Malaysia is to start a nationwide demonstration of 5G projects next month, a minister said yesterday, indicating that it was on track to become one of the first Asian countries to launch the technology.
The government has said that it wants to start rolling out the ultra-fast mobile Internet service early next year, and unlike Vietnam and some developed nations, is not averse to letting its telecoms work with China’s Huawei Technologies Co (華為).
Huawei, the world’s largest telecom equipment maker, in May was put on a US blacklist after Washington said that its equipment could be used for spying, a charge the company has denied.
That put pressure on many other countries to follow suit, but Malaysia, a nation of 32 million people, has said that it is not concerned about the spying allegations, focusing instead on the relative affordability of Huawei products.
“It is hoped that Malaysia’s early commitment to 5G, to rapidly deploying 5G test beds and nationwide demonstration projects, will position the country as one of the leaders of 5G adoption in the world,” Malaysian Minister of Communications and Multimedia Gobind Singh Deo told an industry event.
Huawei already has preliminary 5G agreements with Malaysian companies such as Celcom Axiata Bhd, Telekom Malaysia Bhd and Maxis Bhd.
The Shenzhen, China-based company expects the memorandums of understanding to lead to contracts, a Huawei official said.
“We are ready to cooperate with our partners as Malaysia prepares to launch 5G services,” the official said on condition of anonymity because of company policy. “Our strengths are our technology, cost and delivery.”
Huawei’s main competitor in 5G is Sweden’s Ericsson AB, which together with Celcom in April powered the first 5G hologram call in Malaysia.
The other major players in the sector are Finnish firm Nokia Oyj and China’s ZTE Corp (中興通訊).
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