MCMC to put up 77 telco towers along 50 km of highway stretches lacking mobile coverage – PLUS, WCE, LPT2

The government has announced that the issue of cellular dead zones on certain stretches of Malaysian highways will be addressed with the construction of telecommunications towers. According to works minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi, 77 such towers will be put up along 50 km of highway stretches that have been identified as having poor mobile coverage.

Speaking at a MoU exchange ceremony between the Malaysian communications and multimedia commission (MCMC) and the Malaysian highway authority (MHA), he said that MCMC is targeting the construction of these telco towers, with the initiative being carried out with the use of highway reserve land, or Right of Way (ROW), for communications infrastructure.

Communications minister Datuk Seri Fahmi Fadzil, who was also present at the signing ceremony, said MCMC had issued a tender on May 15 to improve internet coverage through the construction of telecommunications towers along 10 MHA-managed highways with weak connectivity, the New Straits Times reports.

MCMC to put up 77 telco towers along 50 km of highway stretches lacking mobile coverage – PLUS, WCE, LPT2

The initiative is expected to enhance road safety and convenience by addressing weak coverage areas, or blind spots, that frequently result in dropped calls on the targeted highways, which include the East Coast expressway 2 (LPT2), the West Coast expressway (WCE), and also geographically challenging locations such as the Menora Tunnel and Gua Tempurung along the North-South Expressway (NSE).

Fahmi said the MoU would also strengthen the country’s digital infrastructure to support future mobility technologies such as the multi-lane fast flow (MLFF) toll collection system and intelligent transport systems (ITS), both of which require stable and reliable network connectivity.

The collaboration between the communications ministry and the works ministry aims to improve communications access for motorists throughout their journeys, including that for emergency communications, navigation services, real-time traffic information and other digital services.