During the 2023 budget presentation, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said the federal government would run the state’s single wholesale 5G network (SWN), Digital Nasional Berhad, in a more open manner and achieve 80% 5G population coverage by the tip of 2023. Minister of Communications and Multimedia Fahmi Fadzi met with all telecommunications corporations today and stated that the federal government will try to achieve the goal of accelerating 5G coverage a yr ahead of DNB’s original goal of achieving 80% 5G coverage of the population by the tip of 2024.
The Prime Minister’s speech stated that the implementation of 5G will guarantee the involvement of all national telecommunications operators. In his opinion, the first goal is to create nationwide 5G coverage that might be extensive and inexpensive for most people.
The government could comply with a dual wholesale network (DWN) or allow operators to change their current spectrum to speed up the rollout of 5G by a yr. There is a risk that telecoms will gain more interest in DNB in the event that they participate more in DNB. This could also be harking back to the previous Pakatan Harapan administration’s 2020 proposal to partner private carriers to develop 5G technology.
Under its current 5G deployment strategy, DNB plans to realize 80% 5G population coverage by the tip of 2024 with a complete of seven,509 5G stations. DNB said earlier this yr that it had exceeded its end-2022 5G population coverage goal of 40%, with demonstrated 5G coverage of 47.1% in 3,900 locations, significantly exceeding the goal. After receiving a reprimand from the Minister, DNB stated that the available 5G locations cover only 38% of Malaysia’s populated regions, with the remaining locations still requiring telco deployment.
To install 5G infrastructure, Malaysia would require the cooperation of all stakeholders, including DNB and telecommunications corporations, if it desires to speed up 5G rollout and achieve 80% population coverage by the tip of this yr. With DNB’s current 5G infrastructure, Malaysia could deploy greater than 10,000 5G locations by the tip of the yr if the highest 4 telcos proceed so as to add 1,000 5G locations every month. Placing 5G equipment on a telco’s existing fiber-optic 4G sites could be faster than acquiring recent sites, which is able to require overcoming other hurdles, including local government approvals.
To minimize network duplication and ensure equal access for all, 5G sites might be shared by all participants using multi-operator core networks (MOCNs) and non-discriminatory and transparent access conditions. To make sure that 5G stays inexpensive for everybody, the federal government must control 5G wholesale prices through Mandatory Access Pricing Standards (MSAP), which is able to ensure reasonable retail prices for consumers.
