Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil will be meeting with local mobile network operators to get clarification on the issue of additional charges imposed on customers to access the 5G network. “Not all of them charge extra, I know YTL doesn’t. I will be meeting with the CEOs soon, to coordinate this matter. We understand that there might be some onboarding process for them, but we hope that they can address some of these concerns,” said the minister.
During the initial rollout of 5G where telcos were still trialling the new network, many users living in 5G-covered areas were able to access it for free on existing mobile plans. However, in recent months, several major carriers started restricting some current offerings to only 4G and introducing add-on fees to access 5G.
According to Fahmi, his wife brought up a point that when the country was transitioning from 3G to 4G, customers did not have to pay extra. The question then arises as to why network operators are charging more for 5G, which the minister says he intends to find out.
CelcomDigi introduced a 5G booster, requiring those on postpaid plans that cost less than RM90 per month to pay an extra RM10 to use the faster network. Similarly, those on existing prepaid plans need the booster unless they opt for the new and pricier plan that includes 5G. Its sub-brand, Yoodo, also began imposing an extra RM5 charge across all plans.
Likewise, Maxis, which just recently started offering 5G, launched a laundry list of new 5G plans while also locking 5G behind an access pass for customers who want to keep using their current package. The company will start charging RM10 for postpaid users and RM5 for prepaid users.
(Source: The Edge)
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