Celcom teams up with Ericsson to deliver Malaysia's first 5G trial

Celcom Axiata Berhad 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 South East Asia. The trial demonstrated Celcom's commitment to bringing the best of technologies to Malaysia.

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 Yang Berhormat Dato' Jailani Johari, Deputy Minister of Communications and Multimedia, at Menara Celcom in Kuala Lumpur today.

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.

Michael Kuehner, Chief Executive Officer of Celcom Axiata Berhad, 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 digitization 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.

Todd Ashton, Head of Ericsson Malaysia & Sri Lanka, 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 Center 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."

Initiatives such as this 5G trial illustrate the many technological enablers needed to open up opportunities and realize the full potential of Digital Malaysia. 5G presents a huge opportunity for telecom operators who address industry digitalization, with foreseen global revenue potential of USD 582 billion by 2026. Manufacturing and energy sectors represent the biggest opportunity for revenues created or enhanced by 5G, according to Ericsson's 5G Business Potential report.

About Celcom

Celcom is Malaysia's leading data network provider, with close to 12 million customers. Established in 1988, it boasts the widest national 2G, 3G and 4G LTE networks, covering over 98% of the population. Currently the largest mobile broadband and corporate services provider, Celcom is now moving towards integrated multi-access and multimedia services, in line with evolving technologies and consumer behaviour in Malaysia. A culture that places the customer FIRST(TM) is reflected in our award-winning customer service, products, and other corporate accolades at a regional level. Celcom is part of the Axiata Group of Companies, one of the world's largest telecommunications companies, with close to 300 million customers across 10 Asian markets. For more information on Celcom, log on to http://www.celcom.com.my

Ericsson is a world leader in communications technology and services with headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden. Our organization consists of more than 111,000 experts who provide customers in 180 countries with innovative solutions and services. Together we are building a more connected future where anyone and any industry is empowered to reach their full potential. Net sales in 2016 were SEK 222.6 billion (USD 24.5 billion). The Ericsson stock is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm and on NASDAQ in New York. Read more on www.ericsson.com.