Penang is one the most developed state in Malaysia. Tourist from all around the world like to visit its heritage building and try one of the worlds best foods. As the federal government is focusing on the National Fiberisation and Connectivity Plan (NFCP), now Penang introduces it’s on Penang Connectivity Master Plan.
The main purpose of this master plan is to develop the city to become Malaysia’s first-gigabit state. As part of the Penang 2030 vision, “Family-friendly Green and Smart State to Inspire the Nation”, Penang state government will be working with the telecommunication providers to improve its infrastructure in the state. The Honorable Chief Minister of Penang, Chow Kon Yeow including seven telcos representatives had a meeting yesterday. Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) also join this meeting to discuss on the improvement.
According to Zairil Khir Johari, who is the chairman of the Penang Publis Works, Utilities, Flood Mitigation Committee says, Penang state government is now ready to work with all the other telecommunications providers to realize the dream of a gigabit city. He also added this master plan will really help Penang to fulfill the needs of the public and industry to become the smart city.
Other than that, 5G trials have already started by various telco providers. Penang has to be ready within the next two years to support the 5G network technology. Below is the current statistics of network coverage from MCMC.
Al-Ishsal Ishak, Chairman of MCMC says a close co-operation in needed to make sure the implementations is effective under the NFCP plan which includes increasing the connectivity. As for now, NFCP targets to provide 98% of Malaysia with the average speed 30Mbps and ensure Gigabit connectivity is available in all states by 2023. For now, there is an increase of 121.1% of the national broadband penetration rate. However, there are still 36.8 million subscribers are on mobile whereas only 2.66 million subscribers on the fixed broadband.
In conclusion, MCMC is planning to hold a similar meeting with different state senior officials such as in Perak, Sarawak, Kedah, Melaka, and Selangor to fasten the process. This means Penangite soon to be covered with gigabit connectivity in its major cities.
