Residents of Rumah Kiroh Rantau Limau giving their thumb up to their new WIFI SALURAN service. The longhouse is another 2-hour 4x4 drive from Pakan.

KUCHING, 2nd March, 2021 – The Sarawak Multimedia Authority (SMA) is pleased to announce the 50% milestone completion rate for the WIFI SALURAN (WS) interim connectivity solutions since the project began in early February, 2021.

From Lundu to Subis and from Mukah to Baram, a hundred and two rural communities in between these stretches of Sarawak are now enjoying satellite broadband service.

The WS project is about installing Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) to targeted remote rural areas as interim solutions to the First-300 telecommunication tower project. The selection of VSAT sites is, therefore, determined by the existing locations of the First 300 towers and once the towers come on air, the respective VSATs will be deployed to where they are needed.

Users who have Sarawak ID will get a free 1GB Internet access per month for the WS service.

Despite the challenges of last-minute COVID-19-related lockdown decisions, the installation of WS has kept paced with the completion timeline thus far. The full deployment of two hundred VSAT terminals will eventually cover all the districts of Sarawak and is expected to be completed by end of March, 2021.

‘SMA has been making concerted efforts to bridge the digital gaps in a sustainable and holistic fashion’, emphasised Dr Zaidi Bin Razak, General Manager of SMA.

‘The pandemic has definitely heightened the urgency to address connectivity issue in a land mass the size of Sarawak. Despite such challenges, the Authority has pulled out all stops to fast track various connectivity projects as mandated by the state government’, assured Dr Zaidi.

WIFI SALURAN is part of SMA’s SALURAN telecommunication initiatives to cover 98% of Sarawak’s populated areas by 2022.