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Bloomberg
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 rollout 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, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission chairman, said in an interview. Commercial 5G services may be available in the country by the third quarter this year, according to a January presentation by commission.
The cheap airwaves policy frees up funds for companies including Maxis Bhd and Axiata Group Bhd to invest in 5G infrastructure that could cost at least 7 billion ringgit ($1.7 billion) over the next five years, Al-Ishsal said. The policy also sets up competition among carriers including Maxis, Axiata, Telekom Malaysia Bhd and Digi.com Bhd to form groups that will vie for the license to operate the country’s first 5G network.
Maxis and Axiata ended three days of losses to advance 1.3% and 0.7%, respectively, as of 4:30pm in Kuala Lumpur. Telekom rose 1.3%, set for the steepest gain in a week.
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 Bhd 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 license to serve country of about 32 million people.
Malaysia’s approach will avoid duplicating infrastructure, allowing consumers to benefit from lower cost, Al-Ishsal said in the northern city of Langkawi.
“Because we’re not charging unnecessary cost, there will be no need for the industry to charge a premium,†he said.