Digital Nasional Bhd (DNB), the government-run special purpose vehicle (SPV) responsible for 5G network development in Malaysia, has appointed Swedish telecommunications giant Ericsson as its official partner. The project is reported to cost RM11 billion for the overall infrastructure development.
The SPV noted that this revised amount is much lower than the previously budgeted cost of RM15 billion, and would be fully borne by Ericsson. The telecom giant will be responsible for the development of the core, radio access and transport network, as well as operation and business support and management systems.
“Ericsson will also undertake capacity building and innovation programmes to support local vendor development and participation, as well as to boost 5G adoption amongst the public,” the SPV said in a statement. “This is in addition to developing use cases to accelerate industry participation.”
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DNB added that the 5G adoption in Malaysia will focus on serving three key service offerings: enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC), and massive machine type communications (mMTC). These are expected to benefit the country’s industries such as oil and gas, transportation, government services, healthcare, banking and finance, and much more.
The local 5G deployment is expected to first launch in Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya by the end of 2021, with five major cities and districts in the states of Selangor, Penang, Johor, Sabah and Sarawak to receive it by 2022. DNB said that the new network will eventually see a nationwide expansion that will cover an additional 17 cities and rural areas by 2023 onwards.
(Source: Reuters / The Edge Markets | Header image: Reuters)
