The Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson opened a new manufacturing venue in Penang, Malaysia to produce 5G radio equipment. This is the company’s first 5G manufacturing facility located in Southeast Asia, according to RCR Wireless News.

The equipment being produced at the factory includes Ericsson’s Massive MIMO (multiple input, multiple output) antenna-integrated radios as part of a partnership with the American manufacturing company Flex.

In July 2021, Ericsson was selected to build the national 5G network for Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB), a special-purpose organization created by the Malaysian government to establish and maintain the country’s 5G network.

“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,” said David Hägerbro, head of Ericsson Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. “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.”

To date, Ericsson has shipped 10 million 5G-ready radios globally. The company claims that about 50% of the world’s 5G traffic outside of China runs on Ericsson’s networks.