ONE of the most remote places in Sarawak, the Gunung Mulu national park, now has 4G high-speed broadband service.

Visitors to the state’s biggest natural tourism draw, famous for its many beautiful caves, can from today enjoy internet connection speed of up to 800Mbps.

The completion of three repeater towers – sited in Long Panai, at Beacon Hill 30km away, and within the park itself – has made the service possible.

The towers were installed by Sacofa, the state government’s technology and telecommunication agency, which manages and facilitates all telecommunication infrastructure on a sharing basis.

Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg, who launched the service today, said it could help speed up the post-pandemic recovery of tourism in Mulu.

With internet access despite being deep in the jungle, visitors will be able to share their travel experiences, photos and videos with the rest of the world through online sharing platforms and help market the Unesco World Heritage site, the chief minister added.

Abang Johari said the three signal repeater towers were part of the 1,200 towers the state had plans to erect between 2018 and 2022 to extend internet service state-wide, even in remote areas.

One of the priority areas in the future, Abang Johari said, will be the Niah national park, home to the Niah cave – site of the discovery of the oldest human remains in Southeast Asia.

The state and federal governments have started bidding to have the cave listed as a Unesco World Heritage site. – April 7, 2021.