Nearly 300 higher education sites now connected under nationwide Wi-Fi project

MELAKA, Sept 19 — The Public Higher Education Institution (IPTA) Wi-Fi project, covering 539 locations nationwide, is expected to be fully completed by September, with 55 per cent, or 294 locations, already having access to Wi-Fi, Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching said.

She said the RM664 million project, fully funded by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) through the Universal Service Provision initiative, would help upgrade infrastructure and improve internet coverage across campuses.

“We have embarked on a project to install tens of thousands of access points equipped with high-end Wi-Fi technology, specifically Wi-Fi 6 or Wi-Fi 7.

“This project focuses on strategic locations across campuses, including lecture halls, laboratories, libraries, student centres, residential colleges and hostels,” she told reporters after visiting the IPTA Wi-Fi Project Phase 3 site at Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM) here today.

She said the project covers 539 locations, involving IPTA and skills training institutions under Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) and the Ministry of Human Resources (Kesuma).

Teo said Phases 1 and 2 of the project had been completed at 191 locations, with Phase 3 implementation now underway at institutions under Mara and Kesuma.

“For Phase 3 of the project, work has been completed at 42 of the 204 locations, or 21 per cent, while the remaining locations are still undergoing network provisioning and installation.

“As for institutions under Mara, work has been completed at 60 of the 110 identified locations, or 55 per cent, while for those under Kesuma, work has been completed at one of the 34 identified locations,” she said.

Commenting on the project’s implementation in Melaka, Teo said the IPTA Wi-Fi project in the state had reached 44 per cent completion, with 1,399 new access points activated at 10 IPTA as of last August.

She said UTeM had made good progress under Phase 3, with 302 additional access points installed on Aug 27, ahead of the MCMC’s original target date of Sept 23.

“Under Phase 3, 302 additional APs were installed here at UTeM, with the work completed on Aug 27, ahead of the MCMC’s original target date of Sept 23.

“In total, UTeM now has 410 operational APs, including the 108 APs installed under Phase 2 in June 2025,” she said.

Meanwhile, UTeM student representative Muhammad Quwayyis Khairuddin, 21, said the installation of additional high-speed Wi-Fi APs was crucial, particularly for students living in residential colleges and those using other strategic locations across the university campus.

“This is a meaningful contribution from the Ministry of Communications, as every student here needs reliable internet access to complete projects and assignments.

“Although the internet service was already good, the addition of these APs has further improved internet connectivity across the campus,” he said. — Bernama

* Editor’s note: IPTA stands for Institusi Pengajian Tinggi Awam, the Malay name for Public Higher Education Institutions.