After a long time it was announced that local telecommunications companies will take an equity stake in the national 5G network provider company Digital Nasional Berhad, the agreement has finally been officially signed by five local telecommunications service providers, including CelcomDigi Berhad through Infranation Sdn Bhd, Maxis Berhad, Telekom Malaysia Berhad, U Mobile Sdn Bhd and YTL Power International Berhad.
Fahmi Fadzil, the Minister of Communications and Digital who was at the event said that with the complete holding of these five companies over Digital Nasional Berhad, it is time to ensure that the coverage of the national 5G network can be increased to 80 percent of populated areas by the end of this year.
Each of these telecommunication companies has paid as much as RM233 million to take a 14 percent equity stake in Digital Nasional Berhad, and when combined, they own 70 percent of the equity stake in the company.
As of November this year, it has been reported that as many as 73 percent of the populated areas in Malaysia can already start using and benefiting from 5G plans on their smart devices.
"This figure is important because once we reach 80 percent, the government will announce that a new entity can be created with a number of MNOs will remain with DNB as entity A while a number of other MNO companies will start operating and develop a second 5G network under entity B".
This statement is related to another company that will arrive to develop the second national 5G network, and based on the statement above, will be managed by a number of telecommunication companies other than the five that have a stake in DNB.
According to the statement also issued, this Entity B will start developing their 5G network from January 2024. The details of this Entity B company will be announced after DNB successfully increases the coverage of the 5G network to 80 percent of populated areas by the end of this year.