THE noises that you are hearing now on what would have been the eve of the nation’s 5G roll-out is likely due to lobbyists in their latest attempt to get the government to reverse an earlier decision to have a special purpose vehicle – Digital Nasional Bhd (DNB) – set up and manage a national next-generation mobile telephony network.
5G promises a quantum leap in mobile capabilities over the gagging and sputtering 4G currently served to us by telecommunication companies. It is said to allow faster and broader capabilities, opening to endless possibilities of products and services from effortless streaming and highly efficient data transfer all the way to the possibility of driverless cars.
The image of the 18-year-old schoolgirl in Sabah perched high up in a tree to get a decent signal to follow her classes online and prepare for an exam during the pandemic is a damning indictment of the failure of our telcos. No ifs and buts about it. That must be the start of our discussions on our telecommunication capabilities.
We heard that the prime minister was planning to launch DNB’s 5G service for some parts of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya this month. However, some telcos are against the idea of a single wholesale network (SWN), as DNB is generally referred to, providing 5G access for service providers.
The communications and multimedia minister now says he has second thoughts on the SWN model. Then his deputy in Parliament said that DNB was forced onto us by the Finance Ministry and that his ministry, mmm, has nothing to do with it, as MoF is in charge.
Is this the Keluarga Malaysia cabinet’s version of throwing one another under the bus? Keep it within four walls-lah guys, especially if it is a cabinet decision, and the government is just 100 days old. But, I digress.
Anyway, DNB is to establish the 5G network, with an ambitious 80% national coverage in two years, and sell the access to those anyone who wants. It is not supposed to make money from selling access but only to recoup its investments.
This is a national effort to quickly boost our lagging telecommunication infrastructure – we are number 82 in some global mobile ranking, and our download speed is pitiful compared to our neighbours, and yet the profitability of our telcos trumps all others.
Now here lies the rub: the telcos think they should be allowed to set up 5G networks on their own, and as a result have been making a big show of snubbing DNB.
I think it's a self-preservation strategy for the telcos. One of the natural outcomes of a single network provider is that DNB can sell 5G access to anyone, and not just telcos of the blue, green, yellow, or orange varieties. Now everyone can offer telecommunication services, and with 5G, the services to be offered will be limited only by our imagination.
The current cosy competition, for instance, where all data packages look suspiciously familiar, could be blown out of the water by a SWN – but not if one has a stake in the 5G network provider, presumably.
I, however, do not believe the telcos will die. They will continue to thrive, though perhaps not as well. Studies have shown their ability to prosper and reward their shareholders – which for some include the government – well.
Nevertheless, I do not think current telcos are as enthused to invest in a totally new technology now. They would rather amortise their investment in 4G over a longer period.
Having spent billions – some reports suggest RM25 billion over the last eight years or so on the 4G network – I can understand the desire to milk the technology as much as possible before investing in next-generation technology. This is why we are a couple of years behind our surrounding neighbours in the 5G race.
In fact, you will see billboards by our telcos championing their 4G networks – ahh, how 2012!
Regardless, imagine if more than one 5G network providers are allowed, say, to encourage competition as suggested by some SWN detractors. There is merit in that of course, but I believe the issue of competition can be resolved by strong and stringent rules and regulation.
Yet, if more than one network were to be allowed, billions would be spent many times over, and billions will flow unnecessarily out of the country. We saw that in the deployment of the 3G and 4G networks, where each telcos spent billions duplicating each other to build their own networks. The only people benefitting were the foreign technology providers as well as their agents and partners here. Ohh! Wait a minute. I get it now.
Each company would need to borrow billions, and all the cost would with almost certainty be passed on to the consumers. Right now, consumers are paying up to RM2 per GB for 4G services. I can imagine the amount to be charged for better 5G services, if billions were to be invested.
The finance minister – yes, the guy who imposed DNB upon us – promised the network will sell 5G access to telcos at less than 20 sen per GB. Now imagine telcos getting access cheaper, hence being able to compete on services to be offered to consumers.
And no matter how much they want to load the cost for services and other add-ons, we the consumers should see data sold, at 5G quality, at a small fraction of RM2.
If there are merits in another solution beyond SWN – of course there are, they should have the consumers foremost in their thoughts. Incidentally, there are people who see merits in being unvaccinated against Covid-19, but that does not mean it is the right thing.
I am largely unmoved by rhetorics, for they are just that. When you hear something being debated in Parliament, you know it has more to do with grandstanding than seeking resolutions.
There are a lot of self-serving ambitions disguised as altruism, and whether complicit or not, some politicians have been getting at DNB perhaps as a political strategy to go after the government.
For the table-thumping politicos talking of transparency, corruption and vested interest in the SWN proposal – they are all important, of course – how much are they informed by the telco lobbyists, for instance, the rate consumers will be charged?
I am not invested in DNB or otherwise; my main beef is that whatever decision to be made must be for the best interest of consumers – government, businesses and individuals – and that such a leap in technology must move society and commerce ahead.
Right now, the two main issues at hand are the speed of the 5G roll-out, and the price consumers have to ultimately pay.
DNB is ready now and has promised 20 sen or less per GB. That’s the benchmark any new solution offered must be measured against. That’s the minimum that all those who criticise the SWN plan must demand from whatever deals they are supporting. If someone can better that, then we should dump DNB.
The cat’s out of the bag. That’s the standard to beat. Remove the rhetoric and the politics. That’s all the transparency you need. It’s 20 sen or better per GB, baby. – The Vibes, December 10, 2021
Zainul Arifin Mohammed Isa is a veteran newsman with more than 35 years in the business. He is executive director of operations at PETRA News
