SHAH ALAM, Aug 5 — The state government, through Smartsel Sdn Bhd, is fine-tuning a new model for the reimplementation of the WiFi Smart Selangor (WSS) initiative, taking into account various factors, including changing user needs.
State executive councillor for Islamic affairs and innovation culture Dr Mohammad Fahmi Ngah said the new free WiFi model will also take into consideration usage levels at each location, infrastructure capacity, and a more sustainable funding and operational mechanism.
“As part of these improvement efforts, a new free public WiFi model is being developed in collaboration with local telecommunications service providers for implementation at mosques under the management of the Selangor Islamic Religious Department.
“This new initiative is not only free of charge but also comes with security features stipulated by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission to ensure that only knowledgeable, authentic, factual, and Syariah-compliant information can be accessed within mosque premises,” he said during the Selangor State Legislative Assembly sitting today.
Fahmi was responding to Permatang state assemblyman Nurul Syazwani Noh's query for an update on WSS' implementation following the service's deactivation on December 31, 2024.
He added that the new model was developed after the state government decided to adopt a more sustainable and resilient service delivery model.
The WSS service, introduced in 2015 to bridge the digital divide among the people, was discontinued after the 16th Selangor State Executive Council meeting on May 29, 2024, which approved a phased deactivation plan.
No WSS locations have been reactivated since the service was officially discontinued on December 31 of that year, involving 1,470 locations under the previous implementation model.
However, Fahmi noted that MCMC has established 84 National Information Dissemination Centres across Selangor to ensure the continued provision of free Internet access in rural areas.
