Kuala Lumpur, 16 December 2016 – In collaboration with Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and endorsed by the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education, Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) today launches the UTM-Ericsson Innovation Center for 5G (IC5G) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Launched by the Yang Berhormat Dato’ Seri Idris Jusoh, Minister of Higher Education, the center will help drive the nation towards becoming the hub for competence and innovation for 5G.

The first of its kind in Malaysia, the center is located in UTM’s Kuala Lumpur, occupying building space of 280 sqm. IC5G features 5G innovations, a 5G research lab and a 5G learning space, which is expected to benefit around 2,000 students from institutions and industries in Malaysia over three years.

The opening of the center follows the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Ericsson and UTM through its Wireless Communication Centre (WCC) in October, 2015. Both parties have agreed to undertake activities that will facilitate research linkages, trade and information exchange in order to work on joint research projects, and to realize the impact of 5G on industries and society.

UTM is currently in the second phase of its Global Plan, which among others, aims to engage in strategic collaborative research programs resulting in impactful outcomes. As one of Malaysia’s Research Universities, UTM aspires to become an innovative, entrepreneurial and globally renowned education and research brand. Being selected by Ericsson to be one of its University R&D partners is indeed a great honour to UTM. This is an indication that UTM is moving in the right direction.

UTM and Ericsson are old friends. The partnership between UTM and Ericsson can be traced back to approximately 20 years ago. In the mid 1990s, the mobile wireless communication industry was starting to grow in Malaysia. The Wireless Communication Centre (WCC) of UTM, then known as the Wireless Communication Research Laboratory (WCRL), was actively involved in R&D initiatives related to mobile communication.

5G is the foundation for realizing the full potential of the Networked Society.  5G will enable organizations to move into new markets and build new revenue streams with radically new business models and use cases, including Internet of Things (IoT) applications.  The new capabilities of 5G span across several dimensions, including very high data rates, very low latency, ultra-high reliability, energy efficiency and extreme device densities.

About the Innovation Center for 5G:

The center will have three main functionalities:

• 5G innovation showcase: Ericsson and UTM will showcase 18 demonstrations ranging from robotics, IoT transformation, Augmented Reality (AR) and 5G for industries.
• 5G research lab: Ericsson and UTM Research and Development (R&D) team will focus their study in four key areas: Propagation studies, antenna studies, wireless communications, networks and securities studies, sustainability and safety studies. The R&D team includes representatives from UTM, Ericsson Malaysia and Ericsson R&D in Sweden.
• 5G learning space: Short-term, medium-term and long-term learning programs on 5G-and-beyond technologies offered by Ericsson and UTM for international and local industry players, as well as higher learning institutions. Programs are delivered by UTM and Ericsson Learning Services team. The programs are expected to benefit 2,000 students over three years.