Malaysia has taken the bold decision to implement a government-owned Single Wholesale Network (SWN) to deploy a national 5G network. This will introduce a major structural shift in the Malaysian mobile market, where the current competitive market will be replaced by a monopoly wholesale only operator. This presents many opportunities, but also significant risks.
Our report – commissioned by the GSMA - highlights the key risks associated with the approach being adopted in Malaysia and offers guidance on how these can be addressed. In crafting our advice, we have also relied on lessons learned from Mexico, Australia, the UK and South Korea. We note that there are a range of unknowns in the Malaysian context (including a lack of clarity on the regulatory framework for the SWN) which makes the design of a mitigation strategy more challenging.
The findings were presented by DT Economics Partner Sean Kennedy and Associate Partner Lara Stoimenova at the "Advancing Digital Malaysia" Webinar on 2nd September 2021.
A copy of the report can be found here : www.gsma.com/asia-pacific/resources/safeguard5gmy/
To watch the webinar recording, please click on the links below.