A customer checks the mobile application on her phone. Hong Menea
Cambodia's Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications is reviewing a draft sub-decree on a national internet gateway that would optimise and improve network management and online security.
Minister Chea Vandeth said at a meeting on Tuesday that the ministry has been assigned to develop a clear legal framework to govern the gateway.
“The draft sub-decree is aimed at mobilising national revenue and enhancing internet speed and connectivity in Cambodia. Today’s meeting was to obtain input from telecommunications operators to improve the draft,” he said.
Vandeth told operators a prakas on service quality would be provided and emphasised that the connection fee would be low.
To avoid placing a further financial burden on the operators, the ministry’s technical team would hold additional discussions with operators for their input and opinions.
The ministry announced in February that it planned to adopt a Single Internet Gateway (SIG) system to optimise network management and online security in the country.
An internet gateway is a network “node”, which connects two different networks. A SIG, installed at a national level, would bring all networks seeking to connect with other networks in Cambodia through this single gateway.
Ministry spokesman Im Vutha previously told The Post that a national SIG would create a one-stop system to bring all overseas internet connections through a single port. This would allow optimal network management.
“This is a national project to create a common internet gateway in Cambodia. Now more than ever, management of the internet has to be safe and secure for general use.
“Currently there are a lot of gateways such as VoIP, telecommunications, and submarine cable networks. We are looking at finding a way to change this into a single national port to ensure we can control internet usage, and make it safer and more secure,” he said.
Vutha said the SIG is required due to the increasing number of people accessing the internet, which can have both positive and negative consequences.
He said a SIG will help prevent people from falling victim to online scams and prevent the use of the internet to threaten national security.
The latest data from the Telecom Regulator of Cambodia (TRC) said the number of fixed internet subscribers sharply increased 33.07 per cent to 249,132.
The number of Facebook users reached 10,950,000 in the first five months of the year while the number of mobile internet subscribers of the seven operators reported a drop of 2.36 per cent to 14,863,435.
Cambodia’s 4G coverage currently covers 52.7 per cent of the Kingdom or 80.3 per cent of the total population. Meanwhile, 3G covers 60 per cent or 85.1 per cent of the total 15 million population and 2G covers 85.7 per cent or 99.2 per cent.
Three operators, of which one is State-owned, have laid nearly 44,251km of fibre optic cable.
