KUALA LUMPUR, March 17 (Bernama) -- The National Broadband Initiative will drive the social and economic transformation towards achieving the high-income nation objective, Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Rais Yatim said on Wednesday.
It will also help the country to become more competitive through innovation, creativity, high values and free flow of information, Rais said.
"In addition, we want to expand the government's effort in providing broadband services to the masses, including those staying in the villages," he said at a briefing for editors on the National Broadband Initiative here.
Rais said that broadband was no longer considered a luxury item but a necessity.
He said the National Broadband Initiative was a comprehensive strategy with the High-Speed Broadband (HSBB) project as one of the components.
"HSBB will be implemented in selected areas for economic and business purposes and another approach is broadband for the public," he said.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak will officiate the launch of the National Broadband Initiative and HSBB at Dataran Merdeka here on March 24.
Rais said at the launch, the Prime Minister is expected to make several important announcements related to the progress of HSBB and extension of broadband services to rural areas, including those in Sabah and Sarawak.
Besides that, the government will review the national spectrum plan to add value for industries by reducing the cost of broadband services, expanding the coverage and increasing the speed, the minister said.
The savings in cost will be passed on to consumers, he said.
To expand broadband services to the rural areas, the government will build more telecommunication towers and community broadband centres, Rais said.
"This is to ensure that people in the rural areas are not left behind in the major use of information and communications technology (ICT)," he said.
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