Maxis, the largest mobile operator in Malaysia, named Huawei as a 5G technology supplier, which will upgrate its LTE network to prepare for the rollout of the next-generation mobile services when spectrum is assigned.
As part of an agreement, the Chinese vendor will modernise the operator’s 4G network to be 5G-ready, making use of its existing network investments.
Major upgrades
In February, Maxis and Huawei signed an MoU to cooperate on 5G trials, with the first running for six months [1] in the city of Cyberjaya and focusing on higher spectrum bands.
The operator also is upgrading its transport network to support gigabit speeds and virtualising its core network.
Maxis has a 27 per cent share of mobile subscribers in the country, while Digi holds a 26 per cent share, ahead of Celcom Axiata’s 22 per cent, Q2 data from GSMA Intelligence showed.
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) set up a 5G task force a year ago and is preparing for commercial 5G launches in 2021 or 2022 [2]. The regulator is exploring spectrum assignments in six bands, and will start a public inquiry for the 700MHz, 2300MHz and 2600MHz bands in Q4.
Earlier this week the Malaysia government announced eight companies committed an initial investment of MYR116 million ($27.7 million) to run 5G trials in six states [3], which kicked off in October and will run for six months.
[1] https://www.mobileworldlive.com/asia/asia-news/maxis-kicks-off-5g-testing/[2] https://www.mobileworldlive.com/asia/asia-news/malaysia-regulator-changes-tune-to-spur-competition/
[3] https://www.mobileworldlive.com/asia/asia-news/malaysia-gears-up-for-5g-demos-across-6-states/
