NEWS: Sabahans among first to get 1Malaysia laptops

PULAU BANGGI: Sabah will receive 10,000 laptop computers for the first phase of the 1Malaysia Computer programme, to link the rural community to the world of communications.

These machines are part of the one million laptop computers allocated by the Government for distribution to secondary school students who were eligible and the low-income group.

The first phase of the programme will end in December.

"The distribution of the computers reflects the Government's determination to realise the 1Malaysia concept through wider access to the Internet," said Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim.

"We hope recipients of this facility will subscribe to broadband to enable them to access this sophisticated technology."

The minister was speaking to the press after handing over 100 1Malaysia laptop computers to residents here yesterday.

He also said that one criteria in selecting the recipients was that they must at least subscribe to broadband for the first month.

Lower rates

Rais said his ministry will discuss with broadband service providers the offering of broadband subscription packages at a more reasonable rate, to ensure that everyone involved in the 1Malaysia Computer programme benefited from the broadband service.

The recipients, comprising 65 secondary school students and 35 residents of the village here, are part of the 500 recipients in the Kudat area and are the first group in Sabah to benefit from the programme.

Rais said the move will assist the ministry in achieving a broadband penetration of 30.1% of households in Sabah by year end, from the current 17.3%.

"In this aspect, we must raise the rate of computer ownership and broadband penetration to churn out an ICT (information and communications technology) literate community on par with those in the developed nations.

"With the 1Malaysia Computer programme, as well as other government efforts, I am confident that the Sabah target for the year end will be achieved and subsequently raised to 50% in the future," he said.

Rais also launched the WiFi Village project at Kampung Karakit, near the island's jetty where residents can now access the Internet wirelessly at speeds of up to 4Mbps (megabits per second) within a radius of 300m in the village. - Bernama