This article appeared in The Star on 17 February 2022.

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia has been advised to stand firm on its decision to opt for a single wholesale network (SWN) in the rollout of its nationwide 5G platform.

Cognitio Consultants Ltd, a global consulting firm with expertise in telecommunications and information technology, said the costs of traffic for 5G would be more competitive than the existing 4G infrastructure when opting for a SWN.

“Malaysia needs the benefits of diverse and innovative service offerings that can be provided from the new 5G network technology,” it said in a response to lawmaker Dr Ong Kian Ming, who recently raised questions about the government’s decision to opt for a 5G SWN.

In July last year, Digital Nasional Bhd (DNB), a Malaysian special-purpose vehicle company owned by the Finance Ministry and regulated by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, appointed Ericsson Malaysia as the sole vendor to roll out Malaysia’s 5G network.

Cognitio Consultants said the DNB 5G rollout is being conducted as cost efficiently as possible by hosting 5G technology onto existing mobile network operators’ (MNO) base station infrastructure.

“Naturally, doing this requires the cooperation of the existing MNOs and any third parties which already serve those MNOs.

“So policymakers should understand that any delays and difficulties that DNB faces is not necessarily of their own making.

“Resistance to the SWN is already evident from the alternative proposals they have made for a dual wholesale network (DWN) model and there is little reason to believe that they would be enthusiastic in their practical support for the DNB SWN rollout.”

The consultancy firm pointed out that so long as DNB provides fair and equal access to all operators wishing to use the SWN, the assurance that DNB will not abuse its monopoly position should be provided by an independent regulatory body.

“This body clearly needs to have the necessary powers and mandate to ensure that DNB is delivering on its “fair and equal access” mandate and should investigate any claims of abuse in a transparent and even-handed manner.

“As we understand it, DNB proposes to price its wholesale network services based on cost recovery.

“This implies that there is no direct incentive for any of the existing MNOs to use capital for the purchase of a stake in DNB.”

Cognitio Consultants noted that existing MNOs have been active in fostering a DWN model as an alternative to the current SWN through DNB.

“In consequence, we would expect them to support the DWN proposal, but in a form that allows them to favour one operator over the other to their advantage.

“Policymakers should be reminded that DNB has been established as a monopoly SWN operator that sets prices for its services based on cost recovery,” it said.