PUTRAJAYA, Oct 3 — Maxis Berhad and Huawei Technologies Malaysia have signed an agreement today for the provisioning of the 5G network in Malaysia.

As part of the agreement Huawei will be supplying 4G/LTE and 5G radio equipment and services to Maxis.

Besides having access to 5G technologies, Maxis will be able to modernise its existing LTE network to be 5G ready. The local telco provider will also be able to facilitate the faster rollout of 5G services when the spectrum is available.

The agreement was signed by Maxis CEO Gokhan Ogut while Huawei was represented by its CEO Michael Yuan. The signing ceremony was witnessed by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

At the press conference, Ogut voiced Maxis’ aspirations to become the first 5G provider in Malaysia.

“Maxis, with today’s announcement is declaring its ambition to be the first. We are the first operator to declare that. The actual launch will depend on the list of the spectrum, which according to plan is in the second half of next year.

“This is why we believe we will be one of the first to launch. When launched that’s when we will have the products available. As soon as spectrum is released then we will launch,” promised Ogut.

Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) chief executive officer Al-Ishsal Ishak, who was at the press conference, added that he expects 5G spectrum in the third quarter of next year.

Touching on the pricing mechanism, Ogut said that Maxis is still studying the matter.

In February, Maxis and Huawei had signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on full-fledged 5G trials.

Later, Maxis had commenced with the first 5G live trials in the country and participated in MCMC #5GMalaysia showcase in Putrajaya.

At the showcase, they demonstrated how 5G can enable government and corporations to make informed decisions using the technology.

Currently, the local telco is also participating in a six-month use case demonstration under MCMC where it is focussing on the agriculture, education and smart city verticals in Langkawi Island, Kedah and Selangor.