital divide between rural and urban areas.

“The Government recognises the importance of ICT (information and communication technology) and our efforts have ensured that communities living in rural areas were now enjoying almost the same level of connectivity and broadband facilities as the urban population,” he said.

Salang, who added that 84% of the country had cellular coverage now, said the “Wireless Village” programme, which was launched last year, had improved connectivity in 1,610 rural areas.

“In addition to this, MCMC has also set up Community Broadband Centres and Community Broadband Libraries, where collective access to broadband facilities is shared by the community in rural areas,” he said after launching the DMD M3 Android Smartphone Communicator with Near Field Com­munication connectivity at the KL Tower yesterday.

“The DMD M3 is affordable and will make integrating ICT and the Internet into one’s daily business more appealing, especially to those who may find prices (of other smartphones) in the market a barrier,” he said.

He lauded DMD Mobile Sdn Bhd for developing and manufacturing Malaysia’s first Android smartphone and hoped that more communications and multimedia service providers would work with manufacturers to come up with more innovative and affordable devices.

The DMD M3 smartphone, which is expected to cost about RM500, will be available in the market in April.

From TheStar