Cyberjaya and Putrajaya will become the first smart cities in Malaysia receiving 5G technology facilities with pioneer tests beginning April, according to Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo.

During the period, Gobind said, companies providing telecommunications services and industry players will carry out their respective 5G technology tests, assisted by the Communications and Multimedia Commission.

"Malaysia will certainly become the focus of the world to see how we create two areas activated via 5G technology.

“This initiative or test is important for us to determine the subsequent measures in aspects of 5G technology usage in the future,” he told reporters after officiating the Cyberjaya Infra Conference and Exhibition today.

Short for 'fifth generation', the 5G mobile network will replace 4G, which was first introduced in 2009. It is 100 times faster than its predecessor.

Gobind said although no specific period was fixed for the implementation of the test, it was however hoped that within six months, a new indicator could be achieved through the test.

With regard to the fear that the 5G infrastructure could open up space for information leakages and spying, Gobind said the security aspect was the government's priority in making all decisions, including the aspect of new technology infrastructure development.

He said the government could not ignore the fact that the world was moving towards 5G technology.

"We want to provide infrastructure that is accessible, of high quality, with reasonable cost, but at the same time, we also want to provide infrastructure that is secure.

"Security concerns are at the topmost of our considerations, and this is the reason why MCMC is in the process of doing the study on 5G infrastructure," he said referring to the commission's study of 5G infrastructure development by Chinese telecommunication giant Huawei.

The detailed study by MCMC, in collaboration with the National Agency for Cyber Security (Nacsa), would take into consideration various aspects, including looking at assessments from other countries, to ensure that the 5G network is safe before it is implemented.

- Bernama