KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 12 — Digital Nasional Bhd’s (DNB) 5G network rollout is ahead of schedule and is expected to exceed 40 per cent coverage of populated areas (COPA) nationwide by December 2022.

The company revealed that it planned for COPA to be 37.9 per cent for this year, but the current forecast is for it to hit 41.8 per cent at the end of December.

In a statement, DNB chief operating officer Nasution Mohamed said the firm is confident of achieving the committed 80 per cent COPA within the next 18 months on the basis of demand for 5G services as well as support received for the necessary approvals from the various state and local council authorities to accelerate network deployment.

DNB said the network will reach 14 million people located in those areas where the network has been established, and in excess of 30 million over the next two years.

“The 40 per cent COPA will be achieved with approximately 3,500 sites against an initially planned 4,018 sites,” it said.

This reduced site count is a result of supply chain issues earlier this year, and delays in securing the necessary local council approvals primarily in Selangor and Sarawak.

DNB said these issues have largely been resolved and the network will be deployed progressively in 2023 as planned.

“In order to overcome the delays experienced and to achieve the 40 per cent COPA, DNB had redirected its network deployment efforts to those states initially intended for 2023 and beyond,” it explained.

The network currently includes almost all of Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Selangor, and significant parts of Penang, Johor, and Negeri Sembilan, as well as some parts of Melaka, Perak, Kelantan, Sabah, and Sarawak.

To date, five of six mobile network operators in Malaysia, which collectively have well over 20 million subscribers — Celcom Axiata Bhd, Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd, Telekom Malaysia Bhd, U Mobile Sdn Bhd and YTL Communications Sdn Bhd (YES) — have begun making retail 5G services available to their end users, following the signing of their respective 5G access agreements with DNB on Oct 31, 2022. — Bernama