5G has become a new highland for the development of science and technology in various countries, but there will always be obstacles and difficulties on the road of deployment and construction. Even Malaysia, a Southeast Asian country, has encountered many obstacles in the process of building 5G networks, and it has reached a deadlock for a time. However, with the government's high attention and the strong support of Chinese companies such as Huawei, Malaysia has finally ushered in a 5G breakthrough and realized the commercial use of 5G-A (5G Advanced) technology, becoming the first country in Southeast Asia to enter the era of 5G enhancement.
Huawei supports 5G construction in Malaysia
To say why Malaysia's 5G deployment road is bumpy, it is mainly due to the interests of all parties and the entanglement of contradictions. According to the deployment plan of the Malaysian government, DNB, a state-owned 5G wireless network operator, will take the lead and coordinate major domestic mobile communication operators to jointly promote the construction of 5G networks.
However, in the process of implementation, DNB has repeatedly disagreed with its partners on issues such as the selection of equipment suppliers and the transparency of internal operations. Major operators such as Telekom Malaysia, Maxis and Sunshine Telecom have expressed distrust of DNB, questioning whether its decision-making process is open and fair, and whether there is a black-box operation, which ultimately led to an impasse in negotiations between the two sides and a stagnation in 5G construction.
Faced with this dilemma, the Malaysian government has been unwavering in its support for DNB and has invited internationally renowned professional services firms to participate in overseeing the contract tenders to ensure an open and transparent process. But even so, it seems difficult to completely dispel the doubts of partners. Eventually, Maxis announced that it was ready to build a nationwide 5G network on its own.
Just when the situation was stalemate, Chinese tech giant Huawei reached out in time to help. Back in 2023, Maxis signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Huawei on the 5G-A Acceleration Program, and the two parties reached an agreement to deepen 5G cooperation. At the end of February 2024, Malaysia Telecom Maxis and Huawei also successfully tested the first 5G-A network in Malaysia and Southeast Asia.
The peak download speed of this 5G-A network exceeds 8Gbps, which is far higher than the level of ordinary 5G networks. This achievement not only doubled the Malaysian government's confidence in Huawei, but also completely dispelled the doubts of partners about DNB. After all, with its outstanding 5G technology capabilities, Huawei is undoubtedly the most trusted partner for Malaysia's 5G construction.
China Enterprise has become the core force of 5G construction
In fact, Malaysia's trust in Huawei's technology is not achieved overnight, but because of Huawei's unremitting efforts in the field of 5G over the years. As early as the 4G era, Huawei has been engaged in the pre-research of 5G technology and has become the main formulator and promoter of global 5G standards.
In 2019, Huawei was the first to commercialize 5G, launching industry-leading 5G base stations and chips, and soon built the world's largest 5G network. According to statistics, by the end of 2023, Huawei has commercialized 5G in more than 70 countries around the world, with more than 4.5 million 5G base stations shipped and a global market share of more than 35%, far ahead of other peers.
To date, Huawei has successfully overcome many core challenges of next-generation mobile communication technologies such as 6G and 5G-Advanced, and has first applied these innovative technologies to Malaysia's network construction. It can be said that with the unremitting efforts and innovative breakthroughs of Chinese companies such as Huawei, Malaysia's 5G strategic deployment has solid technical support and shows a bright future for development.
In addition to Malaysia, Chinese companies such as Huawei and ZTE are also involved in the construction of more and more global 5G networks. In the United Kingdom, Germany, Mexico, Saudi Arabia and other countries, Chinese technology companies have played an important role and made outstanding contributions to the local 5G commercialization. In developing countries such as Africa and Southeast Asia, 5G technology from Chinese companies is also popular, helping to accelerate the popularization of 5G networks in these countries.
Where does the 5G strength of Chinese enterprises come from?
