Celcom ready to deploy 5G technology, pending govt’s spectrum license

KUALA LUMPUR: Celcom Axiata Bhd (Celcom) is ready to deploy the fifth-generation (5G) technology in the country pending approval from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).

Chief executive officer Idham Nawawi said it would just be a matter of months for the telecommunication company to roll-out the technology.

“We have upgraded our core network, but we need to add the capacity. Part of our network is already in the long-term evolution (LTE) advance plus and is ready to take on the new technology,” he said at a press conference at the signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Celcom, Sunway Bhd and Huawei Technologies (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd here today.

The MoU aims to explore Malaysia’s first tripartite collaboration towards achieving smart township solutions encompassing internet of things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) with the 5G connectivity.

This would in turn explore potentials for Celcom and Huawei to be the 5G technology enabler for Sunway City Kuala Lumpur, which is the ‘launch pad’ of this partnership.

All three parties will cooperate to facilitate and support within the digital eco-system to promote technological adoption to enrich people’s lives.

Idham said Celcom will kickstart its first pilot project at the Sunway Pyramid with 5G technology, beginning the fourth-quarter of 2020, and subsequently will apply this technology in education.

MCMC had in early June this year, was asked to cancel the 5G spectrum bands awarded to five telecom players without open tender.

The decision was made after reports of the 5G spectrum being awarded without an open tender went viral.

The ministry reportedly had assigned the 700MHz spectrum bands to Celcom Axiata Bhd, Digi.Com Bhd, Maxis Bhd, Telekom Malaysia Bhd and Altel.

Idham said Celcom did not see the big impact on the delay of the spectrum, but rather urged the industry to rethink some of the strategy together with the government for the deployment of 5G technology amid the unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic.

Celcom had on average invested about RM1 billion annually for capital expenditure (capex), citing thing the company had accelerated its investment to bring the LTE and LTE advance to the market in the past three to four years.

“5G technology is the evolution of existing technology. We currently have about 11,500 sites (towers) and this new technology is another layer on top of our existing network,” he said.

Celcom would continue investing in technology to reduce the unit cost of delivering the data (gigabyte) to consumers.

“We also need to expand our 4G coverage then we can be ready for 5G when the spectrum is ready for the commercial rollout,” he added.

Sunway Group president Datuk Chew Chee Kin said 5G will play a key role in helping Sunway City reduce its carbon footprint, while enhancing the company status as Malaysia’s first integrated green township.

“We will start with Sunway City Kuala Lumpur, but we plan to eventually expand this 5G ecosystem to all of Sunway’s townships, including Sunway City Ipoh and Sunway City Iskandar Puteri in Johor,” he said.

He said the MoU underlined Sunway’s response to the government’s call to ramp up the digital transformation of Malaysia’s economy for the nation’s survival and well-being in the post-pandemic era.

Huawei Malaysia chief executive officer Michael Yuan said it was important that a conglomerate like Sunway Group understands the importance of digital transformation and continues to embrace the digital shift.

“We are committed to our partners in providing secure, reliable, and sustainable services to help them grow in an intelligent world,” he said.

Sunway and its solution partners, on the other hand, will have the opportunity to be part of Celcom’s Centre of Digital Excellence in testing telecommunications technology and potentially further developing used cases essential for Sunway’s envisioned smart solutions, particularly within Sunway City Kuala Lumpur.

Source: NST