Infrastructure

Infrastructure


The Kuala Lumpur Tower enhances communication quality within Kuala Lumpur and the Klang Valley.



The Damansara Link section of Klang Valley's Sprint Expressway.

Malaysia has extensive roads that connect all major cities and towns on the western coast of peninsular Malaysia. As of 2006, the total length of the Malaysian expressway network is 1471.6 kilometres (914.4 miles). The network connects all major cities and conurbations such as Klang Valley, Johor Bahru and Penang to each other. The major motorway (E1 and E2, the E1 is the section North of KL while the E2 is the Southern section), spans from the northern and the southern tips of peninsular Malaysia at Bukit Kayu Hitam and Johor Bahru respectively. It is a part of the Asian Highway Network, which also connects into Thailand and Singapore.
Roads in the East Malaysia and the eastern coast of peninsular Malaysia are still relatively undeveloped. Those are highly curved roads passing through mountainous regions and many are still unsealed, gravel roads. This has resulted in the continued use of rivers and the necessary use of airplanes as the main or alternative mode of transportation for the interior residents.
Train service in West Malaysia is operated by the Keretapi Tanah Melayu (Malayan Railways) and has extensive railways that connect all major cities and towns on the peninsular, including Singapore. There is also a short railway in Sabah operated by Sabah State Railway that mainly carries freight.
There are seaports throughout the country. The major ports are Port Klang and Port of Tanjung Pelepas in Johor. Other important ports can be found in Tanjung Kidurong, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Kuantan, Pasir Gudang, Penang, Miri, Sandakan and Tawau.
Airports are also found throughout the country. Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) is the main airport of the country. Other important airports include Kota Kinabalu International Airport, Penang International Airport, Kuching International Airport, Langkawi International Airport, and Senai International Airport. There are also airports in smaller towns, as well as small domestic airstrips in rural Sabah and Sarawak. There are daily flight services between West and East Malaysia, which is the only convenient option for passengers travelling between the two parts of the country. Malaysia is the home of the first low-cost carrier in the region, AirAsia. It has Kuala Lumpur as its hub and maintains flights to Southeast Asia and China as well. In Kuala Lumpur, it operates out of the Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) in KLIA.
The intercity telecommunication service is provided on peninsular Malaysia mainly by microwave radio relay. International telecommunications are provided through submarine cables and satellite. One of the largest and most significant telecommunication companies in Malaysia is Telekom Malaysia (TM), providing products and services from fixed line, mobile as well as dial-up and broadband Internet access service.

It has the near-monopoly of fixed line phone service in the country.
In December 2004, Energy, Water and Communications Minister Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik reported that only 0.85% or 218,004 people in Malaysia used broadband services. However, these values are based on subscriber number, whilst household percentage can reflect the situation more accurately. This represented an increase from 0.45% in three quarters. He also stated that the government targeted usage of 5% by 2006 and doubling to 10% by 2008. Lim Keng Yaik had urged local telecommunication companies and service provider to open up the last mile and lower prices to benefit the users.