Observers point out that the reason why Huawei and other Chinese companies have been able to achieve remarkable results in the field of 5G is mainly due to the overall jump in China's scientific and technological strength. Since the 90s of the 20th century, China has become the second largest economy after the United States, and in the following decades, China's R&D investment has been increasing, and the reserve of scientific and technological talents has become increasingly abundant, laying a solid foundation for China to lead the new generation of communication technology innovation.
Taking Huawei as an example, China's private technology giant currently has more than 100,000 R&D personnel, accounting for more than half of the total employees, and scientific research funds account for more than 15% of sales revenue, ranking among the top in the world in terms of technological innovation capabilities.
In recent years, with the acceleration of 5G deployment, Huawei has been the world's largest 5G patent applicant for many consecutive years. There is no doubt that owning key core 5G patents is an important guarantee for Huawei to occupy the commanding heights of 5G technology.
By the end of 2023, Huawei had provided ICT solutions to more than 500 operators and more than 200 million enterprises around the world, covering more than 180 countries and regions. Such strong global deployment and service capabilities are undoubtedly the key to winning the favor of Huawei's 5G products and services in the market.
In addition to innovation and breakthroughs at the enterprise level, the Chinese government has also paid unprecedented attention to the construction of communication networks at the strategic level. In 2022, China established the state-level "China Satellite Network Corporation", which is responsible for building the world's largest satellite Internet constellation to provide space infrastructure for 6G/5G-Advanced networks. In the same year, the State Council also issued a series of heavyweight industrial support policies to vigorously support the development of core technologies such as integrated circuits.
In the face of the technological blockade of the United States and other Western countries in the field of 5G, China has united as one and concentrated its efforts to independently conquer the core technology, and finally won major progress in stages. According to the latest plan, by 2030, China will strive to achieve the commercial use of third-generation communication technology systems and lead the future development of communication technology.
Overall, the continuous enhancement of 5G technology strength of Chinese enterprises is not only due to their own persistent investment in innovation, but also to the strong support of the national strategic level. With the dual advantages of technological innovation and industrial ecology, China will surely win a broader development space in the future 5G and 6G eras.
Opportunities and challenges coexist
There is no doubt that 5G and future 6G networks will inject strong impetus into the transformation of the digital economy of various countries and become an important productive force. They can not only significantly improve the speed and real-time performance of the mobile Internet, but also give wings to cutting-edge fields such as the Internet of Everything, industrial automation, and intelligent driving.
For emerging economies like Malaysia, embracing 5G will mean more room for economic growth. According to authoritative estimates, by 2035, 5G will bring at least US$14 billion of economic output to Malaysia, equivalent to about 5% of current GDP. In many traditional industries such as manufacturing, agriculture, and logistics, 5G will also drive significant improvements in productivity and operational efficiency.
At the same time, 5G will have a profound impact on home consumption and work lifestyles. High-speed mobile broadband will promote the popularization of emerging services such as cloud gaming, cloud office, and online education, and enhance people's sense of gain and happiness. In the field of public services such as medical and health care, emergency rescue, etc., 5G will also bring new efficient accessibility.
However, the road to 5G development has not been smooth, and there are still many challenges to be addressed. For example, the construction and maintenance of 5G networks are expensive, which is a big test of financial strength; At the same time, 5G technology also brings new risks at the level of network security and user privacy, which need to be avoided by relevant technical means and management systems.
In addition, how to integrate 5G technology with other emerging technologies is also a new topic. Only by deeply integrating 5G with cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, edge computing, and blockchain can we fully unleash its potential and promote the digital transformation of the economy and society.
However, the successful deployment of 5G-A networks in Malaysia shows that any challenges can be overcome and resolved as long as the government attaches great importance to them and relevant enterprises and suppliers work together. It is believed that in the near future, 5G networks will spread all over the world, becoming a new "artery" connecting all things, and giving wings to the sustainable development of human society.
In conclusion, 5G has brought unlimited opportunities to the world, and every country should seize the wave of this era. Chinese companies have played an important role in this process and will continue to contribute their wisdom and strength to the global 5G development. In the future, mankind will surely start a better life in the 5G era.