More than 1.2 million households and business premises across Malaysia will be wired up with optical fibre to enable them access to mega-speed Internet connection.
The country's telecommunication company Telekom Malaysia has been tasked with laying the optical fibre and is expected to complete half the job by next year.
Prime Minister Najib Razak said the high-speed broadband network of between 10 Mbps and 1G bps would give the public, businesses and government agencies a competitive boost via cutting edge communications.
He said Malaysia needed a new paradigm not only to help the country catch up from where it was left behind but also take on a quantum leap to the ranks of developed nations.
It would also offer the country a platform to develop the information and communication technology of tomorrow, Najib said yesterday at the opening of the 12th Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) International Advisory Panel meeting here.
He said the step would help the country catch up with global leaders in industrial developments.
He felt that the country's prior focus on attracting foreign investment as a lowcost producer had now created a dilemma.
