A few days ago, we reported that Unifi Mobile, U Mobile, Celcom, and Digi have signed the reference access agreement (ROA) with Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) and three of them are ready to offer 5G services to their users.
In total, four telcos, including Yes, are offering 5G to users in Malaysia right now. Meanwhile, Digi is still planning and preparing its offering.
In a news report by The Star, Communications and Multimedia Minister, Tan Sri Annuar Musa said by the end of this year, about 12 million Malaysians will have access to 5G mobile network services.
He made this statement following the signing of the ROA with DNB for the rollout of the nation’s 5G network by five out of six telcos on 31 October.
Before the companies could offer their services to the public, they had to sign the ROA before the Oct 31 deadline.
It will enable them to fix the bundle or retail prices from DNB and make subsequent offers to the public.
Communications and Multimedia Minister, Tan Sri Annuar Musa.
He emphasised that some mobile users were uncertain about when 5G services will actually be available in the nation.
Many complained, asking why are we talking about 5G when we can’t even get 4G services yet.
There was confusion as the earlier mention of 5G referred generally to the development of the infrastructure, not the rolling out of services.
Communications and Multimedia Minister, Tan Sri Annuar Musa.
With the ROA concluded, according to Annuar, the telcos will start providing 12 million mobile phone users in the nation with 5G services by the end of the year.
The only telco that didn’t sign the ROA is Maxis. According to The Edge Markets, the company said they are still evaluating the 5G access agreement’s governance requirements and they are “committed to bringing this to a close as soon as possible”. The company added that they will be launching 5G “in the near future”.
It seems Maxis users still have to wait for quite some time before they can enjoy 5G, while the rest can already start using 5G right now.
