Axiata to pick vendors to roll out 5G services

“Generally we like to have two vendors, and in Malaysia, generally it would be these two, ” Axiata chief executive Tan Sri Jamaludin Ibrahim told Reuters on Saturday, referring to Huawei and Sweden’s Ericsson.

KUALA LUMPUR: Axiata Group Bhd, Malaysia’s third-biggest telecom operator by subscribers, says it will select two equipment suppliers to roll out 5G services, opening the door for the likes of Ericsson to fight it out with dominant player Huawei.

Huawei Technologies, the world’s top telecoms equipment maker, has been a long-time vendor for Axiata and the two companies have a preliminary agreement to work together on deploying Malaysia’s fifth-generation (5G) technology services, slated for later this year.