ZTE and Nokia have announced deals with Malaysian telecommunications companies to carry out 5G trials in the country during 2019.
ZTE inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with telecom operator Digi Telecommunications to carry out a 5G trial this year.
Under the terms of the deal, both companies will carry out 5G live trials of end-to-end network functions and features, as well as 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 trials will be conducted using low, mid and high 5G spectrum bands, the two companies said.
“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,” said Digi’s CTO Kesavan Sivabalan.
Xiao Ming, SVP of Global Sales, ZTE Corps said: “ZTE has been working with many mainstream operators globally for 5G innovation and developments, and is pleased to work with Digi to bring its best practices and suitable use cases to Malaysia,” said Xiao Ming, SVP of global sales at ZTE.
In March, ZTE signed a MoU Understanding with Malaysian telco U Mobile to collaborate on various 5G related developments including 5G tests, 5G showcases as well as the implementation of massive MIMO technology.
Also, Nokia announced it has signed a MoU with local carrier U Mobile to conduct a 5G network trial.
The trial will be done later this year and will demonstrate the 5G capability of enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) as well as other 5G use cases such as in the fields of virtual reality (VR) and e-sports, Nokia said in a release.
“We have in our plan to conduct several 5G live trials with Nokia later this year for various use cases,” said Woon Ooi Yuen, CTO of U Mobile. “Currently, we already have in place Nokia’s AirScale base stations which are 5G-ready and hence, ready for trials.”
To date, Nokia says it has signed 37 5G commercial contracts across the world, including 20 with named customers.
