Malaysia’s 5G network will cover more than 40% by 2022.
The rollout of Digital Nasional Bhd’s (DNB) 5G network is ahead of schedule, and it is expected to exceed 40% coverage of populated areas (COPA) nationwide by December 2022.
The company stated that it expected COPA to be 37.9% this year, but the current forecast is for it to be 41.8 percent by the end of December.
On the basis of demand for 5G services and support received for the necessary approvals from various state and local council authorities to accelerate network deployment, the company is confident of meeting the committed 80% COPA within the next 18 months.
The network will reach 14 million people in the areas where it has been established, and more than 30 million in the next two years. The 40% COPA will be achieved with approximately 3,500 sites, as opposed to the originally planned 4,018 sites. This reduced site count is due to supply chain issues earlier this year, as well as delays in obtaining required local council approvals, primarily in Selangor and Sarawak. According to DNB, these issues have been mostly resolved, and the network will be gradually deployed in 2023, as planned.
DNB had redirected its network deployment efforts to those states originally intended for 2023 and beyond in order to overcome the delays and achieve the 40% COPA.
Currently, the network covers almost all of Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Selangor, and significant portions of Penang, Johor, and Negeri Sembilan, as well as parts of Melaka, Perak, Kelantan, Sabah, and Sarawak.
To date, five of Malaysia’s six mobile network operators — Celcom Axiata Bhd, Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd, Telekom Malaysia Bhd, U Mobile Sdn Bhd, and YTL Communications Sdn Bhd (YES) — have begun offering retail 5G services to their end users, following the signing of their respective 5G access agreements with DNB on October 31, 2022.
