Malaysia’s newly appointed Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Monday his administration will review a plan for a state-owned 5G network introduced by the previous government as it was not formulated transparently.
Malaysia, in 2021, unveiled a plan for a state-owned agency to own all 5G spectrum, with various carriers using the infrastructure to provide mobile services.
The single-ownership of spectrum raised concerns from the country’s major carriers over pricing, transparency and monopoly.
The 5G plans will be evaluated to ensure they strictly followed procedures, Anwar said at a news conference following his first cabinet meeting.
“It needs to be reviewed because it was not done in a transparent manner,” Anwar said, without giving details.
Anwar was appointed premier by the king last month, after a general election resulted in an unprecedented hung parliament. Anwar’s bloc did not win a simple majority but he formed a coalition government with the help of other political blocs.
