TENOM: The SK Telecom (SKT) Community Broadband Centre (CBC) or SK CBC has brought Information and Communication Technology (ICT) access to about 5,000 rural folks in Kuala Tomani, here.
SKT Vice-President Andrew Chang said the Giga Wifi network, m-Caching server and self-switching controllers available have given faster Internet speed with wider coverage in the area..
“We provide contents which are easier for them to adopt Internet services into their life,” he told Bernama at SK CBC, Sunday.
SKT is South Korea’s largest mobile service provider with almost 27 million subscribers and SK CBC is the company’s rural broadband initiative started last July in the area where its residents are involved largely in agriculture sector.
Andrew said SKT has been working with Malaysian government through the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) on the project aimed at addressing the digital divide.
“Local community leaders hope the centre could increase the villagers income and provide new learning opportunities for the youth,” he said.
Andrew said apart from providing an Internet cafe, SK CBC also offered a diverse array of e-Solutions such as e-Learning, e-Commerce and e-Health to improve the quality of life of the rural residents in Kuala Tomani.
“Under e-Learning, we have the Smart Class and English Village. Smart Class is an interactive classroom environment allowing real-time data sharing between students and teachers through schoolbox software which use electronic white board and tablets.
“English Village provides a fun English learning environment to the rural pre-school children by utilising a number of online and offline tools. It involves Smart Robot, Online Library and Offline Library,” he said.
Explaining about e-Commerce Andrew said it was an online and offline promotion tool for local producers promoting their products and tourist attractions.
Andrew said the e-Health has provided free medical check-up for the residents with immediate clinical feedback through wireless data, vastly improving the accessibility to medical services.
Therefore, Andrew said the project had brought a lot of benefits to the rural people in Kuala Tomani.
The SK CBC will be launched by Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek, here, tomorrow.
Meanwhile, when approached by Bernama at the SK CBC, the residents were very excited about this new development in the lives.
Devi Suril, 25, the manager of the SK CBC, who also hails from Kuala Tomani, said since its inception on July 8, the centre had registered 825 members.
She said it was a boon for the rural community in improving their skills and knowledge concerning ICT particularly in conducting business online.
“For example, when the centre was just opened, pupils from Year Four to Year
Six following the ‘Smart Class’ had no knowledge at all about using devices like ‘tablet’ for the learning process on Mathematics, English, Bahasa Malaysia and Science.
“It took them a month to get used to the new method and now they are very adept at it,” she said, adding at that it gave her much pride that her hometown was chosen for the first Giga Wifi service in the country.
This showed the government’s commitment to bridge the digital divide between urban and rural areas, she said.
Sumi @ Rohana Singala, 34, who makes crafts through weaving, said the e-Commerce application at the centre had helped raise her income in selling items like handbags, handphone “gloves” and television covers.
“Now I make about RM400 a month when previously making RM100 was already difficult because I had to sell them myself through my network of friends which is time consuming,” she said.
For Sekolah Kebangsaan Kuala Tomani pupil Sherylln Suman, 12, she said she felt fortunate to have access to such a facility.
“I come here almost every day after school. The centre has been a great help especially in improving my knowledge in Mathematics, English, Bahasa Malaysia and Science,” she said.
The SK CBC is open Monday to Saturday from 8.30am to 4.30pm to cater to needs of the residents of Kuala Tomani which has eight villages under it.