Ericsson opens 5G manufacturing facility in Malaysia

Swedish vendor Ericsson has inaugurated a new manufacturing facility in Malaysia in which the company will produce 5G radio equipment.

In a release, Ericsson said that this new facility is the company's first 5G manufacturing facility in Southeast Asia.

The 5G radio equipment being manufactured in Malaysia includes Ericsson's Massive MIMO antenna-integrated radios, produced in Prai in the northern state of Penang, in partnership with Flex, which is a global manufacturer that operates across 30 countries.

David Hägerbro, head of Ericsson Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh said: “The production of Ericsson's global 5G radio equipment in Malaysia is our additional socioeconomic contribution to the country and marks the latest in a broad range of initiatives to bring our global experiences, expertise, and insights to Malaysia in support of the government's ambition to be a digital leader.”

“Malaysia is an important market for Ericsson and domestic manufacturing in Malaysia will contribute to the local economy through employment and the transfer of technical knowledge to the local workforce in areas such as manufacturing, product engineering and equipment testing,” Hägerbro added.

Ericsson had been selected in July 2021 to build Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB)'s national 5G network. Digital Nasional Berhad is a special-purpose vehicle set up by the previous government of Malaysia with the goal of deploying and managing Malaysia's 5G network.

Last year, Malaysia's former Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin had unveiled an initiative for a state-owned vehicle to own all 5G spectrum, with various carriers using the infrastructure to provide mobile services across Malaysia in what would effectively be a wholesale/MVNO arrangement. The new government of Malaysia recently confirmed plans to launch a second 5G network in 2024.

Ericsson also recently announced an investment $169 million to build a next-generation smart manufacturing and technology hub in Tallinn, Estonia.

The vendor said that the main aim of the initiative is to consolidate all of Ericsson's operations in Estonia into a single 50,000-square-meter smart hub that comprises test labs, warehouses, production lines and offices. The new facility will be used for co-developing cellular ecosystems and production techniques mainly with customers and partners in Europe but with global impact on industrialization for volume production.

Ericsson's connected hub will be located in Ülemiste City in Tallinn, the largest business park and future-oriented urban area in the Baltics. The new European hub is expected to be operational in early 2026.

Ericsson recently announced it has shipped 10 million 5G-ready radios worldwide. In addition to the 10 million 5G-ready radios milestone, Ericsson said that approximately 50% of 5G traffic outside of China runs on Ericsson's networks. The vendor currently powers 147 live 5G networks, including 25 5G Standalone networks.