KUCHING (Oct 13): A total of 341 5G sites out of 589 in Sarawak are now integrated, giving a 44.9 per cent coverage of populated area (COPA), said Datuk Julaihi Narawi.

The Utility and Telecommunication Minister said the rest of the 5G sites are expected to be integrated by the end of this year to give a COPA of 60 per cent.

He said 3,430 of completed 4G towers out of 4,055 are now ‘On Air’.

The rest of these towers are expected to be ‘On Air’ by the third quarter of 2024, he said in a statement issued after chairing the third Telecommunication Coordination Committee Meeting (TCCM) for 2023 here yesterday.

During the meeting, relevant agencies and telecommunication providers presented the progress of telecommunication projects implemented by them, respectively, for the previous quarter.

Julaihi said other related issues that were deliberated included issues related to wayleaves and vandalism, which caused millions of ringgits of losses to the utilities.

“The way forward for wayleaves application and approvals will be to digitalise the processes,” he stressed.

He added various anti-vandalism initiatives utilising the latest technologies were also discussed and considered for implementation.

The industry players also took the opportunity to highlight in the meeting the challenges faced by them, which were deliberated, and a number of issues were settled.

A total of 130 participants from 43 ministries, departments, agencies, telcos, and service providers attended the TCCM.

Among them were Deputy Minister for Utility and Telecommunication Datuk Liwan Lagang and ministry permanent secretary Jafri Lias.

The bi-monthly TCCM is to report project progress and performance by all agencies under the ministry covering both physical and financial progress; to highlight issues and challenges for projects that are delayed or potentially expected to encounter delays; to provide intervention actions to resolve the issues or challenges; to facilitate with the delivery of the projects or initiatives; and to discuss any telecommunications matters in Sarawak.