Daily Express Subscriber
Sign in to your account.

TELEKOM Malaysia Bhd (TM) Bhd will step up efforts to check on the condition of its installations around Likas, Kunak and Pitas but has admitted to facing an uphill task dealing with acts of vandalism in the these respective areas.

A TM spokeswoman said vandals were to blame for the exposed access point to its duct near the junction to Taman Antarabangsa, as well as Unifi disruptions in Kg Jaya Baru and Kg Maduring.

“The mischief makers pried open the cover embedded in the verge not far from the turn off to Lorong Kelengkeng from Jalan Tuaran,” she said.

She said another group damaged the respective the company’s cables servicing its rural customers in Kunak and Pitas. 

“For whatever reason, the vandals did not remove any of these telecommunication lines,” she said. 

“We suspect that the bad hats may have been metal thieves. They were most likely dissuaded from acting on their intent after discovering that our service lines were not copper-based.”

She said the firm had carried out a “fiberisation” exercise at the affected locations, with its previous copper cables being replaced with new fibre-optic ones.

“Police reports have been made about these incidents as intentions to steal our assets were evident in each instance. So far, however, the culprits have yet to be caught.”

The spokeswoman was responding to a Likas homeowner’s observations about the safety hazards posed by the uncovered access point, as well as feedback from two Kunak subscribers and another from Pitas about their inability to access the Internet.

The Taman Antarabangsa resident said there was every chance of those going on foot – including young children and the elderly – falling into the hole and injuring themselves if they were not careful.

The TM customers from Kunak both lived on Lorong 10 in Kg Jaya Baru. One had lost her Unifi service for a fortnight, while the other had experienced a similar problem for half that time. 

The Kg Maduring subscriber, on the other hand, said he had been unable to browse the worldwide web for 12 days.

Each of individuals provided Hotline with the pertinent details regarding their grievances, including their location addresses. This information was forwarded to the company.

The spokeswoman said TM personnel went to Taman Antarabangsa, shortly after being contacted by the media.

“They noted that the rectangular cover had been placed beside the access point on Jalan Tuaran,” she said.   

 “They immediately set about closing our manhole.”

She said maintenance on these ducts was carried out as and when it became necessary to do so.

“Our technicians have been instructed to be on the lookout for any irregularities involving these structures and to deal with these problems promptly.”

To this end, he said, periodic checks would be made to ascertain the condition of its assets.

In the case of Kg Jaya Baru, the spokeswoman said the team from the Network Section, which was dispatched to the village, found that main cable for the area had been “partially cut by unknown parties”.

“Our personnel proceeded to replace the damaged cable on the spot. They later went to the TM cabinet servicing in this part of Kunak, including those living on Lorong 10.”

She said these technicians tightened any loose connections inside and double-checked that the Unifi for the affected subscribers was functioning as it should. 

The spokeswoman said the same remedial action was taken in Kg Maduring.

“A section of the cable, leading to the village, looked as if had been hacked with a ‘parang (machete)’.”

She said a check of its records shows that TM staff had previously dealt with an outage at the same premises two months earlier. 

“Our personnel tested the strength of the signal inside the customer’s home and around the vicinity on that occasion. Action was subsequently taken to resolve the problem by optimising the signal around the affected area.”

She said the subscriber’s “RG6 sbb reuter” was replaced with a new one at the time.

The firm’s staff got in touch with the customer after this was done, according to her.

“He confirmed that he is now satisfied with our Unifi service. Nevertheless, we are monitoring the quality of our coverage in the area and will deal with any irregularities, which crop up, as soon as possible.”