Kota Kinabalu: Sabah's broadband penetration rate is one of the lowest in the country, which is at 11.9 per household compared to Kuala Lumpur (41.5), Labuan (14.4) and Penang (26.0).
Resource Development and Information Technology Minister Datuk Dr Yee Moh Chai said such ranking called for a more widespread education and dissemination of information on the importance of high-speed broadband especially in the people's daily lives.
"Through the initiatives of the Federal and State governments, a number of projects have been carried out to promote and further develop the ICT industry in the whole nation including Sabah.
"A government blueprint called Malaysian Information Communications Multimedia Services 886 (MyICMS886) has been introduced as a strategy to draw linkages and synergies of existing plans and programmes to promote and further develop the ICT industry in the country.
"To encourage and further the blueprint, high speed broadband is one of the eight services under its core elements. The MyICMS886 emphasises that high speed broadband service encompasses both fixed and wireless broadband and will complement the demand for high speed mobile Internet access, which will be continuously enhanced under the service category of 3G and beyond," he said.
Dr Yee said this at the launching of a Broadband Opportunities Talk Series here on Wednesday.
This programme was held in conjunction with the Sabah ICT Month 2008 and jointly organised by Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), Sabah IT Development Unit, Sabah Computer Services Department and the Sabah Computer Society.
The programme is one of MCMC's initiatives contributing towards nurturing user confidence which is one of the 10 National Policy Objectives.
The objectives are not only to create awareness among the public on the type of ICT developments but specifically to educate and enhance promotion of broadband as an important 'in' tool in the public's daily lives.
Dr Yee cited as example the e-desa programme implemented by the State government which is aimed at the rural residents to promote the usage of ICT.
For instance, he said, e-desa Kundasang that targeted at the rural farmers in Kg. Bundu Tuhan to jump-start the villagers in experiencing the use and value of ICT.
He said he was also made to understand that MCMC has several projects up its sleeves to complement government efforts to promote and further develop the ICT industry.
Among them, Dr Yee stated are the e-community Centre in Kg. Sg. Damit, Tuaran (a hi-tech rural community centre equipped with fibre optic wireless high speed broadband), computer lab for Kimanis Complex Rehabilitation for Physically Disabled People, Community Broadband Library in Kanibongan, Pitas that is a rural library equipped with broadband facilities; and recently, Community Broadband Centre (CBC) in Kg. Sukau. The CBC is equipped with training facilities and a manager hired from among the locals to run the centre.
He said such educational projects have helped narrow the digital divide.
"The advancement of the information communication technology has been phenomenal. It has given impact on our social work and this can be seen through the widespread use of online social network sites.
"The government sees this as a positive development as we have been promoting the usage of broadband and thus creativity amongst the Malaysian content. But, we must not forget that in this borderless world of the Internet, we must honour the available legislation and be more self-disciplined," he said.
Also present were Deputy State Secretary cum Sabah State Chief Information Officer, Datuk Gregory Joitol, Permanent Secretary of the Yee's ministry Datuk Abidin Madingkir cum Chairman for the Sabah ICT Month 2008 Celebration, MCMC Sabah and Labuan Region director Ahmad Nor Hisham Mohd Yusop, director of Sabah IT Advancement Unit Bruno Vun and Sabah Computer Society President Taitim Tulas.