Image: Reuters Berita 24 English - Three people with knowledge of the situation told Reuters that two of Malaysia's biggest mobile carri...
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| Image: Reuters |
Berita 24 English - Three people with knowledge of the situation told Reuters that two of Malaysia's biggest mobile carriers have no plans to invest in a state-owned 5G agency. This is a setback that could make the country's 5G rollout even more confusing.
The decision by Maxis Bhd and U Mobile has also made it harder for the government to make deals with other carriers, according to two people who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to talk about the private talks.
"They'll have to try to change the terms of the deal," said one person.
The government wanted six of the country's mobile operators to agree to take a 70% stake in the agency, Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB). After months of talks, the deadline for a deal was Wednesday.
The government turned down a counteroffer from Maxis, U Mobile, Celcom Axiata Bhd, and DiGi Telecommunications for the four of them to take a majority stake together.
Two of the sources said that Maxis and U Mobile didn't see any benefits to being a minority shareholder in DNB. However, the companies have told the government that they want to keep talking about getting access to DNB's 5G network.
Maxis, DNB, and the Malaysian ministries of finance and communication did not respond right away to requests for comment. Celcom, Digi and U Mobile declined to comment.
Malaysia's plans for 5G have been held up for a long time.
Two smaller carriers started testing 5G in December 2021, but the four biggest ones didn't join. They said that the government's plan for DNB to control all 5G spectrum would hurt competition and raise questions about pricing and transparency.
Then, they asked the government to let them set up a second 5G service.
The government turned down that idea, but they said they would give the carriers shares in DNB to make them feel better. It says that its plan will cut costs, make things run more smoothly, and speed up the building of infrastructure.
DNB said that the country's communications regulator will follow strict public rules to make sure prices are fair and the rollout goes smoothly.
