KUALA LUMPUR – The government’s commitment to ensuring that mobile network service providers do not charge additional fees for access to the 5G network demonstrates the government’s ongoing efforts to reduce the burden on people’s lives.
Nur Fitri Ismail, a 39-year-old private sector worker, believes that access to the 5G network is now necessary due to the advancement of telecommunications technology, which affects the community’s daily life, including the ability to study, teach, and work.
“Good internet coverage is essential for children’s learning, especially when attending online tuition classes, where large amounts of data are required. For example, my monthly bill for a 60 gigabyte (GB) data plan is nearly RM150, but we all know that internet use today extends beyond daily use.
“Normally, if there is a plan with large data, the price offered is already expensive, so adding an additional charge for the use of the 5G network will burden the public even more,” she said.
Therefore, she hopes that the government will continue to ensure that no hidden charges are imposed on users through packages or plan offers provided by telecommunications companies (telcos).
Things like this can be detected if the service plan suddenly becomes more expensive, and the government should have a mechanism in place to detect any changes in charges for the offered plan.
“So, in this regard, the government needs to play a continuous role by monitoring regularly to ensure that any significant change in the plan or package offered is detected early and action taken accordingly,” she said.
Online trader Farhana Zakaria, 32, said the government’s commitment coincided with her need to use 5G technology to sell her products on e-commerce platforms such as Shopee and social media.
“For me, there is no need for additional charges because there were none even during the old 3G era. Like me, online traders depend on this facility.
“Besides, many people today are facing financial difficulties; if there are additional charges, usage will be limited because people will have to pay more and will be unable to use the technology and facilities provided by the government,” she said.
The matter was also acknowledged by Federation of Malaysian Consumer Associations chief executive officer Saravanan Thambirajah, who described the government’s commitment as appropriate to ensure that consumers are not left behind in getting 5G access.
Saravanan said the decision takes into account the current rising cost of living and is confident that it will increase the productivity of people because 5G technology is a development that has significantly different capabilities compared to the previous 1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G technologies.
“The technology is not only capable of providing a high-speed internet experience at a rate of 10 to 100 times, or up to 1.5GB per second compared to 4G technology, but also has a better quality connection.
“The efficiency of this connection, which ultimately makes the rate of energy consumption lower on user devices, thus has great potential to boost mobile communication through innovation, in addition to creating a new industry that brings great benefits to the entire economy,” he said when contacted.
Saravanan hopes that despite the efficiency of the 5G technology, the government will continue to monitor and investigate consumer complaints if any of them face additional charges.
On January 9, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil announced that no additional charges would be imposed by telcos on users to gain access to the 5G network, a decision that was conveyed to him by all telcos’ chief executive officers. – January 15, 2024