Malaysia to follow in China’s footsteps with 5G airwaves on the cheap

The government will forgo revenue from spectrum auctions and instead allocate airwaves to a consortium of carriers starting after April

Commercial 5G services may be available in Malaysia by the third quarter of this year, according to the Communications and Multimedia Commission

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Malaysia will forgo revenue from spectrum auctions and instead will allocate airwaves to a consortium of carriers. Photo: DPA

Published: 9:55am, 23 Jan 2020Updated: 9:55am, 23 Jan 2020

Malaysia is offering airwaves for 5G networks at little cost to carriers to reduce the investment needed for the speedier wireless service, a model followed by China in its roll-out of the technology last year.

The government will forgo revenue from spectrum auctions and instead will allocate airwaves to a consortium of carriers via a tender starting after April, Al-Ishsal Ishak, chairman of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, said in an interview.

Commercial 5G services may be available in the country by the third quarter of this year, according to a January presentation by the commission.

The cheap airwaves policy frees up funds for companies including Maxis and Axiata Group to invest in 5G infrastructure that could cost at least 7 billion ringgit (US$1.7 billion) over the next five years, Al-Ishsal said. The policy also sets up competition among carriers including Maxis, Axiata, Telekom Malaysia and Digi.com to form groups that will vie for the licence to operate the country’s first 5G network.

5G is seen as crucial for implementing industrial applications from self-driving trucks to remote surgery and robotics. Photo: Bloomberg

Countries around the world are pushing for upgrades to the higher-capacity wireless technology, which also has less lag or latency, because it is crucial for implementing industrial applications from self-driving trucks to remote surgery and robotics.

Axiata unit Celcom Axiata has said it expects 5G to be a catalyst for consolidation in the industry to help spread the cost of building the networks and to increase the likelihood of winning a bid for the solo consortium licence to serve the country of about 32 million people.