KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 22 — Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil today disclosed that as of last month, more than 10 million people in the country have adopted the 5G network.
He said the figure saw an increase of 17.4 percentage points from November last year, according to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).
“I would like to share with you, and that based on the latest figures provided to me by MCMC, 5G adoption has seen an increase.
“In November 2023, we saw a take-up rate or adoption of about 12.5 per cent and generally we have reached an astonishing 29.9 per cent adoption rate in January," he told reporters here.
Fahmi considers the latest adoption rate figure as “significant”.
He also credited local telecommunications companies (telcos) for waiving the 5G service charge, which helped the rollout happen quicker.
Last month, Fahmi announced that telcos would not impose additional charges for subscribers to access the 5G network.
He said the chief executive officers of all telcos notified him of their decision not to impose charges for 5G access.
In December, Fahmi said the 5G network coverage in populated areas in Malaysia has reached 76.1 per cent as of November 30 last year.
He said this meant that there was less than four per cent left for the country to reach the target of 80 per cent 5G network coverage by the end of the year.
Once Malaysia reached the target, the government would decide on establishing a second 5G network, he said.
Last month, Fahmi said the 5G network coverage in Selangor has reached 95.9 per cent as of December.
