March 11, 2022
From Rosana Latif
KUALA-LUMPUR (Reuters) – The Malaysian government will announce its decision on whether to continue its plan to establish a single state 5G network next week, Communications Minister told Reuters on Friday.
The Cabinet was due to discuss the plan on Friday due to telecommunications companies ’concerns about pricing and other issues.
Minister Anwar Musa told Reuters in a text message that he would hold a press conference to announce the decision on Wednesday.
He declined to clarify details provided to the cabinet, as the discussion was closed.
Mobile operators have advised the government to allow a second 5G provider, Reuters was told in December, following a stalemate between the operators and the state-run Digital National Agency Berhad (DNB), which has been tasked with deploying 5G.
Operators are concerned that the plan will lead to a nationalized monopoly more expensive than self-deployment of 5G, although DNB said it would charge operators less for access to their 5G network than the cost they incurred for 4G.
(Report by Rozan Latif; edited by Martin Petty)
