The Ministry of Communication and Multimedia (MCMC) is looking into the use of satellites to deal with network outages during disasters.
According to Bernama, its Deputy Minister Datuk Zahidi Zainul Abidin said this move would prevent telecommunication network disruptions during disasters, such as the situation experienced during the massive floods that hit the country last month.
He said that satellite technology can be used to send early warning messages to the public during natural disaster situations too. He also specified that 5G network satellites could be used by the government.
He said that mobile connections are often lost during floods due to power failures that cause cell towers to not function.
“During floods, the electricity supply is lost and this means there is no GPS service,” he said, reported The Vibes.
In such situation, the satellite technology could be used by flood management call centres and to track flood-prone areas.
Zahidi added that MCMC plans to discuss with other countries that are already using satellites, including those relying on 5G technology.
Meanwhile, he said that the spending will not be big and will not involve billions and the implementation can be done as early as 8 months.
During the floods last month, Celcom reported over 100 network sites were down while TM said that over 50,000 of its customers had their services disrupted.
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