KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 18 — Former deputy minister of international trade and industry Ong Kian Ming has questioned four mobile network operators, namely Celcom, Maxis, Digi and U Mobile’s transparency in offering a response to his open letter to them regarding the 5G rollout in Malaysia.
In a Twitter update, Ong drew comparisons to Digital Nasional Bhd’s (DNB) 21-page response to a joint statement among the telco’s 20-line statement to his 10 questions.
“@DNB_Official issued a 21-page response to my 15 questions on the 5G rollout.
“The telcos are asking to establish a Dual Wholesale Network (DWN) model and they have issued a 20-line statement to my 10 questions to them.
“Who is being more transparent here?” he asked in a Twitter post.
In the statement posted by Ong, the telcos had noted his questions and offered assurance that they will support decisions made by the government.
Some of the questions are:
4) As a public policy maker that is interested in narrowing the urban-rural divide and as a former deputy minister for the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti), I can see the attractiveness of a Single Wholesale Network (SWN) model led by a government entity that would push for speedier deployment of 5G into the semi-urban and rural areas despite the initial lack of demand. The rapid deployment of 5G, coupled with the existing plans to roll out 4G in a complementary manner by the MNOs will provide the impetus for jobs and investments to flow to lower cost semi-urban and rural areas in different parts of the country which would lead to an increased demand for 5G coverage and services. Would the industry players agree with this point of view?
6) One of the key arguments put forth by DNB is that the MNOs should focus on competing based on service offerings rather than the speed and connectivity of their networks under 5G as data and data access are increasingly being commoditised. From my own understanding, there has been little innovation, especially in terms of value-added services for the SMEs and the manufacturing sector. If the MNOs are freed up from having to focus on the 5G rollout and are “forced” to compete based on service offerings, wouldn’t this lead to a more innovative mobile telco landscape, for businesses as well as individual consumers?
These were among questions fielded by Ong.
The DNB however also noted that some of Ong’s questions were directed explicitly at the CEOs of the existing MNOs so they did offer any comments.
Questions which were answered by DNB were 4, 6, 7, 8 and 10.
* An earlier version of this article contained an error which has since been rectified.
