Measat’s broadband services connect 200,000 rural folks in S’wak

KUCHING (Jan 16): CONNECTme NOW, a high-speed wireless satellite broadband service, is now available at about 2,000 locations across Sarawak, linking the rural communities to the Internet.

During a media luncheon today, Measat Satellite Systems Sdn Bhd chief operating officer Yau Chyong Lim said CONNECTme NOW broadband services are serving about 200,000 Sarawakians in rural areas, representing about 10 per cent of the state population.

“We have close to 4,000 CONNECTme NOW services set up across the country and Sarawak is definitely one of the key areas that we are serving. We are supporting the state government’s efforts particularly on providing connectivity to the people. These are our main aims,” Yau said at a restaurant at the Old Courthouse here.

He admitted that bringing connectivity to the interior areas was not an easy task as travelling costs would sometimes exceed the costs of the installation and equipment.

Chief commercial officer Ganendra Selvaraj said the company strives to ensure both urban and rural residents enjoy the same benefits of connecting to the Internet and developing the country’s digital ecosystem at the same time.

“We are now looking beyond connectivity to enable digital services to exist in locations where they never existed before,” he said.

Moreover, Yau stressed that Measat, which is also the official authorised reseller for Starlink hardware and services by SpaceX, is a long-term player in Sarawak in providing connectivity to the public, especially the rural folks.

“We would like to take it to a different level. Probably, it is possible to enable the provision of portable healthcare, government services, and other angles. We are here to ‘connect the dots’ and make it happen,” he said.

Ganendra also said that the company has constant engagements with the local stakeholders and regulators in Sarawak to ensure their services comply with the relevant regulations, as well as to identify weaknesses for improvement.

Also present during the luncheon were The Borneo Post chief content officer Raynore Mering and business editor Ronnie Teo.