MCMC still examining proposals for use of LTE-suitable spectrum

A decision on which operators will be awarded licences to offer commercial Long Term Evolution (LTE) services in Malaysia remains under discussion by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, according to a ZDNet Asia. It is understood that the regulator, which issued temporary concessions in the 2600MHz band to nine companies in October last year, is still examining the matter, and the reports cites deputy minister of information, communications and culture Joseph Salang Gandum as claiming that, with the 4G technology still not yet mature, there remains ‘no real rush to distribute the spectrum.’ Having called on those operators it had licensed to provide detailed business plans for their expected use of the spectrum by January 2011, the MCMC has offered no timeframe for reaching a decision on the matter, prompting some criticism, particularly with operators such as Packet One (P1) seemingly ready to upgrade their networks with LTE technology. Commenting on the matter one unnamed source that worked on one of the business plans submitted to the state noted: ‘I have a suspicion that the calling of the detailed business plan was rushed and done with no clear objectives. Now that the documents are in, the powers that be don’t seem to know what to do with it. In fact, they just recently asked us to put in some new details into our proposal, long after we submitted … What we want is to know what is going on so that we can start making plans with respect to LTE. We don’t need a trial as we’re ready to get into it.’