Ahmad Shabery said the government was committed to empowering the development of ICT in the rural areas to bridge the digital divide among the people in the country.
TENOM (Sabah) -- Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek said providing Information Communication Technology (ICT) facility in the interior was among the priority of the government to ensure rural residents were not marginalised from information technology development.
He said the government was committed to empowering the development of ICT in the rural areas to bridge the digital divide among the people in the country.
"It is our commitment, we want nobody in the country to feel marginalised because there is no 3G, streamyx coverage in their areas.
"This is among the priorities we need to carry out," he told reporters after launching the SK Community Broadband Centre (CBC) at Kuala Tomani, here today.
Ahmad Shabery said in this regard, broadband services would be extended to the rural areas by focussing on speed and internet coverage.
"The main grouse of broadband coverage at the village level is the poor speed which often resulted in long period of buffering. This turned off the people," he said.
SK CBC is the only broadband community centre in the country to be developed completely by SK Telecom (SKT) with the cooperation of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).
SKT is the largest telecommunication in South Korea and has almost 27 million customers in that country.
SK CBC which used a concept almost similar to the 1Malaysia Internet Centre (PI1M) offered the latest technology such as Giga Wifi, M-caching server and Self-switching controller which would enable Kuala Tomani residents located about 40km from here to gain fast internet access.
On SK CBC, Ahmad Shabery said he was impressed with the infrastructure set up at the community broadband centre which appeared to be effective in assisting Kuala Tomani villagers enjoy ICT facility.
Asked on whether Giga Wifi would be used at PI1M, he said the goverment needed to take into consideration the cost before making a decision.
Ahmad Shabery said the ministry was prepared to hold discussions on the new technology offered in the effort to develop PI1M nationwide.
SK CBC is open from Monday to Saturday from 8.30am to 4.30pm to meet the needs of the people in Kuala Tomani in eight villages.