Rumah Kiroh folk in Rantau Limau show their thumbs-up for the WiFi Saluran service. The longhouse is about a two-hour, off-road drive from Pakan.
KUCHING: Sarawak Multimedia Authority (SMA)’s Linking Urban, Rural and Nation (Saluran) initiative – or WiFi Saluran (WS) – has reached 50 per cent in works progress towards completion since the project kicked off early last month.
According to SMA, 102 rural communities between Lundu and Subis and those from Mukah to Baram, are now enjoying satellite broadband service.
“The WS project is about installing Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) to targeted remote rural areas as interim solutions to the First-300 telecommunication tower project.
“The selection of VSAT sites is determined by the existing locations of the First 300 towers, and once the towers come
on-air, the respective VSATs would be deployed to where they are needed,” said SMA.
Despite the challenges of last-minute Covid-19-related lockdown decisions, SMA said the installation of WS had kept pace with the completion timeline thus far.
The full deployment of 200 VSAT terminals would eventually cover all districts in Sarawak, which is expected to reach completion by end of this month.
“SMA has been making concerted efforts to bridge the digital gaps in a sustainable and holistic fashion,” said SMA general manager Dr Zaidi Razak.
He also said the pandemic had definitely heightened the urgency to address connectivity issue in a land mass the size of Sarawak.
He said despite such challenges, the SMA had pulled out all the stops to fast-track various connectivity projects as mandated by the Sarawak government.
WS is part of SMA’s Saluran telecommunication initiatives to cover 98 per cent of Sarawak’s populated areas by 2022.