Minister of Communications and Multimedia, Saifuddin Abdullah today has stated that 5G network in Malaysia will be rolled out at the end of 2022 or early 2023. The remark is part of his response to the questions from Sekijang MP, Natrah Ismail during a session at the Dewan Rakyat earlier today.
The minister pointed out that the rollout will take place through detailed planning and objectives. To drive his point, Minister Saifuddin listed down a number of factors that are being considered for the rollout of 5G network during the Q&A session.
One of them is the general state of connectivity in which the minister said that there was no point of having 5G only in certain areas while 4G is still inaccessible in rural areas. Among other factors that are being considered also include the acceptance level among citizens for 5G as well as readiness in terms of regulations and the charges that will be imposed on consumers.
There is also a question on how to avoid the possibility of facing a new type of digital divide that could be caused by the disparity of mobile wireless technology between different areas. Additionally, the minister also pointed out that the readiness of the industrial sector needs to be considered as well since the government expects that consumers will only cover 30% of 5G usages while the rest will be for industrial purposes.
Minister Saifuddin closed off his remark during the session by insisting that detailed planning and objectives are more important than rushing out to implement the technology without proper preparations or being caught up by the marketing campaigns from 5G vendors.
In general, what Minister Saifuddin stated in Parlimen today is in-line with what the government has laid down under Jalinan Digital Negara (JENDELA). As shown on the side below which was taken from MCMC’s JENDELA report, it is quite clear that the government is currently taking a step-by-step approach towards 5G.
As for whether you should hold off from buying a 5G phone, that may sound like a wise decision for 2020 and 2021. That being said, it is quite likely that 5G support would already become a common feature among phones by 2022.
Besides, if your preferences are towards flagship and premium devices, then owning a 5G phone is no longer a foreign idea right here in 2020 since a huge number of such devices released this year already support 5G network.
All in all, 5G is coming but before that can happen, the current government prefers to strengthen the nation’s 4G infrastructure first. So, hopefully, the implementation portion of JENDELA will not stray off from what has been laid down in the plan.
(Source: Parlimen Malaysia @ YouTube Live – starts at 19:46 mark]
