Malaysia’s second largest state, Sabah, announced its first major investment – worth a total of RM383 million (US$119 million) – to bridge the digital divide.
To extend internet coverage and telecommunication services, the state government has earmarked RM55million (US$17 million) for Community Broadband Centres. These will be scattered across the rural regions of Sabah, a state with a population of 3.2 million. 14 broadband libraries which cost RM22 million (US$6.8 million), and 212 towers for expansion of cellular coverage – worth RM298 million (US$92 million) – will be constructed.Spanning from year 2010 to 2015, the project targets under-served areas where there are no telecommunication or broadband services. The initiative stems from the Universal Service Provider Programme, a scheme started by the Ministry of Energy, Communications and Multimedia (MECM) to promote the availability and usage of network and application services throughout the country.
As a result, more people will be able to enjoy broadband and cellular services. “With broadband centres set up, people from rural areas would be able to go online and get connected to the rest of the world,” Mr Bruno Vun, Director of the State IT Advancement Unit told FutureGov.
Under the National Broadband Initiative, the penetration rate target for Sabah was 30.1 per cent by end 2010. This was lower than the national target of 50 per cent because the state had poor broadband performance to begin with. MECM is confident that Sabah will not only reach its target but exceed it with the implementation of the project. As of last month, its penetration rate was at 17.1 per cent and increasing.
RM8 million (US$2.5 million) will also be set aside for the under-served and lower-income groups, some of which will go into the distribution of one million netbooks to needy children throughout the state.
With the infrastructure in place, the road is paved for more e-government initiatives in the future. The Sabah government has always placed an emphasis on digitising citizen services. One example of an e-government platform is Sabah.Net, an information portal which connects the state government, businesses and citizens. Set in place more than five years ago, Sabah.Net serves as the backbone infrastructure for the Sabah Electronic Government Systems which connects government ministries, departments and statutory bodies to enable IT transformation of the public sector.
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