KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 28 — A total of 2,338 new telecommunication towers out of the 3,884 planned through the National Digital Network Plan (Jendela) to upgrade broadband networks across the country have been completed and operational as of the fourth quarter of last year.

The Ministry of Communications said the 39,979 transmitting stations out of the planned 40,214 have also been upgraded and 3.31 million premises out of the planned 4.19 million have been made available with fibre optic networks.

“The rest of all planned initiatives are expected to be completed and operational in stages by the end of 2025,” according to the ministry in a written reply posted on the Parliament’s website today.

It was in reply to a question by Datuk Zulkafperi Hanapi (PN-Tanjong Karang) about the latest results of the government’s plans to expand the broadband network throughout the country.

According to the ministry, the government also implemented the Point of Presence (PoP) fiber optic hub method to expand the implementation of broadband with 653 PoPs out of 677 PoPs for Phase One and 294 PoPs out of 3,693 PoPs for Phase Two have been completed nationwide as of Feb 15.

In other developments, the ministry said 155 complaints were received and investigated by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) regarding offences under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (Act 588) throughout last year.

A total of 66 cases or 43 per cent involved fake content, 47 cases (30 per cent) offensive content, 36 cases (23 per cent) obscene content and three cases each (two per cent) of threatening and indecent content.

Of the total number of cases, 108 cases have the status of No Further Action (NFA) and No Offence Disclosed (NOD), 33 cases are still being investigated, eight cases have been issued with Warning Notices and three have been charged in court and three have been offered a compound .

“Cases classified as NFA or NOD are because there is no strong evidence to link the suspect to the offence investigated under Section 233 of Act 588,” according to the Ministry of Communications.

The ministry was answering a question from Syerleena Abdul Rashid (PH-Bukit Bendera) regarding the statistics of cases under Section 233 of Act 588.

In addition, the ministry said MCMC had blocked 1,122 pornographic and obscene sites from Jan 1 2023 to Feb 15 2024. — Bernama