MCMC AND MIDA TO SIGN MOU TO HELP MSMES ADOPT, UTILISE 5G - FAHMI

PUTRAJAYA, May 21 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to help micro, small and medium enterprises adopt and implement the use of 5G networks for their businesses, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said.

He said the MoU will be inked soon, within a week or two.

"This is in the process. Since we have reached over 80 per cent of COPA (coverage of populated areas) and since the adoption at this time is satisfactory... but it can be improved.

“So the next step is for telecommunications companies or mobile network operators to complete the share subscription agreement process, their equity holdings in Digital Nasional Bhd (DNB)," he said at a press conference after the Cabinet meeting here today.

Fahmi also said the Cabinet was informed that the first meeting of the DNB board of directors was held yesterday and representatives from the telcos, each of the five telcos was represented by a board member and given 20 days to make its decision.

“Subsequently we hope to complete and finalise the equity holdings of the telcos.

“And one of the conditions imposed on the telcos that want to be involved in the second network is that they must complete this share subscription, that is the equity holdings in DNB.

“Soon the MCMC will announce a tender process that will allow companies that want to be involved in bidding for the second network to make their respective bids,” he said.

Fahmi said the direction of the decision for the 5G network made today (during the Cabinet meeting) was a follow-up to the decision made on May 3 last year and also the decision reached on Aug 23 last year, when the Cabinet had agreed that the implementation of the 5G network will start to shift from a single network to dual network.

He added that up till April 30, 2024, the 5G network COPA had reached 81.5 per cent, while the acceptance or adoption rate for the 5G network has reached 39.2 per cent.

"This saw a 3.8 per cent increase compared to the end of March this year, which means that as of the end of April there are 13.2 million 5G accounts in our country.

“This is a good and positive achievement in terms of the policy of the government and also the regulator, that is MCMC, is functioning well and the people has welcomed it,” he said.

As of end-April, the adoption of 5G for the individual category has reached 12.78 million users while for enterprise, there are 422,609 accounts.

-- BERNAMA