KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 8 (Bernama) – Packet One Network (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (P1), which is of the four wimax (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) license holders in Malaysia, is planning to provide broadband for all including the rural areas via community programmes.

“First our mission is broadband for all. Broadband is no more a privilege but a right. Not a luxury but a necessity. So, we will continue to contribute to cover urban and rural areas,” P1 chief executive officer, Michael Lai said.

Broadband for all is critical as a certain percentage penetration of broadband usage in certain community can help to increase the national growth, he said in a recent interview with Bernama.

“So, it is important to bring Malaysians from all walks of life to the bandwagon,” he said.

The important thing about WiMAX is that it can be easily deployed to rural areas as it is wireless and one need not have telephone connection.

As at March 2009, the national broadband penetration stood at 22 percent.

P1 plans to cover 35 percent of the Peninsular Malaysia population by end of 2009, and the company is well on track.

Lai said P1 aimed to cover 45 percent of the country’s population by end of 2010 and 65 percent of the country’s population in total by end of 2012.

Among others, P1 has started its Community Broadband Centre (CBC) programme at Chini Timur in Pahang.

The program is adopting various best practices and lessons learned from other telecentre programs such as participatory and process driven approaches and multi-tasked open space design for the telecentre.

It is easier to attract the youth but for the others, P1 is organising cooking activities where the participants learn and contribute recipes via the Internet.

The activity is aimed at increasing the awareness of CBC for the women group, to generate local content, and to show how the technologies available at the CBC can be relevant to their daily lives.

“When there is something that is relevant to you, the you will be interested,” he said.

P1 also has programmes for those involved in agriculture as well as handicraft industry.

“This project is done on P1′s own effort,” he said, adding that other private sector bodies and academics should also come together and act on such programmes.

“Chini Timur is just a beginning,” he added.

– BERNAMA