As many of you should know by now, our local telcos are shutting down 3G networks across the nation. This is in line with the National Digital Network (JENDELA) program that was launched by the Malaysian government in August last year.

A few days, ago, we reported that the Malaysian government is working on making 5G service more affordable than 4G. How they plan to do it is anyone's guess, but Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz just made an official announcement today about the cost.

In gearing up for the upcoming 5G technology phase in Malaysia, our Minister of Communications and Telecommunications, Annuar Musa just gave us a small update. At the end of last week, he stated that the government is planning to make 5G services more affordable than 4G.

Recently, our Minister of Communications and Multimedia, Tan Sri Annuar Musa has stated that Melaka will have a priority for 5G services. According to the news, this is because Melaka is positioned as a tourism state with many foreign investors so 5G should start there first.

As we slowly move towards 5G, it has been announced that Maxis is the first telco in Malaysia to provide its customers with 5G international roaming services in Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia. Now that international borders reopen, here's how Maxis and Hotlink customers activate their 5G connectivity. 

While we are still waiting for 5G, the Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) just recently announced a new partnership with Maxis. The collaboration between the two will transform the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) into a 5G hub centre.

Although most corners of the world are still in the early development phase for 5G or even haven't started, Xiaomi still managed to push the sale of its 5G devices by becoming the world's no. 1 5G Android smartphone brand. The news came from Xiaomi India through a Twitter post celebrating the achievement.

If you recall, our Prime Minister Muhyiddin announced that 5G connectivity will be ready by the end of 2021. While the tech community are taking it with a dose of salt, it is quite evident that 3G is phasing out as both Celcom and unifi will shut it down gradually. That said, there are still plenty of 3G-only users especially in the rural areas of Malaysia.

Today, Digital National Berhad (DNB) has announced that it has chosen to partner with Ericsson to develop 5G mobile network in Malaysia. It is said that Ericsson was chosen due to its lower cost at RM11 billion, compared to others which offer their works at around RM15 billion in the industry.

Samsung has released a new memory chip today and it's said to be a perfect fit for 5G low-cost devices. The new LPDDR5 uMCP (UFS-based MCP) is a multichip package that combines the company’s fastest LPDDR5 DRAM with the latest UFS 3.1 NAND flash in a single package. Currently, the product is the first such smartphone memory solution appearing in the industry.