The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has spent RM2.5 billion on building digital infrastructure and narrowing the digital gap in Sarawak.

Communications and Multimedia Deputy Minister Jailani Johari said so far, the MCMC had managed to set up 90 1Malaysia Internet centres, 660 WiFi communities, and 1,237 kilometres of broadband connections under the Broadband for General Public (BBGP) initiative in the state.

"Up to September 2015, the MCMC had built 993 telecommunications towers, 282 kilometres of fibre optic cable networks, 597 1Malaysia internet centres, and 4,712 WiFi communities (hotspots) nationwide," he said at the opening of the national-level 1Malaysia Community Convention in Bintulu today.

Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Alfred Jabu Numpang opened the convention held at Dewan Suarah, Bintulu.

Jailani said the government encouraged the involvement of internet-savvy entrepreneurs to help improve the living standard of the people, and had allocated RM100 million for the e-rezeki and e-usahawan initiatives.

He said the role of the 1Malaysia communities was increasingly important in assisting to disseminate information on various initiatives and incentives provided by the federal government in improving the people's lot.

"In Sarawak, there are 235 1Malaysia communities and my hope is for them to widely spread useful information to the people to help realise the transformation programmes," he added.

Jabu, in his speech, said the 1Malaysia communities could also help inform the public on government efforts to lessen the people's burden, such as abolishing the Lanang Bridge (in Sibu) and Asean Bridge (Miri) tolls, and reducing the rural ferry fare to only RM1.

"The government has also spurred the people's economy by building new bridges such as the Samarahan, Bako, Long Lama, and Limbang bridges.

"Information on combating illegal logging in the state should also be disseminated so that the people could assist by tipping off the authorities on the illegal activity in their respective areas," he said.

- Bernama