PETALING JAYA: It is no surprise that none of the telecoms players have signed any agreement with Digital Nasional Bhd (DNB) for 5G wholesale access because the latter has yet to meet all the technical and security requirements the operators are asking for, industry sources said.

       They said even the wholesale pricing structure offered for usage of 5G network is seen to be “too high’’ and this could possibly translate to higher pricing for user service.

       What surprises many is that DNB is offering wholesale access for mobile broadband on 5G and not “future-proof’’ for other applications and services, including the Internet of Things (IoT), machine-to-machine usage and others.

       “That is a major issue. If it is not future-proof, then it defeats the whole purpose of having access to 5G.

       “The initial reference access offer (RAO) was too simplistic and even the regulator acknowledges that,” said an industry source.

       The players and DNB have weekly meetings and last month a joint list of requirements, both from the technical and security aspect, from the players were submitted to DNB.

       “The players need all the terms and conditions spelt out to be agreed upon and the access needs to be future-proof before they can sign.

       “All that is a given in any agreement and both parties are having weekly meetings.

       “So, negotiations are ongoing,’’ said another source.

       He said even the regulator knows that access has not been future-proof and pricing has to be at an acceptable level so that end-users are not burdened.

       “DNB probably needs some time to revise the RAO and negotiations can take time.

       “These are matters that need to be handled delicately, as there are many stakeholders involved and many of the players are public-listed companies,” he added.

       He added that while the country needs 5G and is seen to be a laggard versus the region, rushing 5G for the sake of doing so will only affect the quality of the network and services.

       “Pricing is an important factor and wholesale access needs to be at a level where all parties – DNB, players and consumers – are not burdened.

       “The pricing for end-users needs to be at par or lower than what is offered for 4G services to encourage migration to 5G,’’ he said.

       A delay in 5G rollout can be expected and even the single 5G network operator DNB acknowledged in a report by Reuters that its initial timeline for negotiations had been “too optimistic.’’

       “Hopefully, the players will not be forced to sign agreements just to ensure the government’s single network doesn’t stall,’’ said an industry expert.

       Reuters reported that DNB will seek to have formal long-term agreements early next year and continues to talk about deploying 5G in three central areas including Kuala Lumpur next month.

       Quoting DNB’s chief technology officer Ken Tan, the report said “the target now is to have a live network, covering a total of 500 sites by the end of December, with at least some operators on board to provide 5G network to end-users”.

       UOB Kay Hian in a note said it expects high execution risk from a single 5G infra model. It expects a delay in the actual implementation of the 5G rollout for Malaysia.

       “In the event the single infra model fails, telcos will need to go back to the drawing board and await a decision on spectrum allocation (beauty contests might be expensive as well) from the regulator,” it said.