Telekom Malaysia (TM) has announced its commitment to support Sabah’s Maju Jaya aspiration with a plan to increase fibre access in the East Malaysian state. The fibre broadband giant is targetting to cover a minimum of 145,000 premises with fibre in the next three years and to achieve 58% fibre coverage in the state by the end of 2025. This would enable more Sabahans to enjoy faster broadband via Unifi and other telcos that are tapping on the HSBB network.
The targets were announced by TM during an engagement session with Sabah’s Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Hajiji Haji Noor yesterday. According to TM, they have invested more than RM1.1 billion in CAPEX in Sabah since 2012 to improve connectivity and fiberisation. At the moment, they have covered close to 282,000 premises with fibre and have laid 32,000km of fibre optic cables statewide.
TM has also rolled out 59 fibre connectivity sites at schools in Sabah which serves as Points of Presence (PoP). In total, TM has deployed over 600,000km of fibre optic cables throughout Malaysia and will continue to expand in line with JENDELA. The JENDELA initiative aims at achieving 7.5 million fibre premises passed by the end of this year and there are already more than 7 million fibre passed premises nationwide as of Q1 2022.
To improve browsing experience of Sabahans, TM has deployed TM Internet Exchange (TMIX) nodes in Kota Kinabalu and Penampang, and there are more upcoming nodes in Inanam, Kinarut, Menggatal and Putatan that are expected to be up and running by December 2022. To enable faster delivery of content, TM is also establishing a Content Delivery Network (CDN) node and an International Gateway (IGW) in Penampang by Q1 2023. This would allow Over-The-Top (OTT) players to host their content closer to users.
Sabah is one of the most underserved states in the country when it comes to connectivity. Following the viral video of Veveonah climbing a tree to complete her online exam, TM upgraded the nearest Pusat Internet (Internet community centre) at Pitas, Sabah with 300Mbps Fibre Broadband. It was the first Pusat Internet with 300Mbps speeds in the state.
Besides TM, Celcom is also deploying its own fibre network in Sabah through Celcom Timur Sdn Bhd (CTSB) and they offer home broadband plans with speeds up to 1Gbps. In hard to reach interior villages with no access to 4G or fibre, satellite connectivity is seen as alternative solution to provide internet access. ConnectMe Now, a prepaid WiFi service that uses MEASAT’s satellite, has been deployed in several locations including Kampung Waluhu, Kampung Saliliran, Kampung Magandai and Kampung Tulang-Tulang in Sabah.
Related reading
- TM upgrades internet centre closest to Veveonah’s village to 300Mbps
- Celcom and ZTE to upgrade 100 4G sites in Sabah and Sarawak using 900MHz spectrum
- Celcom Home Fibre offers same-day installation but only if you’re staying at these locations in Sabah
- Satellite broadband deployed at Kg Waluhu, Sabah to help students who risk their lives to study online
