More community broadband centres to bridge digital divide

KUCHING: Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) targets to have at least two Community Broadband Centre (CBC) in every parliamentary constituency in the near future to bridge the digital divide in the state.

According to MCMC universal service provision senior director Mohd Shafie Othman, the state currently has 34 CBCs in the rural areas of 27 parliamentary constituencies in the state.

“Our initial target is to have at least two CBCs in every parliamentary constituency. At the moment we already have 34 CBCs in Sarawak and we hope to increase it soon.

“One of our primary objectives is to provide infrastructure for the rural community to bridge the digital divide,” he told reporters during a visit to a CBC at Kampung Serasot in Bau.

Mohd Shafie said the programme was a part of MCMC’s strategy to boost the state’s broadband penetration rate which is at 47.8 per cent compared to the national rate of 62.4 per cent.

He said Sarawak was at the bottom five in the national broadband penetration rate together with Sabah, Kelantan and Pahang.

“Among other initiatives to boost broadband penetration rate is through cellular towers, wireless villages and free 1Malaysia laptop.

“MCMC is allocating about 1.5 million for every CBC including five years’ operation fund, depending on the size of the centre,” he said.

Mohd Shafie said Kampung Serasot CBC, operated through Maxis, had benefitted about 1,500 residents from and around the village.Yesterday’s visit was organised by the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu).

CBC Serasot is equipped with IT equipment, audio video facilities, centralised monitoring systems and tools, training room facility and broadband connectivity using Maxis’ mSAT 2Mbps/1Mbps link.According to Maxis, the CBC project, started in 2009, was undertaken by MCMC to develop and implement.

collaborative programmes and serve as a catalyst for social and economic change to the community through the dissemination of knowledge via access to communication service.Besides Sarasot are two other CBCs by Maxis in Bau district in Krokong, Sibuluh.

Also present was Maxis Bhd head of regional sales and services, Alexius Bong.

source: borneopost online