The new government said it will revise 5G plans due to the lack of transparency in the process
Malaysia’s newly appointed Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced that his administration will review a plan under which the previous government decided to move forward with the creation of a state-owned 5G network, according to a Reuters report.
The new prime minister said that these plans will be revised due to the lack of transparency.
Last year, former Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin had unveiled an initiative for a state-owned vehicle to own all 5G spectrum, with various carriers using the infrastructure to provide mobile services across Malaysia in what would effectively be a wholesale/MVNO arrangement.
Following the announcement of this plan, the country’s telcos had raised concerns about a single state company owing all spectrum frequencies.
The new Prime Minister said in a press conference that the government will evaluate the 5G plans to ensure that they had fulfilled with all the required procedures.
“It needs to be reviewed because it was not done in a transparent manner,” Anwar was quoted as saying.
In October, Malaysia’s six major telecom operators had signed access agreements with state-run wholesale 5G network operator Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB), which is a special-purpose vehicle set up by the Malaysian government with the main goal of deploying and managing Malaysia’s 5G network.
The agreements were signed by Maxis, U Mobile, Celcom Axiata, Digi Telecommunications, YTL Communications and Telekom Malaysia.
According to DNB, 5G coverage in Malaysia has already reached over 30% of populated areas and is on track to achieve the 80% target set by the government by 2024.
DNB had previously confirmed that it had already executed share subscription agreements with four Malaysian telcos – Celcom, Digi, YTL and Telekom Malaysia – which will collectively take up a 65% stake in the state-run firm.
Celcom and Digi will each take up a 12.5% stake, while YTL and Telekom Malaysia will own a 20% stake each. The government, via the Ministry of Finance, will retain a 35% stake.
DNB previously said that the entire 5G network rollout is expected to cost RM 16.5 billion ($3.54 billion) over the next 10 years. This is made up of RM 12.5 billion for the 5G network equipment and infrastructure as well as RM 4 billion in corporate costs.
The company also said that the implementation of 5G technology will have a positive impact of RM150 billion in the country’s GDP and will create 750,000 jobs.
Swedish vendor Ericsson is in charge of the deployment of Malaysian national 5G network. Ericsson recently announced that DNB had selected the vendor’s new energy-saving radios.
Last week, Axiata Group and Telenor Group said they have completed the merger of Malaysian operators Celcom and Digi.
Following the completion of the merger, Axiata and Telenor now hold equal ownership in Celcom Digi at 33.1% each.
Celcom Digi will serve an estimated 20 million customers, with revenues of MYR 13.0 billion ($2.9 billion), and an EBITDA of around MYR5.8 billion. The company also said it remains committed to the previous announced synergy target of MYR8 billion.
