The Malaysian government’s Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) will charge telecom companies significantly less for 5G networks than it did for 4G, the finance minister said in parliament on Thursday.
DNB, a finance ministry agency, is the sole licensee for the 5G spectrum in Malaysia and is responsible for building and maintaining the whole network.
Each telco would pay DNB 350 million to 400 million ringgit ($82.8-$94.6 million) each year for 5G, according to Finance Minister Zafrul Abdul Aziz, compared to the 1 billion ringgit telcos invest in capital expenditure for 4G each year.
The pricing is awaiting clearance from the industry regulator, which “will guarantee that the price set is fair and based on cost recovery, not profit.”
Telcos have expressed concern that under the proposed pricing structure, they may spend more than they would if they were to roll out 5G on their own, as the plan does not account for additional requirements such as traffic volumes and contingency expenses. According to Zafrul, the government is aware of the difficulties that a single wholesale network has caused in other nations, and that steps have been taken to guarantee that Malaysia does not make the same mistakes.
