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MIRI, April 12 — The Smart City concept will be expanded to other major towns in Sarawak following its successful launch in Miri today, Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari said.
He also said he expects hubs, such as Kuching, Sibu and Bintulu, to be transformed into smart cities in stages over the next few years, with the rest of Sarawak to follow by 2030.
“By this, we mean all the services in these major towns will be at the push of a button,” he said.
“Therefore, it is necessary for us to lay down the infrastructure first.”
Abang Johari said Miri would be a test case for the state government to determine whether the digitalisation process is effective and something that the people can understand.
He said all services provided by Miri City will be linked to the Command Centre in Kuching, and the same would apply for other towns chosen for the Smart City concept later.
The chief minister also said the state government is in discussions with the federal government over its own spectrum.
“At the moment, the central spectrum is held by telecommunication companies. But these telcos are sometimes quite reluctant to go to rural areas because there is no income business-wise,” he said.
“For them, the bottom line is money because they are public-listed companies.
“We are now negotiating with the federal government to give the spectrum to the Sarawak Digital Economy Corporation (SDEC) which is under the Sarawak Multimedia Authority (SMA),”
Abang Johari said SDEC will concentrate on the construction of infrastructure, such as fibre optics.
“The moment we are given the spectrum, we will get at least 700 megahertz. With that kind of signal, data will travel at a fast speed in real time,” he said.