Celcom, Digi, Maxis, and U Mobile applaud the government’s plan to deploy 5G through a single wholesale network.
After failing to persuade the government to adopt a Dual Wholesale Network (DWN), the big four telcos — Celcom, Digi, Maxis, and U Mobile — have issued a joint statement applauding the Cabinet’s decision to stick with the Single Wholesale Network (SWN) model for 5G deployment, as well as the offer to buy a stake in Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB).
The telcos stated they will work with the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia, the MCMC, and other important industry stakeholders to get more information about the SWN’s 5G deployment, including the proposed equity offer and transaction process.
The major four also stated that they believe a successful 5G deployment in Malaysia will be based on transparency, sustainability, and security.
The government has proposed to lower its interest in DNB from 100% to 30%, allowing telecoms to own 70% of the company, as stated this afternoon. Ownership and stock valuation details are still being worked out between DNB and the telcos.
DNB has also stated that it is pleased with the government’s decision to keep the SWN model, and that it will extend free 5G network access to telcos until June 30, 2022, to ensure a smooth transition. DNB now serves a limited number of areas in Kuala Lumpur, Cyberjaya, and Putrajaya, and is expanding to additional states, including Johor. By 2024, it hopes to have 80 percent of the population covered by 5G.
DNB is a government-owned special purpose vehicle under the Ministry of Finance with the mission of deploying 5G on a cost-recovery and supply-led basis. It now owns a 40MHz 700MHz spectrum block, a 200MHz 3.5GHz spectrum block, and a 1600MHz 26/28GHz (mmWave) spectrum block. DNB chose Ericsson as their technology vendor to create the national 5G network just four months after it was founded, out of a total of four vendors.
DNB will be the world’s first commercial 5G network to feature Dynamic Radio Resource Partitioning, according to Ericsson (DRP). The network’s 5G RAN slicing feature will give operators on the network the differentiation and guaranteed performance they need to monetize their 5G investments across a variety of use cases. While numerous telcos can connect to the same network, RAN slicing will dynamically optimise resource allocation and prioritisation to ensure that SLAs are met.
The main four telcos have yet to disclose a schedule for when they will begin offering 5G services on DNB’s network. Malaysia’s SWN model, if executed properly, would serve as a model for the rest of the globe, as other SWN projects have failed or suffered. South Africa recently abandoned plans to launch its SWN, while Mexican regulators have handed Red Compartida, the country’s faltering SWN, a four-year extension to meet its 92.5 percent population coverage objective.
