Communications and digital minister Fahmi Fadzil has revealed that the government will provide an update regarding the status of its request to waive 5G fees charged by major telcos in the country. Speaking to reporters after the launch of Petronas’ 5G private network earlier today, he revealed that the ministry is engaging with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and mobile network operators (MNOs) on this matter, and an announcement is expected to be made “within the next few weeks.”
“The request is for them (MNOs) not to have an additional charge for anyone to take up 5G, just like how we migrated [from 3G to 4G] – we started using 4G without having to opt in,” Fahmi said. “One of the suggestions that the ministry has put forward is rather than having to opt in, we can opt out.”
Currently, major telcos in Malaysia such as Maxis, Digi and Celcom have required customers to pay an additional fee of up to RM20, depending on their subscription plan, in order to access the 5G network. As you may recall, the comms minister revealed his intentions to discuss with MNOs in August after the matter was brought up by his wife. It is also worth noting that telcos such as YTL (Yes) and U Mobile do not charge subscribers extra for 5G.
Fahmi notes that more than seven million out of 45 million users in Malaysia currently own 5G-ready devices. He is confident that programmes such as the 5G Rahmah initiative will continue to drive the public to adopt these devices at affordable prices and also enjoy 5G connectivity, especially those under the B40 group.
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, who also attended the same event earlier today, revealed that the current coverage of Malaysia’s 5G network now stands at 70.2%. He assured that the government is on track to achieve its target coverage of 80% in populated areas of the country by the end of 2023, before transitioning from the single wholesale 5G network to a dual network model.
Concerning the latter, Fahmi told reporters that the 5G task force is still deliberating on the newer model, and have yet to decide which MNO will be in which entity after the shift is implemented. But before further discussions on the second network should proceed to a more advanced stage, the agreement for the take-up of equity in DNB needs to be signed first. The minister added that the signing is expected to happen “before the middle of this month.”
(Source: The Edge Malaysia)
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