PUTRAJAYA: The special committee overseeing the implementation of the country’s 5G rollout will soon draw up a ministerial memorandum to decide whether it is time to allow a second network.
In a Bernama report, Communications Minister Fahmi Fazil said that a second 5G network will increase opportunities for telecommunications companies to provide better services.
The country’s 5G coverage rate reached 80.2% as of December 31st.
Fahmi said a special committee co-chaired by Communications Secretary-General Fawzi Issa and Finance Secretary-General Johan Mahmoud Merican met a few weeks ago.
“We announced that 5G network coverage reached 80.2% on December 31st. Therefore, in the not too distant future, telcos will have a second We will announce a decision on whether to allow the network to be established or not,” he told the media after the ministry’s monthly meeting here.
Fahmi said the implementation of 5G is still regulated by the Ministry of Communications as the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) is the regulatory body for the telecommunications sector.
In May last year, Putrajaya signed an agreement with a second 5G service provider and began transitioning to a dual network in phase two of the network rollout.
At the time, Fahmi said this would only happen if DNB achieved 80% coverage of densely populated areas.
Fahmi had previously assured that a public tender would be held to build the country’s second 5G network.
