MIRI, April 2 (Bernama) -- A wireless broadband network using WiFi (wireless fidelity) is
being developed to enable 80 percent internet penetration in Miri by next year, Sarawak
Assistant Infrastructure Development and Communication Minister Lee Kim Shin said
Monday.
Being undertaken by a state-owned communication company, Sacofa Sdn Bhd, with Danawa
Resources Sdn Bhd as its partner, work began last January and has already reached about 20
percent penetration, he added.
"There are now 10 base stations and 30 more will be set up to achieve the 80 percent
coverage target by next year at the latest," he told a press conference after chairing the Miri
Broadband Stakeholders Group (BSG) meeting here.
Trial runs on the connectivity, he added, have shown promising results and the companies
will set up booster cells between the base stations to improve connectivity.
"These cells will boost connections in blind spots and if this can be done, we will be the first
city to have this kind of super wi-fi connection in the country," he said.
Each base station, according to Lee, can create a hotzone with a 500-metre radius but this
can extend as far as 1.5 km in a clear straight line.
The wider range, Lee said, is close to the range offered by the Wimax system (for which
licences were recently given by the Federal Government).
High speed wireless internet connection in Miri has become necessary following the
presence of multinational companies such as Shell, Petronas and many foreign oil and gas
companies which need reliable internet connection for their operations.
A BSG survey counted 55,608 broadband users in Miri.
"We have overwhelming demand for broadband internet connection to be improved and BSG has to work harder so that the people will get it," said Lee, who is also the state
assemblyman for the Senadin constituency which is part of Miri. |
