Malaysia to maintain 5G roll-out as single network
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Industry stakeholders had said a shared 5G wireless network could hamper competition.
PHOTO: REUTERS
KUALA LUMPUR (REUTERS) - Malaysia’s finance minister on Wednesday (March 16) said the government has decided to stick with plans to have a state-run agency deploy the country’s sole 5G network infrastructure, rejecting telcos’ recommendations for a second network.
The government will retain a 30 per cent equity stake in the agency, Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB), and will offer an equity stake of up to 70 per cent to telecommunications firms.
“Maintaining the single wholesale network model demonstrates the government’s firm stance on policy continuity,” Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz told a news conference.
The decision comes after the matter was raised in the Cabinet last week following objections from industry stakeholders that said a shared fifth-generation, or 5G, wireless network could hamper competition.
Mobile phone service providers had recommended a second 5G provider in an impasse with DNB over pricing and other issues, people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters in December.
