In 2022, Celcom and Digi began talks to merge the two companies, that would eventually become CelcomDigi. Hoping to utilize the best of both telcos, initial signs indicated that there was some improvement but lately, quite a few CelcomDigi users from our Facebook page have said that it has become worse since their merger. On paper, pulling all the resources from both sides should make the mobile internet experience better but it became the opposite instead. 

Previously, we reported that Malaysia finally achieved over 80% 5G network coverage in populated areas as set by the government for 2023. Now, the Communications Ministry has also announced a new target for 2024 involving 5G network coverage at all public universities.

It's been almost 'forever' but we will finally have a new Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) CEO soon. Initially announced early this year, Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil told the media that when the share subscription agreement signing is finalised, they will send out the announcement.

5G coverage hasn't increased as fast as some have hoped, but there's definitely progress for Malaysia. As a reminder, the government plans to have DNB's 5G network reach 80% coverage of populated areas by the end of the year. Recently, a few notable updates have been reported.

CelcomDigi, TM, U Mobile and Maxis have officially announced their support for the recent announcement from Malaysia’s Government regarding DNB and the shift to a Dual 5G network. As per the government’s announcement, they’ve all agreed to continue supporting DNB until 80% 5G coverage is achieved by the end of 2023.

According to Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB), Malaysia’s targeted 5G network coverage is now ahead of schedule, reaching almost 50% for 2022. The initial target was 40% coverage of populated areas.

Since all the local telcos are on board (except Maxis) with Digital Nasional Berhad's 5G Single Wholesale Network (SWN), Opensignal could finally do better research on Malaysians' 5G experience. Although it's still relatively early, Opensignal reported that we have "demonstrated an impressive improvement over existing 4G networks".

As Malaysia's other major telcos sign up for Digital Nasional Berhad's (DNB) 5G rollout, Yes 5G continues to be the first telco to offer 5G connectivity in Malaysia. As such, we thought it would be insightful to see how exactly working with DNB has been as told by YTL Communication's CEO Wing Kui Lee (WKL) along with other 5G related questions.

We are just two days away from the "final" deadline but in case you missed the news, Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) will meet the six telcos to sign the agreement on 31 August 2022. Before that takes place, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) will have a meeting today to decide on some terms.

It wasn't that long ago that our Finance Minster Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz said that all six major telcos will have to finalise their agreements by the end of 31 August 2022. But how would our 5G coverage be like once that's over? According to industry insiders, about 30% of populated areas may experience it.