Energy, Water and Communications Minister Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor said the RM15.2 billion infrastructure would spur economic growth further.
The speed of Internet access will be improved up to 1,000 megabits per second for large users.
Homes with a typical broadband speed of 1Mbps now could see this improve by tenfold.
"We can look forward to a new lifestyle with services such as e-Government, e-Education, e-Commerce, e-Health, Internet Protocol TV, teleworking and e-Payment," he told a briefing here yesterday. Malaysia has set a target where half of its six million households would have broadband access in 2010.
The penetration rate now stands at 18 per cent of households.
In contrast, South Korea has a penetration rate of about 93 per cent while Hong Kong's is 80 per cent.
Shaziman said based on initial assessments, HSBB could improve Malaysia's gross domestic product by RM6.68 billion or 1 per cent by 2010.
He added it could also create 135,000 new jobs.
The HSBB infrastructure would be developed over 10 years. It will be carried out in two phases.
Phase one would cost RM11.3 billion, covering 1.3 million premises, Shaziman said.
For the first phase, TM will spend RM8.9 billion over 10 years and the government will invest RM2.4 billion over three years.
After signing the agreement, TM will have six months to plan the network and design, and call for tenders.
"Once phase one is completed, the government will revaluate it to decide on phase two," Shaziman said.
However, Shaziman said the total cost to implement HSBB could be lower than the estimated RM15.2 billion because of open tenders.
Under phase one, the country will be classified into three zones for the roll-out process.
Zone 1 will cover high impact and growth corridors such as Kuala Lumpur, Johor Baru and north-east of Penang.
It will enjoy speeds of up to 1,000Mbps.
Zone 2 will be covered by speeds of up to 2Mbps, while zone 3 refers to rural areas where the digital divide needs to be addressed with financing from the Universal Service Provision fund under the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission.
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Quelle/Source: New Straits Times, 16.05.2008
