KUALA LUMPUR, June 1 — Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) chief operating officer Datuk Mohd Ali Hanafiah Mohd Yunus today said that the National Digital Network Plan (Jendela) will start its Phase 2 in the third quarter of this year.

He said Phase 2 will consist of full deployment of the 5G network in populated areas after strong 4G coverage nationwide.

He said this will boost Malaysia’s digital economy in line with the 12th Malaysia Plan.

"Phase 1 concluded with 7.74 million premises passed with fibre connectivity and 4G coverage in populated areas that reached 96.92 per cent.

"We will start Phase 2 of Jendela earliest in the third quarter of this year and latest by the fourth quarter,” he said at Jendela’s Phase 1 Concluding Report (Sept 2020-31 Dec 2022) virtual media and analyst briefing today.

As of April this year, Mohd Ali Hanafiah said the adoption of 5G nationwide is at 1.2 million subscribers or 3.1 per cent adoption rate.

He said the rate is considered as low and introducing 5G devices at a lower price will help to improve adoption rates.

Jendela Phase 1 target was to hit 7.4 million premises with fibre connectivity, at a speed of 35 Mbps and coverage at 96.90 per cent by year-end.

It had a baseline of 4.96 million premises passed with fibre connectivity with 25 Mbps (mean or average) and 4G coverage standing at 91.8 per cent in August 2020 when the initiative started.

With RM28 billion allocated for the first phase, Mohd Ali Hanafiah said MCMC is finalising the figures for Phase 2.