GEORGE TOWN: IJM Land Bhd is poised to set the bar in Penang and the rest of the country soon on how a fully-networked property development can spur economic growth.

The company’s flagship development – The Light Waterfront Penang – will offer a digital lifestyle to all its investors, thanks to fully fibre-to-the-home services and high-speed broadband connection to both residential and commercial investors within its 60.8 hectare project on Penang island.

The move by IJM Land will give a boost to the Penang state government’s efforts in bringing fibre-optics to home users on Penang island.

“Thanks to IJM Land’s efforts at future-proofing its properties in a greenfield development will stand out as a showcase, since it will soon offer its property owners 25 times more bandwidth from what Penang residents are currently having,” Penang Telecommunications Task Force chairman Jeff Ooi told reporters after IJM Land, Astro Malaysia Holdings Sdn Bhd and TIME dot.Com Bhd inked a information and communications technology agreement at Menara IJM in Penang.

Present at the event were IJM group chief executive officer and managing director Datuk The Kean Ming, IJM Land Bhd’s chief executive and managing director Datuk Soam Heng Choon, TIME chief executive officer Afzal Abdul Rahim and Astro chief commercial officer Liew Swee Lin.

Ooi, who is chairman of PDC Telecommunication Services Sdn Bhd and Jelutong Member of Parliament, has been working with telecommunications service providers such as TIME.dot.Com in laying 110km of fibre-optic cables around Penang island.

“We are currently short-changing ourselves in Penang where we get only 4 megabytes per second in broadband services. IJM Land is now going to offer what is offered in Seoul, Korea with a 100 mbps broadband connection,” Ooi said.

Touted as the “Jewel in the Crown” for IJM, the RM6.5 billion ‘The Light’ project will feature waterfront living with residential, recreational, entertainment, business, hospitality, education and commercial components in one central hub.

“The offering of fibre-based services at The Light enhances efficiency and allows the flexibility to work from home,” Soam said, adding that the use of fibre-optics complies with Malaysia’s Green Building Index standard requirements.

SOURCE: Business Times