The rollout for the second national 5G network will be delayed, communications minister Fahmi Fadzil revealed on Friday last week. As you may recall, the government initially planned to adopt a dual 5G network model once Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) achieves 80% 5G coverage of populated areas in Malaysia. However, it was previously reported that the state-owned special-purpose vehicle company had already achieved its goal as of 10 January this year, yet there’s no sign of the secondary network since.
Fahmi explained that DNB’s board needs to be established first and noted that the share subscription agreement (SSA) was only signed on 1 December last year, which resulted in the wait. He added that a discussion was held with the CEOs of all involved mobile network operators (MNOs) during MWC 2024 in Barcelona, and a letter has been sent to Treasury secretary-general Datuk Johan Mahmood Merican for consideration.
“This process will take some time because it involves legal aspects,” the minister said. “So I leave this matter to a special committee co-chaired by the Communications Ministry and the chief secretary of treasury.”
To recap, the government agreed to establish a purely commercial entity to develop a second 5G network last year, likely as a compromise after MNOs had threatened to boycott signing up for DNB’s shares. As mentioned earlier, five major telcos have signed the SSA in December, which would give each a 14% stake in DNB. The arrangement is expected to alleviate worries regarding corporate interest taking over DNB’s responsibility to establish fifth-generation high-speed internet as a public utility.
For now, there’s no exact timeline on when the rollout for the second 5G network is expected to happen.
(Source: MalayMail)
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