Malaysia’s Celcom Axiata selected Ericsson and Huawei as its main infrastructure suppliers to deploy and manage its 4G network as it looks to upgrade its services over the next five years.

The operator has allocated MYR1.8 billion to MYR2.2 billion ($460-562 million) for network capex, which includes spectrum refarming costs, over that period.

Celcom is tied for second with Digi with a 28 per cent market share and just 1 percentage point behind market leader Maxis. But Celcom lagged both its rivals by a large margin in 4G connections at the end of Q1. According to GSMA Intelligence, Maxis leads with 3.6 million 4G users, while Digi is number two with 2.9 million and Celcom is a far third with 1.2 million.

Celcom CEO Shazalli Ramly said it will adopt new technologies from Ericsson and Huawei that will reduce the number of sites and give it broader coverage, the Star Online reported. “This is a major boost in terms of savings. Apart from that, the tie-up would benefit Celcom by getting us ready for 5G in the future.”

The operator said last week it would spend at least MYR1.2 billion ($306 million) this year to expand its 4G footprint, with 95 per cent coverage in 25 “prime areas” nationwide.

The company will soon face a new competitor in the form of Telekom Malaysia’s mobile unit, webe (previously Packet One Networks), which is upgrading its mobile network and plans to introduce 4G service soon.