It was only around a month ago that Celcom and Maxis have announce their intention to jointly deploy 5G network in selected areas throughout the country. Fast forward to this week, both telcos have since demonstrated their technical abilities by testing a shared 5G network in Langkawi.
In fact, they have claimed that this is the first ever successful trial of 5G Multi-Operator Core Network (MOCN) in Southeast Asia. According to both companies, MOCN enables them to share the same Radio Access Network (RAN) despite having two independent core networks.
They have also shared some speed test results which were performed at two different locations in Kuah, Langkawi:
Celcom 5G site at The Westin Langkawi Resort & Spa with Huawei Mate 20X 5G.
Maxis 5G site at Seaview Hotel with Huawei Mate 30 Pro 5G (left) and Mate 20X 5G (right).
Both tests are apparently done on 3.5GHz 5G Non-Standalone (NSA) network. In its announcement today, Celcom and Maxis have also revealed that they will be conducting 5G SA network sharing within the first quarter of this year.
Once again, our telcos proved that they are not lacking when it comes to technology capabilities. However, we are still in the early days of 5G roll out in Malaysia, so expect even more 5G-related announcements and showcase from our telcos as we get closer to the commercial roll out in Q3.
