Ericsson Sweden has selected Malaysia as its first location in Southeast Asia to manufacture 5G equipment for domestic and regional markets.
This was confirmed during a meeting held between the CEO and President of the telecommunication giant and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri recently who stated the country will be the manufacturing hub for 5G telecom equipment in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region, producing Ericsson’s latest and most advanced 5G radios beginning from the third quarter of this year.
David Hägerbro president and chief executive officer (Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh) said “Supporting the decision to make Malaysia a regional manufacturing hub are the availability of a skilled workforce and the strong infrastructure that Malaysia offer is also an expression of Ericsson’s long-term commitment to the country, including the 5G network that we are rolling out”.
Complementing the manufacturing will be its regional distribution centre at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport as well as the maintenance and support centre in Shah Alam that will collectively support its regional customers.
In addition, Ericsson has also initiated the Ericsson Educate – a partnership with Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and Digital Nasional Bhd – to help educate Malaysian students on 5G and other emerging technologies.
Ericsson is the sole entity that will be supplying the country with 5G equipment after winning the tender from Digital Nasional Berhad. Malaysia has estimated the cost of 5G rollout to be within the region of RM15 to RM18 billion.
