Broadband - The New Buzzword After NBI Roll-out
"Broadband" will be the new buzzword for every Malaysian when the National Broadband Initiative (NBI) goes into full gear.
With the tagline "Broadband For All", the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), which is spearheading the bold initiative, will ensure that all Malaysians, either in the suburbs, rural or remote areas, have access to broadband services.
In a special briefing for Bernama editors on the National Broadband Initiative recently, MCMC Chairman Tan Sri Khalid Ramli said the NBI was envisioned to transform Malaysia into a knowledge society and to leapfrog into a high-income economy by 2020.
"We want to expand the government's efforts in providing broadband services to the masses, including those staying in the villages," he said.
Under the initiative, the Commission, which is under the Ministry of Information, Communications and Culture, has targeted a 50 per cent or equivalent to 3.2 million homes broadband penetration by end-2010. This will contribute one per cent to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and create 135,000 new job opportunities this year.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak will launch the new National Broadband Initiative as well as Telekom Malaysia's next-generation High Speed Broadband (HSBB) retail service at Dataran Merdeka tomorrow.
The RM11.3 billion national HSBB, which is a flagship project of the NBI, is a public-private-partnership agreement between Telekom Malaysia and the government to develop next generation high-speed broadband infrastructure and services for the nation.
The NBI divides the nation into three zones. Zone One consists of high economic impact areas such as the inner Klang Valley and the Iskandar Development Region in Johor. Zone Two will be other urban and semi-urban areas while Zone Three will be rural areas.
Telekom Malaysia will roll out its high speed broadband (HSBB) in excess of 10 Mbps in this zone. Residents of Zone One will also have access to other competitive broadband solutions.
The initial four areas that will be covered by TM HSBB services will be Shah Alam, Subang Jaya, Taman Tun Dr Ismail and Bangsar.
The NBI plan envisions private initiatives bringing broadband to Zone Two areas. The rollout of broadband in zone three will require intervention by MCMC using Universal Service Provision (USP) funds.
Provision of broadband in these areas includes Basic Telephony (through fixed and mobile network), Community Broadband Library (CBL) and Community Broadband Centre (CBC).
The cellular coverage in these areas will be widened by building more communication towers funded through the USP to facilitate the cellular operators to expand their coverage to 97 per cent of the population by 2011.
Khalid said the broadband would also create opportunities and markets for applications and content developers. At present, the content industry in Malaysia was estimated at RM7 billion, he said.