It’s worrying to think more than half the world’s population lacks internet access and therefore lacks an equal opportunity to improve their lives.
– Sir Richard Branson, business magnate
English is a crazy, complicated, confusing and complex language! For the uninitiated, like yours truly, it took decades to master – I mean really master it, though English and English Literature were the only two subjects I excelled at in primary and secondary schools, and later in college.
No, my topic for today is not on the English language. I just want to touch on it briefly to drive home a point.
For example, the definition ‘white elephant’ denotes something that is expensive, has no useful purpose and is no longer wanted or has become completely useless.
And I just learned yesterday that one can use another definition, namely ‘ghost tower’, to describe, according to the Cambridge Dictionary, “something that is expensive, or that costs a lot of money to keep in good condition, but that has no useful purpose and is no longer wanted”.
I should thank Deputy Minister in the Premier’s Office (Corporate Affairs, Information and UKAS) Datuk Abdullah Saidol for using the definition to describe the non-functioning communication tower in Bekakong, Tanjong Manis.
He was not amused to learn that the tower was not functioning since it was commissioned last year.
I find this ridiculous! What has the agency responsible for the telecommunications towers been doing all these months? Apparently, it must have been operating on a very low battery mode.
Imagine, having a deputy minister to reveal the existence of the ‘ghost tower’! Abdullah Saidol decided to visit the tower at Rumah Wun Iring, Bekakong on April 7 after he received complaints from the 1,000 or so residents there.
He hoped the agency or agencies involved will resolve the issue before more ‘ghost towers’ pop up in the Land of the Hornbills.
“We don’t want more ‘ghost towers’ to appear in other parts of Sarawak. This situation will disturb the residents. Lately, their telephone lines have been weak,” he said.
I am not convinced the Bekakong tower is the only ‘ghost tower’ around. There could be others; Abdullah Saidol should direct the relevant agencies to give a report on all the telecommunications towers in the state.
Anyway, hopefully the issue of ‘ghost towers’ will be resolved before the Hungry Ghost Festival month in July. Don’t want our telecommunications towers besieged by these ‘wondering souls’ and creating more problems for internet users!
Jokes aside, talking about weak phone lines and poor internet connectivity in Malaysia, these issues are a common feature in our daily lives. We are still in a low position as far as internet access is concerned and we lag behind neighbouring countries. The telecommunication packages offered are nothing to shout about if they do not match the facilities offered.
According to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), in terms of mobile broadband, Malaysia was ranked sixth among Asean countries and 85th in the world (MCMC monthly bulletin report, August 2020), lagging behind Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and even Myanmar in average mobile internet download speeds. Nearly three years have passed, and hopefully the situation has improved! Or, has it?
Let’s not talk about rural areas. Even cities across the country still experience issues with internet access. Several parts of Kuching and Miri too have connectivity problems, what more to say rural and remote areas where the problem can drive you nuts.
As a roving journalist, internet connectivity is mandatory to communicate with my colleagues. Sometimes poor internet access affects my work even though I am staying right in the middle of Kuching city. Or in the middle of Petaling Jaya when I travel to Peninsular Malaysia.
And when you talk to your service providers about your problem, they have a thousand and one excuses!
Network service issues should be resolved once and for all. We are penalised for late settlement of our phone bills – our lines are disconnected. However, when we complain about service quality, telecos don’t give two hoots.
Early this year, MCMC was given until June to turn things around. Communications and Digital Minister Ahmad Fahmi Mohamed Fadzil directed the commission to resolve service quality issues affecting telcos following numerous public complaints about poor internet access.
Among the complaints were in-building coverage issues where users can only access the internet when they are outside the building; once inside, the coverage drops, and the quality of service on highways is also questionable.
I am a heavy user of the internet. And I have been with the same service provider for more than 15 years. I too have my problems when it comes to internet connectivity and phone services.
If you think living in a high-rise condominium in a high-density area in Petaling Jaya will solve your problem of poor coverage, you are wrong. My iPhone signal is very weak at times. Each time I lodge a complaint with the service provider, the problem appears to be resolved, but for only a few days. It’s back to square one after that.
I am staying in a high-density area in Batu Kawa, Kuching and I face issues like dropped calls and poor reception. When I complain, the standard answers are, “Nothing seems to be wrong in your area”; “Have you checked your phone?”; or “We’ll get our technicians to check and fix the issue.”
Now, what’s happening to the much-hyped 5G mobile network? Reports say it has already been rolled out to 50 per cent of the country’s populated areas. Early this year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim brought forward the deadline for 80 per cent coverage by a year to end-2023.
We can only wish the Anwar Administration all the best.
In the meantime, the government should improve connectivity and coverage by installing a fibre network in areas with high-density population, and using satellite internet systems.
The government should also seriously consider integrating street lamps with telecommunication transmission equipment, mounted with antennae for better wireless connections.
The proposal – where telco structures would be installed on street lamp posts every 500m apart in commercial or housing areas – was initially proposed by Datuk Dr Fadhlullah Suhaimi Abdul Malek two years ago when he was the chairman of MCMC.
These bi-functional lamp posts are the way to go and perhaps Sarawak should consider it.
Also, to extend connectivity and coverage to wider areas in Sarawak, the government should make it mandatory for new housing projects to be internet-ready before the residents move in. I am not sure if local authorities have recognised telecommunications as a public utility.
In the past, people had to wait until more residents moved into a new housing project before they could enjoy internet access.
We have seven more years to achieve fully developed status in 2030 and by then hopefully the whole of Sarawak – including rural and remote areas – will enjoy uninterrupted internet connectivity and coverage. Who knows, we would be enjoying 6G or 7G networks then!
The views expressed here are those of the columnist and do not necessarily represent the views of New Sarawak Tribune.
