KUALA LUMPUR -- The Malaysian government has awarded Sweden's Ericsson an 11 billion ringgit ($2.6 billion) contract to design and build its 5G telecommunications network, snubbing Chinese competitor Huawei Technologies.
Thursday's announcement comes as Malaysia aims to make 5G connectivity available by year-end and cover 80% of the population by 2024. For starters, services are to be rolled out in Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya as well as multimedia hub Cyberjaya within 2021.