Will the government make a “U-Turn” and let various telecommunications companies set up 5G networks on their own?
According to the Oriental Daily News, Communications and Multimedia Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa, after receiving feedback from telecommunications companies and industry participants, the government is reconsidering the single wholesale model of 5G networks, which is expected to be in the next final decision is made within months.
At present, the Ministry of Finance has established the Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) to be responsible for the construction and management of domestic 5G networks. The 5G network built by DNB will be wholesaled to domestic telecommunications companies, and then the telecommunications companies will provide 5G networks to ordinary users. This model makes domestic telecommunications companies deeply uneasy, and telecommunications companies worry that this model will damage the company’s profitability and the possibility of developing future technologies.
In the past, when setting up 4G networks, each telecommunications company would set up networks in the spectrum they obtained. Telecommunications companies would be the first to build networks for high-profit and densely populated areas. As for remote areas and low-yield areas, it would be later to obtain networks service.
Few countries abroad use a single wholesale model to provide 5G networks, because some foreign countries use a single wholesale model when setting up 4G networks, and the results are not satisfactory. Although a single wholesale model to provide a 5G network can save the cost of setting up the network, it will lack competitiveness, and consumers themselves will suffer in the end.
It is understood that only Telecom Malaysia (TM) has announced that it will use the 5G network set up by DNB, while other domestic telecommunications giants such as Maxis, Digi, Celcom Axiata, and U Mobile have not commented on this yet.
