More than 97% of silver state covered by 4G

UP TO the second quarter of this year, 4G coverage in Perak has reached 97.35%, says state communications and multimedia committee chairman Mohd Azlan Helmi.

On Jalinan Digital Negara (Jendela) for the second quarter, 92 out of 206 towers planned in the state are now operational.

“A total of 2,477 out of the 2,500 planned transmitting stations have been completed as well, while some 321,620 premises are available with fibre optic connections and all 73 planned locations have satellite broadband service.

“All planned projects are expected to be completed fully by the end of 2025,” he said in reply to a question by Wong Chai Yi (PH-Simpang Pulai) on the implementation of Jendela to provide 4G coverage in the state.

She also asked about efforts taken by the state government to speed up 5G implementation.

Jendela was launched in September 2020 with the goal of putting in place robust, high quality and affordable digital connectivity by improving broadband quality and coverage, and providing Internet access to all corners of the country.

Mohd Azlan said the state government was committed to speeding up the expansion of 5G technology while ensuring that all levels of society could enjoy better communications.

As such, a 5G task force known as “Greater Ipoh” has been set up with the involvement of several government departments and agencies.

The state government has also implemented a programme to replace current streetlight poles with “smart poles” to speed up implementation and provide telecommunications coverage in densely populated areas.

He said Ipoh City Council had appointed nine network facilities provider companies to carry out installation of the smart poles.

“So far 34 smart poles have been built around the city and 172 sites have been approved.

“The number of smart poles depends on approval from Digital Nasional Bhd as 5G coordinator and demand from telco companies,” he added.