Malaysia to build broadband facilities

Malaysia to build broadband facilities

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will sink 800 million ringgit (US$210.52 million) into broadband facilities to expand the service to rural areas and roll out faster access to the Internet, reports said Saturday.

Energy, Communications and Multimedia Minister Lim Keng Yaik was quoted by the New Straits Times as saying broadband penetration nationwide was very low at only 0.44 percent, compared with 48 percent in neighboring Singapore and 60 percent in South Korea.

The broadband access would be expanded also to connect schools, government offices, universities and research institutions for telemedicine in local clinics, he added.--AFP