Huawei and Malaysia’s 5G future: unpacking the embrace of Chinese tech

“Speed is useless if both of those things have problems,” said Tan, who sells everything from coffee mugs to piggy banks on the Shopee platform.

Yet within weeks, the telecoms manufacturer is widely expected to win its bid to build Malaysia’s second 5G network, in partnership with local firm Maxis Communications.

Western diplomats have questioned the rationale behind this parallel network, given the swift deployment of the Southeast Asian nation’s existing 5G infrastructure, contracted to Swedish company Ericsson.