KUALA LUMPUR: Hospitals are among the top seven areas prioritised for improved network coverage, according to Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil.
He mentioned that while some public hospitals still face connection issues, the initiative aims to resolve persistent in-building mobile coverage problems and facilitate the integration of 5G technology for advanced medical applications.
"For instance, at the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre, certain blocks or floors and possibly wards experience Internet problems," said Fahmi.
"The same situation is found in Serdang Hospital, so addressing these fundamental issues is vital.
"It's crucial to establish 5G infrastructure in hospitals to support cutting-edge medical applications.
"We want to ensure that 5G infrastructure is in place to enable the deployment of such medical applications," Fahmi stated after attending the collaborative announcement session at the Malaysia International Healthcare Megatrends 2024 event yesterday.
The collaborations included the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and three international partners: the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), the Australian Investment and Trade Commission (Austrade) and the British High Commission (BHC).
Expressing optimism for the future, Fahmi urged more hospitals, public and private, to adopt applications and technologies that benefit from 5G speed.
He noted that Malaysia's 5G network performance remains outstanding, with the nation's median 5G download speed increasing to 451.79mbps, outpacing Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines.
"Our median 5G download speed improved significantly by 20% in the third quarter of last year, reaching 203.04mbps compared to 168.27mbps in the third quarter of 2022," he added.
Also present were Communications Ministry secretary-general Datuk Mohamad Fauzi Md Isa and MCMC chairman Tan Sri Mohamad Salim Fateh Din.
