Who says there is no free lunch ?
Rural Sarawak to get free satellite TV service
MIRI, Sept 27 — Some 2,400 longhouse settlements and isolated villages in Sarawak can expect better television reception under a free satellite television broadcast service to be launched next month, Deputy Information Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Joseph Salang said today.
He said the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and satellite television service provider Astro were working out an arrangement to provide the service.
Discussions were going on to come up with the method to distribute the decoder units in the identified areas, he told reporters after launching a communication and multimedia consumer empowerment programme, here.
Salang said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had directed that a free satellite television broadcast service be launched after listening to the complaints from people in the isolated areas over poor television reception.
The implementation of the service was expected to enable between 15 and 20 per cent more people in rural Sarawak to enjoy better television reception, he said.
Salang said similar services would be provided for isolated settlements in Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah where television reception was poor or not available.
However, he said, the free decoders would not be distributed to all rural residents as some of them could afford to pay for the satellite television broadcast service.
Launching the empowerment programme earlier, Salang asked telecommunication and multimedia service providers to take immediate action to resolve the problems faced by their consumers.
He said he had received many complaints on the quality of service which should be addressed immediately as the service was gaining importance in the daily life of the people.
“In facing the era of globalisation, our country cannot lag behind in development and competition with other countries, particularly in terms of progress in communication and multimedia,” he said. — Bernama
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