Maxis Bhd and Huawei Technologies Malaysia have sealed an agreement for the provisioning of the 5G service network in Malaysia.

The signing ceremony that took place at the Perdana Leadership Foundation in Putrajaya today, was witnessed by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Signing on behalf of Maxis was its chief executive officer (CEO), Gokhan Ogut, while Huawei was represented by its CEO, Michael Yuan.

Present were Deputy Communications and Multimedia Minister Eddin Syazlee Shith, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission chairperson Al-Ishal Ishak, Maxis chairperson Arshad Raja Tun Uda, and Huawei executive director and CEO of the Carrier Network BG, Ryan Ding.

Mahathir, in a statement released at the event, said collaboration between global players and local vendors was important to support a thriving technology ecosystem in Malaysia.

"I am pleased to see Maxis and Huawei taking advantage of this environment and supporting the growth of Malaysia's digital economy," he said.

The Prime Minister said the impact of advanced technologies on the nation's progress was inevitable and Malaysia could not afford to be left behind, especially with Industry 4.0 already ahead.

"There is no doubt that 5G will be a key driver to connecting everyone in Malaysia and transforming key industries such as manufacturing, agriculture and healthcare so that Malaysia can remain globally competitive," he added.

The partnership will enable greater readiness for the telecommunication company to roll out 5G as soon as the necessary spectrum is made available.

The agreement allows Maxis to have access to insights, standards, products and solutions that will make 5G easier to adopt, operate and introduce new use cases in Malaysia.

Meanwhile, Raja Arshad said as part of the agreement, Huawei would be supplying 4G/LTE and 5G radio equipment and services.

Besides having access to 5G technologies, he said Maxis will be able to modernise its existing LTE network to be 5G-ready.

"Leveraging on existing Maxis' investments and footprint, it will be able to facilitate faster rollout of 5G services when the spectrum is available,” he said.

- Bernama