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KUALA LUMPUR – Digital Nasional Bhd (DNB) said it has achieved almost 50% coverage of populated areas (Copa) in rolling out the nation’s 5G connectivity, with some 3,900 sites as at end-2022.
In a statement, the Finance Ministry-owned special purpose vehicle said this achievement has comfortably exceeded its target of 40% by the end of last year.
The company said it is now focused on delivering the committed target of 80% Copa by end-2024, if not earlier, adding that the network currently reaches some 15 million mobile users.
It said when fully deployed, its 5G network will reach more than 30 million people and businesses.
“State and local councils supported DNB by providing accelerated approvals for deployment. Consequently, DNB was able to recover some shortfalls in setting up sites and achieved a speedier deployment during the last month,” DNB said.
DNB also said it has achieved more than 90% Copa throughout Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, and Selangor as well as some 50% across Johor, Melaka, and Negri Sembilan.
It said all other states are in various stages of deployment, and together with the aforementioned states, are expected to achieve full network deployment by 2024.
Nationwide 5G coverage
DNB said the network currently exceeds 95% coverage in dense urban areas such as Kuala Lumpur and major urban places such as Putrajaya, Cyberjaya, Johor Baru, and George Town.
Meanwhile, DNB chief operating officer Nasution Mohamed said the company was working closely with both its mobile network operator (MNO) partners and device manufacturers to promote and encourage the rapid adoption of 5G nationwide in 2023, after having exceeded its 2022 network coverage target.
“The MNOs have introduced numerous 5G data plans for their customers at very attractive retail prices, so as to encourage adoption of 5G services,” he said.
Except for Maxis Bhd, all MNOs – Celcom Axiata Bhd, Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd, Telekom Malaysia Bhd, U Mobile Sdn Bhd, and YTL Communications Sdn Bhd – have made retail 5G services available to more than 20 million subscribers, following the signing of their respective 5G access agreements with DNB on October 31, 2022.
DNB said Maxis Bhd customers are unable to access retail 5G services pending their shareholders’ approval to execute the 5G access agreement with DNB, which Maxis Bhd has indicated it plans to seek in January this year.
Significant uptake of 5G-compatible smartphones, increase in 5G network traffic
DNB said 5G-compatible devices continue to proliferate the market, with approximately eight million devices already in the hands of end users as of end-2022.
It said growth is forecast to double this year and exceed 40 million devices by 2030.
“Apple is the latest device manufacturer to issue firmware updates in Malaysia to make iPhone 12 and subsequent models compatible with the 5G network. There are currently 15 device brands with more than 100 5G-compatible devices for all budgets available in the Malaysian market,” it said.
“This, coupled with myriad retail 5G data plan offerings from the five Malaysian MNOs, will result in accelerated 5G adoption among end users over the next few years.” – The Vibes, January 2, 2023
