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Budget 2027: RM5bil for JENDELA, RM1bil for PERSADA Digital Healthcare — MCMC Welcomes Push
Malaysia's communications regulator has thrown its weight behind Budget 2027's digital package, highlighting big-ticket allocations for rural broadband, digital healthcare connectivity and community digital hubs. The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) said the measures will help close remaining connectivity gaps while supporting safer, more inclusive digital access nationwide.
RM5 billion to expand JENDELA coverage
Budget 2027 sets aside RM5 billion for JENDELA, the national programme focused on high-quality Internet in rural and remote areas. That includes Orang Asli villages, plus better connectivity along about 7,000km of roads and highways and 1,700km of railway. For communities that still struggle with weak mobile or fixed broadband, the allocation is meant to turn patchy coverage into service people can actually use for work, school and government services.
Improving links along roads and rail also matters for travellers, logistics firms and agencies that need reliable coverage outside city centres — not only for households at a fixed address.
RM1 billion for PERSADA digital healthcare
Another RM1 billion goes to PERSADA — the National Digital Healthcare Ecosystem and Connectivity Initiative. The funding is aimed at digital healthcare infrastructure and connectivity, supporting wider electronic medical record (EMR) use, telehealth services and drone deliveries of medicine to rural areas. In practical terms, that is about linking clinics, hospitals and patients who are far from major cities.
Budget 2027 also earmarks RM142 million for NADI centres as community digital hubs, with programmes for digital skills and AI training tied to local economic activity.
- MADANI Submarine Cable System (SALAM) to expand capacity between Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak
- Wi-Fi rollout at all public higher education institutions
- Sovereign AI Cloud and cybersecurity investments
- MCMC Safe Internet Campaign, which has already blocked more than 5.7 billion scam-related calls and SMS
What this means for Malaysian readers
If you live outside major cities, the JENDELA and NADI pieces matter most: better rural broadband, railway and highway coverage, and local centres for digital and AI skills. If you depend on clinics in smaller towns, PERSADA's telehealth, EMR and medicine-delivery plans could shorten the gap between where care is available and where patients live. Students at public universities stand to gain from campus Wi-Fi commitments, while East–West Malaysia capacity via SALAM is relevant for businesses that move data across the South China Sea.
The Safe Internet numbers also underline that scam call and SMS blocking remains a live priority alongside infrastructure spending. MCMC has welcomed the budget package as reinforcing connectivity, digital healthcare and online safety. Full programme timelines and rollout details will still come from the relevant ministries and agencies as projects are implemented.