Tycoon Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary’s company Altel Communications Sdn Bhd has been named among the recipients of the 700 megahertz (MHz) band of 5G network by the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia.
Other companies include Telekom Malaysia Bhd, Celcom Axiata Bhd, and units from Maxis Bhd and DiGi.Com Bhd.
The companies were awarded the tender through direct negotiation. Initially, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) was supposed to call for an open tender per its Jan 1 statement.
The directive dated May 15, which came from the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia and signed by Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah, the minister of the portfolio, sees MCMC instructed to allocate the bandwidth between 703MHz and 743MHz, paired with the spectrum between 758MHz and 798MHz.
In its December 2019 report on the rollout of 5G spectrum networks, MCMC said the 700MHz, 3.5 gigahertz (GHz) and 26GHz/28GHz would be identified as pioneer spectrum bands for the implementation of 5G networks in the country.
The spectrum band will be allocated as follows:
Altel Communications Sdn Bhd will be assigned 713MHz to 718MHz, paired with 768MHz to 773MHz.
Celcom Axiata Bhd will see 723MHz to 733MHz, paired with 778MHz to 788MHz.
Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd will be assigned 703MHz to 713MHz, paired with 758MHz to 768MHz.
Maxis Broadband Sdn Bhd will receive 733MHz to 743MHz, paired with 788MHz to 798MHz.
Telekom Malaysia Bhd rounds out the five telcos, being assigned 718MHz to 723MHz, paired with 773MHz to 778MHz.
MCMC has been directed to take immediate steps as per the provisions of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 to allocate the bandwidths to the abovementioned licence holders.
The allocations will also be tied to the terms and conditions, as well as any other necessary additions set by MCMC. – June 2, 2020
