IPOH, April 8 — Perak is planning to build 105 new telecommunication substations within two years to boost broadband facilities and services in the state.

State Communications and Multimedia Committee chairman Khairul Shahril Mohamed said the focus of the constructions would be in rural areas to ensure residents in the interior have access to good telecommunication services as in urban areas..

‘’We are identifying suitable locations for the new substations before construction is expected to start in stages this year.

‘’We don’t have the actual allocation (construction cost), it is contributed by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), apart from the government and also industry players,’’ he said.

He was speaking at a media conference after a briefing on the implementation of the Perak telecommunications infrastructure development which was also attended by ­Perak Digital chief executive officer Meor Rezal Fitri Datuk Meor Redwan and Perak MCMC director Zairul Nahar Zakaria.

Khairul Shahril said 2,132 existing substations had been registered and the number was expected to go up to 2,800 statewide when the whitening exercise is actively carried out.

‘’The legalising exercise is being conducted not to obtain revenue for the state government but to ensure safety is assured. To date, it is estimated that 712 new substations have applied for registration,’’ he said.

Khairul Shahril also reminded structure owners who have yet to register them to do so in the stipulated period from April 1 to Sept 31 before action is taken.

Earlier, he said the Telecommunication Information Management System (TIMS) which is a database to facilitate the monitoring of telecommunication infrastructure developments apart from planning new telecommunication structures and to facilitate the monitoring of illegal telecommunication structures.

He said every telecommunication structure must be in compliance with the state government policy and have valid permits from the local authorities (PBT) and the Perak Land and Mines Department (PTG) to reduce security risks and untoward incidents.

‘’It is very important to construct legitimate telecommunication transmission system structures and towers to reduce security risks and avoid untoward incidents from taking place,’’ he added. — Bernama