Following a recent report that Maxis and U Mobile have declined to take up the equity stake in Digital Nasional Berhad, U Mobile has issued a statement to clarify its current position. Despite not being a shareholder in the national 5G single wholesale network, the orange telco says it is committed to delivering 5G services, and customers can look forward to enjoying the full benefits of 5G soon.
U Mobile has issued a statement to express support for the government’s decision of using a single wholesale model to roll out 5G in Malaysia and they are grateful to be invited to invest in DNB. After extensive discussions and deliberations on the matter, and after taking into consideration the terms of the investment as it currently stands, U Mobile has decided that it will not pursue the investment option in DNB. The orange telco believes it can better serve Malaysians by focusing on its strengths of providing innovative and unbeatable connectivity and digital services, that would realise the full potential of 5G technology.
U Mobile can still offer 5G in Malaysia by signing separate access agreement
To address concerns that U Mobile will not be able to offer 5G services, it clarified that not taking a stake in DNB will not affect its ability to provide 5G services to customers. The statement said access to DNB’s 5G network infrastructure is governed by a separate access agreement, which is not linked to the equity investment in DNB. It added that U Mobile along with other telcos are still in discussion to finalise the 5G access agreement in DNB. Once the access agreement is finalised and signed, U Mobile says customers will be able to enjoy a truly seamless connectivity experience on both DNB’s 5G network and U Mobile’s 4G network.
U Mobile said it has full faith that DNB will be on schedule for the deployment of a quality 5G network and it will carry out the government’s mandate to provide wholesale 5G coverage and capacity on an equitable and non-discriminatory basis via the 5G access agreement. DNB currently has 30% 5G population coverage and it aims to hit 80% 5G population coverage by the end of 2024.
Yesterday, Digital Nasional Berhad has confirmed that two telcos have pulled out from the equity deal. It shared that a total of six telcos which include Celcom, Digi, Maxis, U Mobile, YTL Communications and Telekom Malaysia were supposed to sign a Share Subscription Agreement (SSA) on 30th of August but there were last-minute changes. It said one telco had decided not to proceed while other telco had not responded. As a result, DNB will need to revise the transaction documents (SSAs and Shareholder Agreement) to allow for the equity of four telcos instead of six.
DNB has also mentioned that discussions on the 5G Access Arrangements are still progressing with all six telcos on a separate and independent track. This means that all six telcos including Maxis and U Mobile are still able to get 5G access without the equity deal. However, it all depends if the telcos are agreeable to the 5G wholesale deal and whether they sign the access agreements.
Related reading
- DNB: 4 telcos remain interested to take stake in Malaysia’s 5G single wholesale network
- Report: Maxis and U Mobile refuse DNB stake deal, citing no benefit being minority shareholder
- 5G Malaysia: Annuar Musa now says telcos will sign DNB deal by 31 Aug, MCMC to decide on a few terms
- Celcom customers can try 5G service in September if there are “no hindrances”
