KUCHING: A total of 3,906 5G sites have been completed by Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) nationwide as of Dec 31, 2022.
According to the Minister of Communications and Digital Fahmi Fadzil, the availability of 5G networks had reached 47.1 per cent of the population in populated areas throughout the country.
“This total percentage of 5G network availability includes 5G transmitter sites that have been activated by DNB but are not yet accessible to users (infrastructure available).
“Looking at the 5G site that can only be accessed by users, the availability of 5G services is at 38.2 percent of the population in populated areas,” he said this in reply to Roy Angau Gingkoi (GPS-Lubok Antu) during the question for oral answers at Dewan Rakyat recently.
Fahmi also said that his ministry was constantly improving the implementation of the Jalinan Digital Negara (JENDELA) plan Phase 1 (2020-2022) and Phase 2 (2023-2025) which aimed to bridge the gap in network access and internet coverage throughout the country is being expanded in stages.
“A total of 7.7 million premises have been prepared with fiber optic connections for fixed line broadband, exceeding the target of 7.5 million premises.
“As for mobile broadband, the achievement of coverage as of the fourth quarter of 2022 is 96.9 percent in populated areas, as targeted.
“In addition, the mobile broadband download rate has reached 116.03Mbps compared to the original target of 35Mbps,” he explained.
He also added that the Ministry has also accelerated the provision of broadband services through satellite technology in 839 locations in rural areas throughout the country.
He said it was originally planned to be implemented in 2023 under JENDELA Phase 2 which was successfully completed in the JENDELA Phase 1 in 2022.
