Johari said besides towns, equal importance must be placed on infrastructure for telecommunication in the rural areas as Sarawak’s Internet and broadband services needed improvement and upgrading.

“The Internet and broadband speed must be rapid for economic transformation. There were times when I clicked on a website, only to get a circle, as the page took time to finish loading,” he said.

He said Internet speed in rural areas should be at the very least 150Mbps (megabits per second) from the current 5Mpbs.

“The current trend was in fact ‘terabits per second’,” said Johari.

He was speaking yesterday at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the “DBKU Metropolitan Free Wifi’ project” between PP Telecommunications Sdn Bhd (PPTelecom) and the Kuching North City Commission (DBKU).

Johari told the media on the sidelines that Sarawak needed advanced fibre optic-based telecommunications infrastructure. At present, the system was copper-based.

“Speed is very important,” reiterated Johari who is also Housing and Urbanisation Minister. “E-commerce depends on speed.”

He cited the Ali Baba Group and America Online Incorporated (AOL) as examples of successful Internet-based services. “They have speed and infrastructure,” he noted.