Designations
- Founder and Managing Director of Extreme Broadband
- Board of Management of DE-CIX Malaysia
- Founder and Managing Director of Open DC
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Commentary points
- The government plans to provide 100% Internet coverage in populated areas and fibre optic coverage to 9 million premises nationwide by 2025.
- Jendela has been allocated RM700mil to ensure digital connectivity in 47 industrial areas and almost 3,700 schools.
- Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) to expand 5G coverage to cover 70% of highly populated areas, with spending on infrastructure set at RM1.3bil in 2023.
- A total of RM73 million is allocated to strengthen cybersecurity in Malaysia will help boost the monitoring, detection and reporting of cybersecurity threats.
- The government will enhance the green technology financing scheme (GTFS) by increasing the financing guarantee to RM3 billion until 2025
This commentary is by Internet solutions provider & data centre industry leader Mr. Weng-Yew Wong who holds 3 designations as listed above.
Weng-Yew Wong is the Founder and Managing Director of Extreme Broadband and Open DC, as well as on the Board of Management of DE-CIX Malaysia and Singapore. Extreme Broadband is a network Service Provider based in Putrajaya, Malaysia. He founded Open DC Sdn Bhd and Johor Bahru Internet Exchange (JBIX) in 2017. In 2020, JBIX merged with DE-CIX Malaysia, which is a joint venture with DE-CIX International, the leading Internet Exchange operator in the world.
“Following the announcement of the inaugural Budget 2023 tabled by Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Aziz, I firmly believe that the government is committed to advancing Malaysia’s digital infrastructure and economy. It is clear that the government intends to maximise the potential of the digital economy, particularly in its focus to enhance the 5G ecosystem which objectively will benefit the industry and the nation as a whole.
With the government’s RM8 billion investment allocation under the Jendela Phase 2 initiative to provide 100% Internet coverage in populated areas and fibre optic coverage to 9 million premises nationwide by 2025, I believe the government is taking the right step toward ensuring Malaysia’s reliable digital infrastructure. Keluarga Malaysia will now have access to faster internet speeds, lower latency, and more affordable 5G connectivity. This will provide better connectivity to the people, while bridging the internet access gap and providing a better future for those in the underserved community.
This year, the Jendela initiative has been allocated RM700mil to ensure digital connectivity in 47 industrial areas and almost 3,700 schools to increase the capabilities of local internet services, solidifying the country’s potential as a sub-regional connectivity hub. This will result in Malaysia being able to minimise latency issues, improve regional interconnectivity, and increase Internet and application performance throughout the country, benefitting modern, digital use cases for both the education sector and the economy
Furthermore, the RM1.3 billion allocation for Digital Nasional Berhad infrastructure will be spent on expanding 5G coverage to cover 70% of highly populated areas, allowing telcos to provide higher speed wireless Internet to the masses. More industrial areas will be covered as 5G coverage expands, allowing the possibility of deploying IR4.0 over low latency 5G links. Having said that, expanding 5G coverage will also help to improve the automation sector by introducing an entirely new level of data transmission speed, reliability, number of connected devices, and, perhaps most importantly, lower latency.”
The government’s allocation of a total of RM73 million to strengthen cybersecurity in Malaysia will enhance the monitoring, detection, and reporting of cybersecurity threats at a time when fraud has become increasingly prevalent. As the cybersecurity issue touches all types of businesses, the demand for cybersecurity knowhow and talents has been growing rapidly. I hope this budget will include initiatives to strengthen and replenish our Cybersecurity talent pool.
In conjunction with Malaysia’s efforts to build an ESG-driven nation, the government will increase the financing guarantee for the green technology financing scheme (GTFS) to RM3 billion until 2025 especially to EV sectors with a guarantee limit of up to 60% . Given the global interest in deploying data center powered by green energy, I hope there will also be a budget allocated to incentivise data centers to adopt green renewable energy.
