Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd (Digi) and TM GLOBAL, the Wholesale arm of Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) have partnered to improve Digi’s Internet connectivity between Peninsular Malaysia with Sabah and Sarawak.
One of the 3 business arrangements signed today consists of the utilisation of Sistem Kabel Rakyat 1Malaysia (SKR1M), the inter-region submarine cable system between Peninsular Malaysia with Sabah and Sarawak that was jointly developed under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) collaboration between TM and MCMC.
In December 2014, MCMC awarded the contract to develop and construct Sistem Kabel Rakyat 1Malaysia (SKR1M) project to Telekom Malaysia. SKR1M has got 5 landing points: Mersing-Kuching (800km), Kuching-Bintulu (500km), Bintulu-Miri (190km), Miri-Kota Kinabalu (440km), Kota Kinabalu-Kuantan (1,570km). TIME dotCom Berhad (TIME) also funded and owns a portion of this submarine cable system. Both TIME and TM are responsible for the Operation and Maintenance of the SKR1M cable system for 20 years.
The cable system uses 100Gbps technology at an initial capacity of 4 Terabit per second (Tbps) and upgradeable to a minimum of 12.8Tbps. The construction of SKR1M was completed in September 2017 by Japan-based NEC Corporation.
TM GLOBAL will facilitate Digi’s high capacity transmission requirements making Digi the anchor service provider for this cable system to East Malaysia.
As part of the deal, Digi will also optimise the use of more than 7,000 TM hotspots nationwide providing WiFi connectivity to the public.
TM GLOBAL and Digi are also in a pact for the last mile connectivity at Kampung Mat Daling, Pahang, another project under the Universal Service Provision (USP) initiative that involves network fiberisation by TM, extending Internet reach to the underserved areas.
Albern Murty, Chief Executive Officer of Digi said, “Industry partnerships play an important part in driving the nation’s agenda to provide greater connectivity across the country. In our purpose to connect Malaysians to what matters most, we will actively work with strategic partners like TM to improve the quality and range of service offerings for Malaysians that will bring more socio-economic benefits for them.”
The agreements were signed by Amar Huzaimi Md Deris, Executive Vice President, TM GLOBAL and Alex Foo, Head of Strategy and Transformation, Digi. Also present to witness the event were Al-Ishsal Ishak, Chairman, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), Dato’ Noor Kamarul Anuar Nuruddin, Group Chief Executive Officer, TM and Albern Murty, Chief Executive Officer, Digi.
