The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has been urged to give Penang a higher priority for the 5G project demonstrations among Kuala Lumpur and five states in the country.

State Housing, Local Government and Town and Country Planning Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo said that Penang had already taken a head start in establishing a smart city as part of the state government’s Penang 2030 Vision.

“Penang, both in the island and mainland, has already implemented several applications in transforming itself into a smart city and they are all up and running, which is why I believe that the state is a suitable testbed for the 5G project demonstrations,” he told a press conference here today.

He added that apart from the smart city initiatives, the 5G project demonstrations also focused on improving the manufacturing and tourism industries, which were also the highest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contributing sectors for Penang.

Earlier, Jagdeep and Seberang Perai mayor Datuk Rozali Mohamud officiated the launch of Cyber Counter for Seberang Perai City Council (MBSP), in line with the Digital@SeberangPerai community programme.

According to Rozali, the Cyber Counter served as an integrated platform for 11 different MBSP services, including facility booking, payment and business license application, which can be accessed online through the MBSP portal.

He said that the initiative to implement Cyber Counter was to encourage users to use their fast and convenient online services.

“Our future plan was to roll out Cyber Counter to the state government which would integrate all of the government agencies in Penang into one common platform,” he said.