Labuan set to become a major data centre
Published on: Wednesday, June 01, 2016
Labuan: The island has "big potential" of becoming a data centre once the 52-kilometer submarine fibre optic telecommunication cable is established between Kiamsan and Tungku in Brunei by the third quarter of this year.Member of Parliament Datuk Rozman Isli (pic) said: "The important telecommunication infrastructure would provide a second access via Brunei to international digital gateways with the cable's increased traffic capacity high speed internet services would be possible."Rozman said he was happy that the Minister of Communication and Multimedia Datuk Seri Salleh Tun Said Keruak had realised the urgency of the project and speeded up the facilitation of the project which is a joint undertaking between Sabah, Brunei and other parties.
ADVERTISEMENT
He added that the project called Labuan-Brunei Cable System (LBC) when in operation would not only benefit Labuan but also Sabah."Present day investors look into the status of the internet services available before deciding on establishing their main operations base in the locality"Rozman said he had spoken to the Minister of the woefully inadequate broadband services on the island despite the island being an International Business and Financial Centre (IBFC) as well as an oil gas hub. He said he had received complaints from these two sectors that the internet services in Labuan was "backward" compared to the financial centres like Singapore.
ADVERTISEMENT
"Services available were outdated and mismatched with the island's status. In most cases the speed was at four megabits per second compared to the higher speed available even in the backlands of Singapore.Rozman said apart from the LBC, he had been told that 49 telecommunications transmission stations were being upgraded to Long Term Evolution (LTE) to speed up the broadband penetration in Labuan.
ADVERTISEMENT
Adding to this 12 new transmitters were also built under commercial planning of service provides such as Celcom, Digi and Maxis.Rozman's comments came in the wake of a news report in Brunei Times which stated that the Brunei International Gateway Sdn Bhd (BIG) has concluded an agreement with Malaysian telecommunications company, Common Tower Technology Sdn Bhd. (CTSB) to land a new submarine cable between here and Brunei.The project when completed would give BIG an increased capacity to sell to international customers.LBC would gain access to international gateways via AAG (Asian-America Gateway) SIC (South E Asia-Japan Cable System) and SMW3 (SEA-Middle East-Western Europe).Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
Daily Express Malaysia
