KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 31): Maxis Bhd said it is still assessing the governance requirements for the 5G access agreement and is “committed to bringing this to a close as soon as possible”.
“Maxis is committed to playing an active role in bringing 5G to the nation, in line with the government’s digital ambitions, and to utilising Digital Nasional Bhd (DNB)’s network for 5G services,” the group said, adding that is confident of launching 5G “in the near future”.
“Maxis will continue to support the nation’s 5G aspirations in strengthening Malaysia’s competitiveness in the region,” said the group in a statement on Monday (Oct 31).
Meanwhile, the group has already been developing multi-industry use cases and forging partnerships with major players for 5G services and solutions, it said.
Maxis’ share price settled 1.32% or half a sen higher at RM3.85, bringing a market capitalisation of RM30.1 billion.
Earlier on Monday, Digi.Com Bhd, Axiata Group Bhd and U Mobile Sdn Bhd joined Telekom Malaysia Bhd in announcing the execution of their respective agreements to access DNB’s 5G single wholesale network.
In separate statements, the companies said they had on Sunday signed access agreements with DNB to subscribe to the 5G network, confirming a report by The Edge.
The access agreements are for five mobile network operators (MNOs), namely Axiata’s unit Celcom Axiata Bhd, Digi’s subsidiary Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd, U Mobile, TM, and YTL Power International Bhd’s unit YTL Communications Sdn Bhd.
The access agreements are for 10 years, starting Oct 7, 2022, according to filings and press statements by the MNOs.
Additionally, the execution of the access agreements means that the five telecommunications companies will offer their customers 5G services soon.
Meanwhile, the signing of the access agreements represents a milestone for implementation of the single wholesale network model for 5G, first mooted in March 2021 amid a pushback by several industry players, which previously decided on their own as to where they would invest in network infrastructure.
After months of negotiations and several deadline postponements, four MNOs on Oct 7 agreed to separately take up a collective 65% stake in DNB, with the remaining 35% held by the Government, together with a golden share.
Both Celcom Axiata and Digi Telecommunications will each take up a 12.5% stake, while YTL Communications and TM — the earliest adopters of the 5G network — will own 20% each.