TM service upgrade in M’ggatal area
Published on: Thursday, November 19, 2020
By: Sidney Skinner
TM technicians pulling a fibre optic cable in Manggatal.
TELEKOM Malaysia (TM) Bhd is in the process of upgrading its infrastructure in one part of Manggatal.A TM spokesman said the copper cables used to provide the company’s telephone and Internet services were being replaced with those of a fibre-optic variety.
ADVERTISEMENT
“This is being done in response to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission’s ‘fibre-risation’ initiative to improve the high-speed broadband for our customers here,” he said.
He said TM welcomed the move to phase out the copper lines as these wires had increasingly become the target of metal thieves in some areas.
“We would replace the stolen cables only to find that they had been pilfered shortly thereafter.
“We ran up a substantial cost in constantly having to install new copper wires because of this.”
ADVERTISEMENT
The spokesman said the management was looking forward to seeing an end to the mounting frustrations and expenditure related to the thefts.
“We have been changing the existing wires to fibre-optic lines in stages around the town since the middle of October.”
ADVERTISEMENT
The spokesman said hundreds of its subscribers in Manggatal had had their TM services temporarily disrupted due to the ongoing “migration” effort.
He apologised, on behalf of the company, for the inconvenience caused to the affected customers, including an elderly telephone customer who lives in Taman Richdar.
The individual has been unable to make or receive calls for the past month as no dial tone is audible when she picks up the receiver.
She provided Hotline with her billing particulars which were forwarded to TM.
The spokesman said the company would be offering the subscriber a rebate on her charges while her home phone had been out of order.
When asked how much would be refunded to the customer, he declined to disclose the amount of the rebate.
“The customer’s account will be accordingly adjusted. This will be reflected in her upcoming bill,” he said on November 12.
“We are in the midst of trying to finish the migration work in her area. This is taking a bit of time as it involves a distribution box along Lorong 2 where she lives.”
He said efforts to restore her line had also been delayed by the actions of a third-party contractor carrying out construction work near the main road leading to the neighbourhood.
“The individual accidentally damaged our underground cable while modifying the stretch,” he said.
The spokesman said TM staff would periodically monitor the stability of its services in to the area to try and prevent this problem from recurring.
The company has previously urged contractors carrying out major development projects, including road widening work, to give the company advance notice of their activities.
The firm hoped in this way to minimise any outages that may inadvertently be caused by such construction work.
AMENA of Manggatal said her home phone had been “dead” since the beginning of October.
“If I call the number from my handphone, it is engaged,” she said.
She said he had reported this problem to TM staff and was assured, in each instance, that someone would be sent to attend to the problem.
Amena claimed that she was not the only subscriber in Taman Richdar who had been beset by these telecommunication woes.
“Several of my neighbours are also experiencing this problem.”
She bemoaned the inconvenience of being without a telephone.
“I fear that I will have no way of calling for help if my handphone battery dies and an emergency occurs at home.”Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
Daily Express Malaysia
