马来西亚5G与科技经济：释放尚未开发的潜力

5G and the techeconomy inMalaysia: tappingthe untapped February 2025 The GSMA is a global organisation unifying themobile ecosystem to discover, develop and deliverinnovation foundational to positive businessenvironments and societal change. Our vision isto unlock the full power of connectivity so thatpeople, industry and society thrive. Representingmobile operators and organisations across themobile ecosystem and adjacent industries, theGSMA delivers for its members across three broadpillars: Connectivity for Good, Industry Servicesand Solutions, and Outreach. This activity includesadvancing policy, tackling today’s biggest societalchallenges, underpinning the technology andinteroperability that make mobile work, andproviding the world’s largest platform to convenethe mobile ecosystem at the MWC and M360series of events. GSMA Intelligence is the definitive source of globalmobile operator data, analysis and forecasts, andpublisher of authoritative industry reports andresearch. Our data covers every operator group,network and MVNO in every country worldwide— from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. It is the mostaccurate and complete set of industry metricsavailable, comprising tens of millions of individualdata points, updated daily. GSMA Intelligence is relied on by leading operators,vendors, regulators, financial institutions andthird-party industry players, to support strategicdecision-making and long-term investmentplanning. The data is used as an industry referencepoint and is frequently cited by the media and bythe industry itself. Our team of analysts and experts produce regularthought-leading research reports across a range ofindustry topics. We invite you to find out more at gsma.com www.gsmaintelligence.com info@gsmaintelligence.com AuthorsTim Hatt, Head of Research and Consulting Pau Castells, Head of Economic AnalysisKenechi Okeleke, Senior Director, Regional Social and Policy Research Contents Executive summary2 1.In context: high tech, high growth3Transitioning to the 5G era3A changed outlook with the dual-network model4 2.Driving towards a digital nation6Putting the initiatives and policies in place6Tracking progress7Infrastructure: maximising the 5G opportunity8 3.Malaysia’s tech economy and diversification10Diversifying to digital, mobile and fintech10Financial backing from government: in it to win it13 4.From single to dual network: outlook and implications14The known risks associated with Malaysia’s SWN approach14What to expect from the move to a dual network15What does not change (yet) with a dual network18 Executive summary The move to a 5G dual-network (DN) model is theright one for customer choice, long-term financialsustainability and Malaysia’s competitiveness as atech and services economy. However, challengesremain, including the need to ensure marketstability, regulatory clarity and long-term investmentincentives. Guaranteeing market stability andcertainty should be the number one priority to unlocksubstantial investments and drive Malaysia towards asuccessful digital future. Malaysia has long been regarded as showing promiseas an advanced tech hub in Southeast Asia. Telecomsin Malaysia has transitioned to 5G, with networkrollout and customer adoption accelerating. The recent announcement that the government hasgranted a second nationwide 5G licence removeswhat was in effect an infrastructure monopoly andpaves the way for a dual network model. The secondlicence has been awarded to U Mobile, an operatorwith around 20% market share in Malaysia. 1.In context: high tech, highgrowth Transitioning to the 5G era Malaysia has long been regarded as showing promiseas an advanced tech hub in Southeast Asia. Malaysiais also a fast-growth economy. GDP grew at 8.7%and 3.7% in 2022 and 2023, respectively. It alsohas a youthful, tech-savvy population (around 70%of people are under the age of 40). Singapore isSoutheast Asia’s main hub for foreign investment,equivalent to 30% of its GDP and driven by itsfinancial services sector. However, Malaysia is amongthe next highest, at 3.6% – above Thailand andIndonesia in the ASEAN cohort, and above India,which competes for similar investment in technologyand manufacturing. wholesale network (SWN) originally provisioned toDigital Nasional Berhad (DNB) – the state-ownedentity. 5G adoption in Malaysia has now reached around 40%of mobile connections (see Figure 1). China, Japanand South Korea remain the vanguard nations in Asia;all record penetration rates of more than 50%, in linewith the US and a handful of European countries.Malaysia’s run rate of incremental 5G subscribergrowth – around 5 percentage points (pp) per quarterin 2024 – has been in line with Singapore, and fasterthan Thailand and India, where mobile operators havemade concerted efforts to migrate 4G subscribersat pace. While some of the growth reflects playingcatch-up following initial delays to rollouts, it alsosignals bona fide consumer demand – typically apositive indicator for