Axiata to pick two 5G vendors for 5G rollout

Axiata, which is eyeing spending at least $1 billion over as many as five years on the cutting edge technology at home, has not yet signed any other 5G agreement.

KUALA LUMPUR: Axiata Group Bhd, Malaysia's third-biggest telecom operator by subscribers, said it would 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.