Celcom and Digi customers can continue to enjoy faster 5G access at no extra charge as CelcomDigi announced a further extension for its free 5G access. Last month, it was revealed that customers on selected plans would have to pay a monthly RM10 access fee starting next month in order to connect to the 5G network
According to CelcomDigi’s statement, the new extension for the free 5G access is in line with their ambition to encourage the adoption of 5G in Malaysia. The current free 5G access for postpaid and prepaid customers will be extended from 30th April until 31st May 2023.
Digi Postpaid and Prepaid customers will need to purchase a 5G Booster plan at RM0 from the MyDigi app. Meanwhile, Celcom customers who are currently eligible for free 5G trial access on Celcom Mega Postpaid, Xpad postpaid and Xpad prepaid will be able to enjoy the same free 5G access until 31st May 2023.
To enjoy 5G, users will need to have a 5G-ready plan, 5G-enabled phone and be within Digital Nasional Berhad’s (DNB) 5G coverage areas which currently cover 54.7% of populated areas in Malaysia. Users can learn more about activating 5G on the respective Celcom and Digi pages.
Malaysia is still reviewing the current 5G deployment via DNB, a state-owned Single Wholesale Network. The 5G review was supposed to be concluded by end-March but there’s still no decision yet by the current government led by Anwar Ibrahim. It was reported that the government is considering of allowing a second 5G network to dismantle DNB’s monopoly for 5G infrastructure rollout.
With a 5G adoption rate of just 1% as of the end of 2022, Malaysia falls behind other neighbouring countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore. There have been calls to allow infrastructure competition to enable innovation and speed up the 5G rollout. Malaysia currently aims to achieve 80% 5G population coverage by the end of 2023, which is a full year ahead of DNB’s original timeline.
