Extend fiberisation to other infrastructure, govt urged

KUALA LUMPUR: The National Fiberisation and Connectivity Plan (NFCP) should be extended to other infrastructures in Malaysia, especially if the country aims to be 5G-ready, says edotco Group chief executive officer Suresh Sidhu.

He noted that the country’s current tower infrastructure is still relatively under-fiberised and only about 30 per cent to 40 per cent of towers in the country are integrated with fibre.

“It is crucial to ensure that the country is equipped with the right telecommunications infrastructure.

“To meet price and speed aspirations we need to encourage more infrastructure sharing and adoption of fixed wireless access,” Suresh said in a statement.

In the 2019 Budget tabled yesterday, the government said it plans to implement the NFCP with an allocation of RM1 billion to promote the digital economy.

Meanwhile, Sunway Malls and Theme Parks chief executive officer Hoi Choy Chan said in the government’s efforts to grow Industry 4.0 adoption especially in knowledge transfer and artificial intelligence (AI) development, matching grants would drive higher productivity and cost rationalisation in the mall and retail industry.

“We take note of the significance of Malaysia’s projected Gross Domestic Product growth rate of 4.8 per cent for 2018 and 4.9 per cent for 2019, against projections of global growth next year.

“This underscores the relative resilience of the Malaysian economy in the face of global headwinds and protracted trade war. In the light of this and the country’s current fiscal position, the overall 2019 Budget is targeted while excising prudence,” he added. – BERNAMA

Source: NST