KUALA LUMPUR: Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd has teamed up with ZTE (Malaysia) Corporation Sdn Bhd to make 5G technology a reality in Malaysia.

They said in a joint statement on Monday the partnership will explore several aspects of the partnership to make 5G technology a reality in Malaysia.

These would include 5G live trials of end-to-end network functions and features, and pilot trials of 5G use cases for enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), fixed wireless access (FWA), ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) and massive machine type communications (MMTC). 

The MoU, which was signed on Monday, will enable trials to be conducted using low, mid and high 5G spectrum bands. 

Signing on behalf of Digi was chief technology officer, Kesavan Sivabalan while ZTE Malaysia was represented by its managing director, Steven Ge. 

Kesavan said this partnership solidifies Digi’s belief that collaborations and trials is key to explore use cases that are relevant to Malaysia, and a part of Digi’s next steps to work towards implementing 5G technology in the country. 

“We acknowledge that deploying 5G in Malaysia has to be a multi-party effort, and we look forward to more collaborations such as these to accelerate the adoption of the technology in Malaysia. These trials and demonstrations will give us more insights into what is needed in order to implement 5G according to the needs of the country,” he said.

Xiao Ming, senior vice president of global sales, ZTE Corps said ZTE had been working with many mainstream operators globally for 5G innovation and developments.

“ZTE is pleased to work with Digi to bring its best practices and suitable use cases to Malaysia,” Xiao said.

Ge said the partnership to undertake the trials with Digi for 5G innovations in the country would  benefit Malaysians in the long-run.