With the nationwide roll-out of 5G project demonstrations, Malaysia is all set and ready to be the first in Asia to deploy the fifth-generation network technology, making the country among the first in Asia to deploy the technology.

Industry players are in agreement with the government’s ambitious and pragmatic approach, providing unwavering support and investments – proving the industry’s commitment towards establishing a strong, viable use for 5G applications that would transform various industries as well as improve living standards among Malaysians.

In September, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) chairman Al-Ishsal Ishak announced that eight companies have committed to an initial investment of RM116 million for 5G demonstration projects from October 2019 to March 2020.

According to Maybank IB Research, 5G deployment is progressing according to plan, with details on spectrum awards and the deployment model expected to be announced by January 2020.

“The regulator is maintaining its target for 5G to be deployed from the second half of next year onwards, meaning 5G capital expenditure risk could begin to feature in 2020, instead of 2021.

“We expect the risk to be relatively manageable, given the likelihood for increased infrastructure sharing,” it said.

Celcom Axiata Bhd and Maxis Bhd have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore a potential partnership that focuses on the joint deployment of 5G infrastructure to cover selected areas.

Celcom chief executive officer Idham Nawawi said the potential collaboration would pave the way for the delivery of a world-class 5G network, on top of its existing 4G and 3G/2G networks.

Earlier this year, In order to get a good understanding of what is happening in Malaysia, GSMA has already engaged with the Malaysian entrepreneurs, ministries and industry players. The spectrum allocation is one of the major challenges as there’s an issue of not having enough spectrum and some discussion is going on the 700-megahertz (MHz) band, which a very important band.