MIRI, Oct 8 — A total of 681 fibre-optic Points of Presence (PoP) will be built in Sarawak within three years, says Communications and Multimedia Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa.

He said the initiative involving an allocation of RM1 billion would benefit more than 73,000 premises including residential houses.

According to Annuar, the Letter of Acceptance (LoA) for the PoP construction project was given to a local company in the state on Oct 6.

He said the effort was taken by the Federal Government as it understood the situation where many areas in Sarawak were still in dire need of high-speed fixed broadband networks and services.

“With the LoA issued, we hope this will enable the company to offer high-speed internet packages at prices as low as RM45 per month with good service quality,” he said in a press conference here today.

Annuar said each PoP could cover a radius of about 3 kilometres and those within it could have access to good broadband services.

He added that the PoP would also be built near schools, government premises, as well as business and commercial areas.

In total, 4,323 PoP have been planned to be built under the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) in areas near rural schools, including 47 PoP for industrial areas.

At least 432,300 premises will receive high-speed broadband services when the project is completed by the end of 12MP in 2025. — Bernama