Celcom and Maxis are now looking into the possibility of sharing their 5G infrastructure together. Given the fact that both companies are fierce rivals, this deal might sound rather odd but of course, infrastructure sharing is nothing new in the highly competitive telco industry.
In the joint media statement, both Celcom and Maxis believe that this potential collaboration could lead to substantial cost savings for both companies. Additionally, they also pointed out that this could also improve efficiency and lead to faster deployment of their 5G network.
Said to be the first such partnership when it comes to 5G in Malaysia, the joint deployment will be covering selected areas although both companies didn’t provide specific information regarding them. Despite the plan to share their 5G infrastructure, Celcom and Maxis insist that they will continue to operate their own network separately and remain competitive with each other.
Do note that what Celcom and Maxis have signed today is a just Memorandum of Understanding to explore the possibility of sharing their 5G infrastructure. In other words, it is not a done deal yet but nevertheless, it will be interesting to see how this partnership (if it happens) could affect the industry as we move towards the commercial rollout of 5G in Malaysia within the next few years.
