KUALA LUMPUR – Concerns raised by telecommunication companies in special purpose vehicle Digital Nasional Bhd’s (DNB) Reference Access Offer (RAO) will be ironed out in two weeks.
The agreement has details of pricing, terms and conditions as well as a catalogue of services offered by DNB in relation to the 5G network.
Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) chief executive Datuk Mohd Ali Hanafiah Yunus said recent concerns raised by mobile network operators (MNOs) regarding the RAO will be sorted in the next one to two weeks.
“We are coming towards finalising the RAO. There are still matters in regards to commercial costs that need to be ironed out and we will have a landing on that soon.”
In explaining the government’s decision on the single wholesale network (SWN) announced in March, Ali said MCMC had reviewed the dual wholesale network (DWN) proposal submitted by the MNOs but it was difficult to objectively compare it with the SWN model.
“(This is) partly because the proposal (by MNOs) lacks crucial details such as the scope of the consortiums, methods of establishment, governance, and also timelines.
“Feasibility and alignment with existing regulatory policies were also not shared in the proposal.”
Ali said this during a webinar yesterday titled The Future of 5G: Benefits and Challenges in Deployment, hosted by the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs.
He added that even without the details, the DWN mooted by the MNOs would “undoubtedly” introduce an “unfavourable” set of challenges.
“Obviously, there would be duplication of investments in infrastructure, and two networks would translate to higher wholesale charges.”
As with any wholesale setup, Ali said the economics of scale comes into play on the implementation of 5G, and segmenting wholesale networks is bound to create imbalance and could leave one prominent wholesale network controlling the market.
“That’s what we don’t want to have.”
He said reliable 5G services should not be separated by rural or urban areas, as proposed by MNOs, as these could affect sectors that are not confined by location.
Ali also said DNB has licence obligations to fulfil and that MCMC will be monitoring the government-owned company.
“If they cross the line or fulfil licence conditions, we will have to come in (and take action) as we do with other licensees.”
Meanwhile, Brett Hann, an adviser to the UN on 5G Strategy and Policy and Brazil’s Economics Ministry, applauded the Malaysian government’s “strong and positive” decision on the SWN, which he said was a “bold” choice.
“The Covid-19 pandemic bitterly revealed that the digital divide is much wider and deeper than anybody imagined in all countries.
“Hence across the globe, we’re looking for new models, in addition to the traditional models that we’ve had. But the traditional models do not fully address the concerns of the citizenry.
“This is why we have to be open to new models and new ideas and I applaud the government of Malaysia for taking that challenge and coming up with a new model.”
He said the decision and rationale behind it was not to go against the MNOs, but to introduce new technologies and ideas regarding neo satellites and data centres.
“Now is the time to move forward. The government has made its policy decision. It has selected a vendor to do the rollout. The sanctity of contract law is very important, the rule of law in my eyes is very important.
“Now it is an important time for people to see the positive side of what a wholesale network can do for Malaysia and the rest of the world for a potential model.” – The Vibes, April 21, 2022
