SHAH ALAM: The government will continue with efforts to expand coverage and increase Internet speed nationwide, says Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil.
Currently, he said only about 3% of populated areas in the country still did not have Internet access.
“Among the efforts we have made are increasing the capacity of telecommunications networks as well as the capacity of the existing infrastructure, and constructing new telecommunication towers.
“In addition, the government is focusing on the development and improvement of digital facilities in interior and rural areas to ensure equal access to technology and the Internet nationwide,” he said in his speech when presenting PerantiSiswa devices and launching MyDigital.KKD at Universiti Teknologi Mara here yesterday.
Fahmi said his ministry’s current priority was to address the existing digital divide.
Meanwhile, he said 474,311 applications had been received under the PerantiSiswa initiative since April 15 last year.
Of that number, he said 368,803 PerantiSiswa recipients had been identified while 105,508 applicants were rejected.
Learning gadget: PerantiSiswa recipients showing off their devices during the event at Universiti Teknologi Mara in Shah Alam. — Bernama
“However, of the 105,508 failed applications, the second screening conducted found that 31,699 of them were from the B40 group.
“The 31,699 applications have been screened again as there are criteria, including whether they are part-time students, final-year students, or have ever received device assistance. Then, from that number, it was found that 23,394 students met the conditions (to receive the devices),” he added.
According to Fahmi, the initiative involves a total cost of RM450mil and has benefited 359,742 students of institutions of higher learning from B40 households.
In order to speed up the distribution of PerantiSiswa devices, his ministry has activated 31 centralised distribution centres nationwide for three weeks starting Feb 17.
“Through this centralised distribution, a total of 33,540 devices have been distributed within three weeks. The distribution of the remaining 9,000 devices is expected to be completed soon,” he said.
When asked if the initiative to help school students in B40 families would be continued, he said his ministry was currently in the process of examining the matter.
“We are in the process of examining additional applications, views or perhaps feedback, criticisms and so on,” he said.
“At this time, we want to complete the remaining distribution; when the time comes, we will make an announcement.” — Bernama
