Five Malaysian telcos agree to use state 5G network

Malaysia's 5G plans had been repeatedly set back since last year amid an impasse between the government and major carriers over pricing and transparency, including concern that a sole state-run network would result in a nationalised monopoly

Five Malaysian mobile operators have agreed to use the government's state-owned 5G network, paving the way for 5G services to be rolled out to customers after months of delayed talks.

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Malaysia's 5G plans had been repeatedly set back since last year amid an impasse between the government and major carriers over pricing and transparency, including concern that a sole state-run network would result in a nationalised monopoly.

The government has said a single shared network would reduce costs, improve efficiency and speed up infrastructure works.

Celcom Axiata, DiGi Telecommunications, Telekom Malaysia and U Mobile said on Monday they had signed agreements to access the 5G network run by state agency Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) for 10 years.

A fifth operator, YTL Communications, also signed the deal, Malaysia's communications minister Annuar Musa told reporters on Tuesday.

In its statement, U Mobile said it would begin making 5G services commercially available to its customers from Thursday.