KUALA LUMPUR – The country’s 5G high-speed broadband roll-out is ahead of schedule and will exceed 40% coverage of populated areas nationwide by the end of this month, said Digital Nasional Bhd (DNB).
In a statement, DNB, the government’s special purpose vehicle and single wholesale network for 5G connectivity, said the country is also on track to achieve the committed 80% coverage of populated areas by 2024 or earlier.
DNB said the network will reach 14 million people located in areas where the network has been established, and in excess of 30 million over the next two years.
It said the 40% coverage of populated areas will be achieved with approximately 3,500 sites against an initially planned 4,018 sites.
The reduced site count, said DNB, is a result of supply chain issues earlier this year and delays in securing the necessary local council approvals primarily in Selangor and Sarawak.
However, it said these issues have largely been resolved and the network will be deployed progressively in 2023 as planned.
“On the basis of a demand for 5G services as well as support received for the necessary approvals from the various state and local council authorities to accelerate network deployment, we are confident of achieving 80% coverage of populated areas within the next 18 months,” DNB chief operating officer Nasution Mohamed said in the statement.
DNB said to overcome the delays experienced and to achieve the 40% coverage of populated areas, its network deployment efforts have been redirected to those states initially intended for 2023 and beyond.
Currently, the network includes almost all of Wilayah Persekutuan, Putrajaya, Selangor, and significant parts of Penang, Johor, and Negri Sembilan, as well as some parts of Melaka, Perak, Kelantan, Sabah, and Sarawak.
Head of Ericsson Malaysia, Sri Lanka & Bangladesh, David Hägerbro, said: “The rollout of the 5G network by DNB is one of the fastest in the world, having commenced deployment only in October 2021.”
To date, five of six mobile network operators (MNOs) in Malaysia, who collectively have well over 20 million subscribers – Celcom Axiata Bhd, Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd, Telekom Malaysia Bhd, U Mobile Sdn Bhd, and YTL Communications Sdn Bhd – have commenced making retail 5G services available to their end users, following the signing of their respective 5G Access Agreements with DNB on October 31.
However, Maxis Bhd customers will not be able to access 5G services just yet, pending its shareholders’ approval to execute the 5G Access Agreement, which Maxis has indicated it plans to seek in January 2023.
Significant increase in data traffic, uptake of 5G-compatible smartphones
Meanwhile, DNB said traffic on Malaysia’s 5G network has been surging, with 56,000 concurrent users utilising 146 terabytes of capacity on November 30, or the equivalent of 77,500 hours of high-definition movies.
The network is averaging 394 megabytes per second (Mbps) download speed against the average 4G download speed of 35Mbps.
Meanwhile, 5G-compatible devices continue to proliferate in the market, with some 7 million devices already in the hands of end users to date. It is forecasted that the growth will double in 2023 and exceed 40 million devices by 2030.
End users are spoilt for choice, with 12 device brands and more than 100 5G-compatible devices for all budgets available in the Malaysian market.
This, coupled with a myriad of retail 5G data plan offerings from the five Malaysian MNOs, will see accelerated 5G adoption among end users over the next few years.
iPhone users, however, will have to wait until Apple gives effect to their retail plans with their partner MNOs before 5G services are offered to the customers. – The Vibes, December 11, 2022
