CELCOM Axiata Bhd and Ericsson have performed Malaysia’s first ever 5G trial, pioneering the evolution of the nation’s telecommunications technology. It is also the first 5G trial conducted on the 28GHz band in Southeast Asia
The trial featured 5G Radio Prototypes, achieving a peak throughput up to 18Gbps (Gigabits per second) and latency as low as 3ms (milliseconds).
It also demonstrated futuristic 5G use cases such as robotic control, connected environment, virtual reality, Internet of Things (IoT) applications and 4K video streaming over 5G – from video capture at the server end to playback on the 5G prototype device.
This milestone is a result of the 5G memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by Celcom and Ericsson in Barcelona in February 2017. The MoU paved the way for a joint partnership to evaluate opportunities for 5G and IoT in Malaysia.
The nation’s first 5G lab trial demonstration was witnessed by Jailani Johari, Deputy Minister of Communications and Multimedia at Menara Celcom in Kuala Lumpur on May 18.
Celcom and Ericsson are set to drive technology innovations in Malaysia, supporting the government’s “Digital Malaysia” vision that calls for the creation of a developed digital economy by 2020.
Celcom Axiata chief executive officer Michael Kuehner says: “Celcom is committed to developing and continuing the evolution of its network with the latest technologies, to bring the best digital experience for Malaysians.
“5G is very important to Celcom as it will support the development and meet the communication needs of consumers and digitisation of various industries. It is critical that we explore this new generation technology and its capabilities with global partners like Ericsson.”
Celcom’s recently announced “journey to 5G” will involve the deployment of key technologies such as 4x4 multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) and 256 QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation) to provide users with data speeds up to 400Mbps (megabits per second).
In the near future, Celcom will also deploy IoT to enable digital and connected living.
Ericsson Malaysia & Sri Lanka head Todd Ashton says: “Ericsson is committed to bringing the latest technology advancements, including 5G, to Malaysia and our partner Celcom. This collaboration with Celcom is a further demonstration of our support for Malaysia on its journey towards 5G, following on from the success of the Innovation Centre for 5G that we set up last year with Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.
“Together with partners like Celcom, we will study and test this new technology to capture the full potential of 5G for consumers, business users and entire industries in the country.”
5G presents a huge opportunity for telecom operators who address industry digitalisation, with foreseen global revenue potential of US$582 billion by 2026. Manufacturing and energy sectors represent the biggest opportunity for revenues created or enhanced by 5G.
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