KUALA LUMPUR: The domestic telecommunications technology is set to evolve into a whole new level after Celcom Axiata Bhd and Ericsson on Thursday conducted the country's first 5G trial.



Deputy Minister of Communications and Multimedia Datuk Jailani Johari said the 5G technology was crucial - from empowering the local industry across telecommunication, finance and industrial sectors; to government and private sectors - thus becoming the key to achieving the target to become a developed nation by 2020.



"With the recent launch of the premier digital hub of the world's first Digital Free Trade Zone and Kuala Lumpur Internet City, Malaysia envisions to be the epicentre of South-East Asia's Internet economy.



"This will drive Malaysia to become one of the world's largest purpose-built digital hub for technology giants and leading startups from around the globe.



"This is where 5G comes in and plays a key role in ensuring not only efficiency, but also to open a window of opportunity for digital players.



"Ultimately, 5G will be a solid foundation in creating a strong ecosystem to enable innovation," he said in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.



Earlier, Celcom chief executive officer Michael Kuehner said Celcom was always committed to developing and continuing the evolution of its network with the latest technologies and to bring the best digital experience to Malaysians.



"5G is very important to Celcom as it will support the development and meet the communication needs of consumers and digitisation of various industries. It is critical that we explore this new generation technology and its capabilities with global partners like Ericsson," he said.



Meanwhile, Todd Ashton, the president of Ericsson Malaysia and Sri Lanka, also described the collaboration with Celcom as a further demonstration of Ericsson's support for Malaysia on its journey towards 5G, following on the success of the Innovation Centre for 5G 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," he said.



Speaking at a press conference later, Kuehner said a lot more trials need to be conducted, from the aspect of technicalities, as well as, the ongoing discussion with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission on the regulatory aspect.



The full roll-out of the network to consumers in Malaysia was expected between 2020 and 2025, while global consumers could experience it as early as February 2018 during the Olympic Winter Games in South Korea and the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2020. - Bernama

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