Telcos must improve internet service in Sabah, says Jeffrey

A screenshot of a video shows Sabah student Veveonah Mosibin inside her mosquito net on top of a tree near her village in Pitas, with a hornet trapped inside. She had to stay on the tree to get better internet reception to sit for an exam.

KOTA KINABALU: Cellular and broadband services in Sabah rural areas are still seriously lacking, said Deputy Tourism, Culture and Arts Minister Jeffrey Kitingan.

He said a survey by Sabah’s education and innovation ministry showed that only 50% of the students in Sabah had smartphones or internet data.

He also noted that 2016 data showed that broadband coverage in the state stood only around 45%.

As such, Jeffrey hoped the communications and multimedia ministry would take the lead in instructing all telcos to ramp up their services.

“The importance of better broadband speed and coverage is very much needed now as many embrace the new norm in taking all businesses and learning online.

“It is critical for the government to assist the students in Sabah by improving the telecommunications and internet network in the state, especially in the suburban and rural areas. This will enable them to continue with their education online at home, until the schools reopen,” he said.

Jeffrey, who is also the Tambunan assemblyman, said improving the internet service is also a necessity as the World Health Organization director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had warned world leaders that “the coronavirus will be with us for a long time”.

Recently, a Universiti Malaysia Sabah student, Veveonah Mosibin, caught the public’s attention with her efforts to get better internet reception to sit for her exam online by sitting on top of a tall tree near her home.

She had to resort to this because of the poor internet reception in Kampung Sapatalang Pitas, 160km from here.

Her video experience “24 Hours On Tree Challenge” on June 13 was uploaded onto YouTube. In the process, she was almost bitten by a hornet trapped inside her mosquito net.

Mosibin sat for a Chemistry paper in the morning and Malaysian Studies in the afternoon. - FMT

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