KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 12 — Putrajaya avoided a 5G spectrum auction because it would merely yield a higher temporary value that would push costs higher, slowing down its rollout and make the technology less affordable, Digital Nasional Berhad chief executive Ralph Marshall said.
In a 20-page letter addressed to Ong, Marshall stressed that a spectrum auction is a one-time event against overall growth to the economy, citing Germany’s case whereby the spectrum was awarded to private enterprises based on administrative costs and not by bidding. “We would refer to the German Government decision to allocate 5G spectrum for Private Enterprise based on administrative costs rather than auctions. Germany elected not to auction the spectrum but rather focused on the overall benefits to the general German economy.”
“It is important to also note that the Government did not ever auction spectrum for use by MNOs for 2G, 3G and 4G, and many of the MNOs were given spectrum assignments for nominal payments which benefit was not passed through to the consumers,” Marshall wrote. But Marshall said MNOs had shown no interest in developing 5G yet because they were more keen to consolidate their 4G networks, which ultimately led to Malaysia falling behind in the regional race to rollout 5G.
“Malaysia continued to slip behind its Asean neighbours in 5G rollout with its attendant adverse consequences to foreign direct investment that relies on telecommunication infrastructure and gross domestic product growth in Malaysia.”