DNB was set up by the Malaysian government in 2021 as a special purpose vehicle to develop the country’s 5G network infrastructure
Malaysia’s Communications and Digital minister Fahmi Fadzil said that the share subscription agreements (SSAs) between state-owned 5G operator Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) and domestic mobile network operators will now be finalized by the end of this year, according to local press reports.
The official had previously said that these agreements were expected to be signed by mid-October.
Fahmi said that the delay was chiefly due to some minor adjustments in terms of analysis that needed to be done, some assessment from technical point of view and financial aspects.
“And these things do take a bit of time. But I’m happy to say that we are almost ready to announce a date for signing,” he was quoted as saying.
Fadzil also said that the government’s focus was to execute the SSAs for the MNOs to take up equity in DNB before furthering discussions on the 5G second network deployment.
Earlier this year, the government said that Malaysia’s main mobile operators decided to acquire stakes in DNB.
The government confirmed that Malaysia’s 5G Network Implementation Task Force has successfully reached an agreement on equity participation in DNB with local carriers Celcom Digi, Maxis, Telekom Malaysia, U-Mobile and YTL Communications.
The minister also said that the country’s 5G adoption rate reached 7.4% as of the end of September, with approximately 2.5 million mobile users subscribed to the 5G network.
“Since the start of the 5G network rollout two years ago, the focus has been on consumer adoption so that enterprises would have access to a growing customer base,” he added.
DNB was set up by the Malaysian government in 2021 as a special purpose vehicle to develop the country’s 5G network infrastructure, which private telecommunications firms would use to offer 5G services to their customers.
The government of Malaysia had previously said that DNB will continue to roll out 5G network infrastructure in the country until 80% coverage is achieved by the end of this year. The Malaysian government also confirmed that DNB will be taken over by a private entity once it achieves its 5G population coverage target.
In May, the government announced it will enable the deployment of a second 5G network in 2024, adding that a new entity will be created to manage Malaysia’s second 5G network.
