Maxis demonstrates capabilities of C-band spectrum, records close to 3Gbps single user peak speeds

• Obtains MCMC approval for 2-month trial for two sites in Subang Jaya
• C-band will offer full potential of what 5G promises
• Maxis continues to lead 5G acceleration, committed to delivering the best 5G innovation to benefit the people and business in Malaysia

Upon approval from Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to trial 200MHz of 3.5GHz C-band spectrum, Maxis successfully achieved 2.96Gbps for single user peak speeds, recording a new high at two of its trial sites in Subang Jaya recently. The new record further reinstates the position of Maxis being in the forefront of technology leadership for the nation’s 5G development.

Two types of tests were carried out. Firstly, the 5G New Radio (NR) Carrier Aggregation (CA) was conducted to showcase single user peak speeds. This was followed by the 5G MU-MIMO (multi user MIMO) test to showcase single cell peak speeds due to multiple concurrent user usage.

The testing was part of the 5G Malaysia Demonstration Projects announced earlier in 2019 with MCMC to facilitate, develop and foster 5G use cases in a live but controlled environment. Previously, participating telcos were only provided 100Mhz per C-band spectrum, with typical download speeds from 1.1 to 1.76Gbps.

“We are pleased to see positive performance from our current trial sites. We will continue to upgrade our transport networks to support powerful gigabit speeds, fitting to the capacity demands of new technology. The new record underlines our 5G leadership and a continuation of the many firsts that Maxis has achieved so far. We look forward to unleashing more possibilities of 5G for consumers and businesses in Malaysia,” said Morten Bangsgaard, Chief Technology and Information Officer, Maxis.

With ultralow-latency, stronger and more reliable connection, 5G speeds will allow a superior user experience and massive capacity that is bound to revolutionize a new era of mobile communications. Consumers can download media at faster speeds and stream videos in 4K, with better resolution and closer to real-time compared to what is achievable today. 5G aims to support massive connections of devices and enable smart homes and cities which will improve everyday life. For businesses, 5G will open up new opportunities and use cases with the potential to revolutionize current industries such as healthcare, retail, manufacturing and so forth.

Maxis’ 5G Journey

Maxis has long started its 5G journey. Over the last few years, it has been assessing the technology and conducting demo trials in its test lab. Maxis has been upgrading its transport network to support the gigabit speeds and at the same time virtualising its core network elements for flexibility and scalability for the capacity demands of this technology.

In February this year, Maxis and Huawei signed an MoU to cooperate on full-fledged 5G trials. Following this, Maxis commenced the first 5G live trials in the country, where it recorded close to 3Gbps download speeds. Maxis also participated in MCMC’s #5GMalaysia showcase in Putrajaya, demonstrating how 5G can enable Government and corporations to make informed decisions using the technology. In October, Maxis and Huawei signed a landmark agreement for the provisioning of 5G network, an important milestone in Maxis’ 5G journey as it commits to deliver the best 5G innovation to benefit the people and businesses in Malaysia as soon as the necessary spectrum is made available. In November 2019, Maxis unveiled its first use case demo at aquariaKLCC, showcasing Malaysia’s first 5G Augmented Reality (AR) experience with marine life.

In its latest collaboration, Maxis and Celcom signed an MoU to explore a potential partnership that will enable both telcos to explore possible business opportunities in relation to 5G key strategic areas, as well as for the efficient deployment of Malaysia’s 5G infrastructure, further supporting the development of the nation’s digital ecosystem.