This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on March 4, 2020 - March 10, 2020

KUALA LUMPUR: Axiata Group Bhd’s 63%-owned unit edotco Group Sdn Bhd has partnered with the Telecom Infra Project (TIP) to advance connectivity in urban and underserved areas and communities.

The partnership will enable both parties to conduct trials of open radio access network (OpenRAN) technology and innovative smart poles with shortwave radio capabilities.

“As markets gradually migrate from 4G to 5G, independent neutral-host infrastructures will be the new normal for the telecommunication industry. This, combined with the development of active telecom equipment through an open ecosystem, can accelerate innovation and unlock new network efficiencies, enabling telco operators to simplify the process of network coverage extension and modernisation,” edotco group chief executive officer Suresh Sidhu said in a statement.

With this partnership, edotco will deploy and test OpenRAN 4G sites at selected high-traffic areas in Malaysia.

edotco will validate TIP OpenRAN in a network as a service environment, providing wholesale service to mobile service providers, starting with Celcom Axiata Bhd first before extending it to other parties.

OpenRAN is an industry initiative to define and build RAN solutions based on a general-purpose vendor-neutral hardware and software-defined technology.

Meanwhile, TIP board member Aaron Bernstein said building an alternative supply ecosystem to deploy new technologies and forge ahead with new business models requires a forward-thinking partner.

“As a pioneer of the telecom infrastructure-sharing model across South and Southeast Asia, we’re confident that edotco has the necessary expertise in the area of alternate connectivity to enable rich digital experiences for urban and underserved communities,” he said.