Malaysian operators Maxis and Celcom Axiata agreed to explore sharing 5G infrastructure as they both expand trials of the next-generation mobile technology.

In a statement, the operators said their collaboration will focus on the joint deployment of 5G infrastructure covering selected areas of the country, with each maintaining its own network.

Gokhan Ogut, CEO of Maxis (pictured, second from right), said: “We are already sharing towers, fibre and working together on connectivity for rural areas and USP projects. This helps us save resources and accelerate the rollout.”

Idham Nawawi, Celcom CEO (pictured, second from left), added: “We believe collaboration is the way forward for the industry, and working with Maxis to explore a more coordinated 5G deployment in Malaysia is something we are excited about. Our potential collaboration will pave the way for the delivery of a world-class 5G network.”

Next phase
Both operators started moving towards 5G more than two years ago, and this year kicked off full-fledged live trials while continuing to upgrade their core networks.

In early October, Maxis named Huawei as a 5G technology supplier, which will upgrade its LTE network to prepare for the rollout of the next-generation mobile services when spectrum is assigned.

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission set up a 5G task force in late 2018 and is preparing for commercial 5G launches in 2021 or 2022. The regulator is exploring spectrum assignments in six bands, and is scheduled to begin a public inquiry for the 700MHz, 2300MHz and 2600MHz bands by the year end.