KUCHING, May 30 — A total of 3,708 telecommunications towers have been built throughout Sarawak thus far, according to the state Utility and Telecommunication Minister, Datuk Julaihi Narawi.

He said the towers were built by various parties, including the Sarawak Digital Economy Corporation (SDEC), through the state Multimedia Authority Rural Telecommunication (SMART) initiative, and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) via the National Digital Network (Jendela) initiative.

Julaihi said these towers were also part of the 7,000 towers which Sarawak needed to achieve comprehensive coverage.

"Both SMART and Jendela towers are planned and built to complement each other throughout Sarawak’s rural areas,” he said in a statement here today.

Meanwhile, Julaihi said that the construction of towers under the SMART initiative, which consists of various heights and designs, faced various challenges.

One of the main challenges, he said, was the location of settlements in rural areas which are isolated and scattered, as well as rural areas which receive less response from telecommunication service providers.

"All the first phase SMART towers are expected to be fully operational or ‘on-air’ in the third quarter of this year.

"At the same time, the second phase of the SMART tower, which involves the construction of 300 towers, is being actively implemented in various stages, and is expected to be operational in the first quarter of 2024,” he said. — Bernama

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