Wholesale price of 5G must be maintained even if DNB structure changes - Annuar

PUTRAJAYA: The current wholesale price of 5G at less than 20 sen per gigabyte (GB) must be maintained even if there are changes to the structure of Digital Nasional Bhd (DNB), said Communications and Multimedia Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa.

He said the DNB would be regulated by his ministry through the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), including in terms of quality and continuity, and the MCMC would manage pricing matters through consultation with the relevant parties, especially DNB.

"We do not want changes to cause higher costs and burden consumers," he said at a joint media conference on DNB with Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz regarding the implementation of 5G here today.

Putrajaya has decided to maintain the implementation of the 5G network as a single wholesale network (SWN) and allow telecommunication companies to hold equities in DNB.

The Cabinet has agreed that the government, which now holds 100 per cent equity in DNB, will offer up to 70 per cent of the equity stake to Mobile Network Operator (MNO) telecommunications companies which were committed to the access agreement under the SWN model.

Annuar said the government's target was for the cost of 5G to be cheaper than the current 4G network.

According to him, companies previously built their own infrastructures and this led to overlapping, thus causing inefficient implementation and high cost that was borne by the companies.

"Now, there is the Multi-Operator Core Network (MOCN) technology that allows one tower to be shared by six companies.

"Imagine how much savings can be made and the cost reduction that will be enjoyed by consumers. Our target is for the cost of 5G to be cheaper than 4G," he said.

Annuar said that in implementing the 5G network, the government will spearhead the efforts by inviting telecommunication companies to be on one platform under DNB.

Asked about the 5G distribution spectrum, Annuar said it would not be distributed to companies but, instead, given to DNB, which is owned by various companies.

Annuar said concerns about DNB being seen as a monopoly no longer arose after the government offered up to 70 per cent of the DNB shares to be owned by communications service providers.

He said the DNB was not a monopoly and, instead just a vehilcle to complete the infrastructure before the 5G service if offered, whereby the service itself will be handled by the telecommunication companies.

"The issue of DNB as a concept of monopoly does not arise anymore, except DNB now becomes a joint effort between the government and the private sector," he said.

He said the implementation of 5G should be expedited to ensure the country remained competitive because it would be a must for investors in the future.

-- BERNAMA