Provision of telecommunication services for rural areas in Malaysia / Mohd Salihen Sanusi and Wan Nor Zakiah Wan Jaafar

Generally speaking , rural areas are characterized by a low population density , a low concentration of subscribers and therefore low and scattered circuit requirement. The telecommunication needs of the rural community in the rural areas can only be resolved by adopting a different technology which does not have the limitation inherent in the conventional cable technology. Many options are available such as the Multiple Access Radio System , Optical fiber cable, Cellular Radio and other technologies. There is no one option that is better than the other since different situations will require different approaches. The overall objective of this project is basically to obtain the optimum solution in providing good quality and cost-effective telecommunications services for rural community by selecting the available technologies to satisfy the service requirements for both current and future needs. This is also to achieve the planned growth and penentration target as stipulated in the Telekom Malaysia Business Plan 1991 - 1995 and which is in tine with TM*s commitment to provide adequate telephone services to the rural community in support of the Government's effort to accelerate national development.