Maxis, one of Malaysia’s largest communications service providers, today signed an agreement with Huawei for the provisioning of a national 5G network, which is slated to launch in the second half of 2020.
As part of the agreement, Huawei will be supplying 4G/LTE and 5G radio equipment and services to Maxis, which will enable the latter to modernise its existing LTE network to be 5G-ready and facilitate faster rollout of 5G services when spectrum is available. Additionally, Huawei will provide a team of experts to support Maxis on a series of technical training programmes on planning, operations and maintenance of the 5G network.
This agreement comes after an MoU signed in February this year, in which both parties agreed to cooperate on full-fledged 5G trials. Following the MoU , Maxis commenced the first 5G live trials in the country in the first week of March, where it recorded close to 3Gbps download speeds.
Said Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad, Prime Minister of Malaysia, “There is no doubt that 5G will be a key driver to connecting everyone in Malaysia and transforming key industries such as manufacturing, agriculture and healthcare so that we can remain globally competitive. Collaboration between global players and local vendors is important to support a thriving technology ecosystem in Malaysia. I am pleased to see Maxis and Huawei taking advantage of this environment and supporting the growth of Malaysia’s digital economy.”
YM Raja Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Arshad bin Raja Tun Uda, Chairman of Maxis, said, “This is an important moment not just for Maxis, but for everyone in Malaysia as we prepare ourselves for an exciting future of next generation connectivity. Today’s signing therefore represents significant progress in our journey and commitment to accelerate 5G in Malaysia. We are pleased to be working with global technology leader and our long term partner, Huawei, whose experience, expertise and capabilities in 5G complement our ambitions to be Malaysia’s leading converged solutions company.”
Ryan Ding, Executive Director, CEO of the Carrier BG, Huawei, said that “Malaysia has been making tremendous progress in connecting the unconnected and embracing new ICT infrastructure development. With 5G technology deployment, we foresee Malaysia will go through a phase of rapid digital transformation.”
