News

With the Malaysian government reviewing its 5G equipment tender process, representatives from both the US and EU warned that Huawei should not be allowed to participate in the country’s growing 5G network

Today, a report from The Financial Times says that both the EU and US have sent letters to the Malaysian government urging them to disallow Chinese equipment vendor Huawei from participating in the country’s national 5G network.

According to the report, the letters from both parties raised this issue of national security, as well as suggesting that allowing Huawei to supply network equipment could impact international investment within the country.

“Senior officials in Washington agree with my view that upending the existing model would undermine the competitiveness of new industries, stall 5G growth in Malaysia, and harm Malaysia’s business-friendly image internationally,” said the US ambassador to Malaysia, Brian McFeeters, in a letter seen by The Financial Times. “The US and other countries prioritise a fair and transparent review process and contract sanctity, as does the international business community. Allowing untrusted suppliers in any part of the network also subjects Malaysia’s infrastructure to national security risks.”

The US banned Huawei from its own 5G networks back in 2019 and has lobbied governments across the world to do likewise. The EU, on the other hand, has taken a less prohibitive approach, rejecting an outright ban but encouraging telcos to steer clear of ‘untrusted suppliers’.

The news comes as the Malaysian government prepares to finalise a review of its 5G equipment tender process, which saw Sweden’s Ericsson win a $2.5 billion contract to provide 5G kit back in 2021.

Malaysia’s 5G journey has been more colourful than most. Back in 2021, the Malaysian government decided to forego the traditional 5G spectrum auction, instead setting up Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB), a state-owned vehicle to build its own wholesale 5G network.

This decision was immediately controversial, with the country’s operators saying they would not buy services from DNB, arguing they could roll out 5G networks more efficiently themselves. It took over a year of threats and coercion from the government to finally bring the nation’s mobile operators to heel, who finally agreed to split a 70% stake in DNB between them in August 2022.

While these discussions with the domestic telcos were ongoing, DNB was wasting no time with the buildout of its 5G network.

The state-owned company announced that it had selected Ericsson as its key partner for its 5G project towards the end of 2021, with the Swedish equipment vendor agreeing provide a suite of 5G solutions, including the network core, radio access network (RAN), a various supporting services. The ten-year contract was valued at roughly $2.5 billion.

Since then, DNB has made considerable progress with its 5G rollout, saying at the start of the year that it had already covered just under half (47.1%) of the country’s populated areas.

However, the rollout was about to hit a bump in the road when, in November 2022, a snap general election led to a change of national government. This new government, led by Anwar Ibrahim, quickly launched a review into the Ericsson 5G tender process, citing transparency concerns.

This review process, which was due to be completed by the end of March, presented an opportunity for Ericsson’s rivals, including Finland’s Nokia and China’s Huawei, to restate their claim to a major role in Malaysia’s 5G future. Both companies duly began lobbying the government, arguing that they should be allowed to participate in DNB’s 5G network.

Potential outcomes of the review could include DNB’s privatisation, the creation of a second national 5G network, or that DNB hands over part of its current network build to another 5G equipment vendor.

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Also in the news:
ECTA calls on the European Commission to think again
Research claims FTTH reduces internet CO2 emissions by a third
Fibre will underpin our 5G future, says ITS Technology Group at Connected North

Of interest this morning: a recapitalization, a re-emergence, and a couple data center expansion projects: … [visit site to read more]

News

The European Competitive Telecommunications Association (ecta) instructed law firm Jones Day to look into the Draft Recommendation on the regulatory promotion of Gigabit connectivity released by the European Commission on 23 February 2023 and finds the analysis supports ecta’s warning that it violates the provisions and principles in the European Electronic Communications Code.

The analysis provided by Jones Day concluded that it:

• restricts the discretionary powers of National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs) to impose price control obligations, in favour of wholesale price flexibility for SMP ( significant market power) operators,
• restricts the discretionary powers of NRAs in deciding to impose other remedies than access to civil engineering infrastructure, in a way which provides a higher priority to access to civil engineering infrastructure over other remedies compared to what is foreseen by Art. 72 and Art. 73 of the EECC,
• encourages the non-imposition of regulated wholesale price control obligations in low-populated areas, and
• promotes wholesale price increases in the context of copper switch-off.

In light of the findings ecta calls on the Commission to consider repealing the 2010 NGA and 2013 NDCM Recommendations and withdrawing the Draft Recommendation.

ecta Director General Luc Hindryckx is quoted as saying “The EECC has determined the framework, and the experience of the NRAs is suitable and sufficient to address the objectively different situations existing within the different Member States. It is therefore no longer necessary to issue a Recommendation.”

The full legal analysis is available here.

News

The global Sustainability Survey, conducted by the FTTH Council Global Alliance (FCGA) has examined environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies amongst network operators, service providers, and vendors across five geographical regions, Europe, Latin America (LATAM), North America and Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and Asia Pacific.

It found that 81% of European respondents already have an ESG / CSR strategy, followed by LATAM (45%), North America and MENA (both at 16%), and Asia Pacific (15%).

The survey referenced a Boston Consulting Group report that estimated that the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector is responsible for up to 4% of all global emissions—twice the levels of the aviation industry.

Research conducted for the sustainability survey by market research firm RVA, LLC and the Fiber Broadband Association (FBA) find that fibre consumes less energy than other broadband technologies and as a result Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) connectivity directly reduces carbon output, leading to a 34% reduction in internet CO2 emissions.

Gary Bolton, President of the Fiber Broadband Association said of this finding, “Fibre is the only way to simultaneously deliver high-speed, reliable internet services and support ESG and CSR goals, green energy, less waste, and the greater good of society.”

Other findings of the sustainability survey include:

• Supporting customer Greenhouse Gas (GHG) reduction programs through the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology enables businesses to identify sustainability enhancements and develop GHG impact estimates for early-stage innovation programs.
• Most companies are working on plans to achieve at least a 40% reduction in GHG emissions by 2030, with long-term goals of net zero by 2040.

The FTTH Council Global Alliance comprises six regional FTTH Councils with the common goal to accelerate fibre broadband adoption. The councils include the Digital Council Africa, Fibre Broadband Association, Fibre Broadband Association LATAM Chapter, Fibre Connect Council MENA, FTTH Council Asia Pacific, and FTTH Council Europe.

Kholoud Aldorgham, Director General for the Fibre Connect Council MENA said “The telecommunications sector has a significant role to play in reducing carbon emissions and achieving sustainability goals. Fibre optic technology is one of the most sustainable broadband technologies available today. Not only does it consume less energy, but it also has a longer lifespan than other technologies, which reduces the amount of waste generated.” He added that the MENA region had work to do on developing sustainable practices in telecoms but that investment in the deployment of fibre optic networks would be a step in the right direction.

CEO of the FTTH Council Africa, Juanita Clark, is a judge for the annual World Communication Awards which include a sustainability category which will be looking for CSP’s own sustainability initiatives and how they are enabling customers to reduce carbon emissions. Download the categories brochure to find out more.