Malaysia’s regulator the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has allocated 4G spectrum for LTE services to eight companies.

The eight successful bidders for services in the 2.6GHz band are Celcom Axiata, DiGi Telecommunications, Maxis Broadband, Packet One Networks, Puncak Semangat, REDtone Marketing, U Mobile and YTL Communications. There will also be wholesale MVNO allocation for companies that failed to secure spectrum.

The MCMC did not state how much revenue the spectrum allocation generated.

Malaysia has slightly more than 39 million mobile connections, according to Wireless Intelligence, with Maxis leading the market with 12.8 million connections, followed by Celcom with 12.4 million.

With 3G services already available and just over a million WiMAX subscribers – on the P1 and YTL Communications’ Yes brands – the market is ready for the introduction of 4G technology, according to the MCMC.