Malaysia’s plan for a wholesale-only 5G network has had several stops and starts in recent years, but is now full steam ahead. The government-backed entity that will manage the network, Digital Nasional, has awarded Ericsson a contract worth MYR11bn (US$2.6bn) to supply the infrastructure. That will represent a big blow for Huawei, which was widely expected to win at least some of the big equipment and build-out deal. It is particularly surprising that, according to Nikkei Asia, part of the reason for Ericsson’s win was attractive vendor financing – often a competitive edge for Huawei, with its hefty financial underwriting from Chinese banks. Digital Nasional was quoted by Nikkei as saying: “Ericsson has undertaken to arrange to finance for the…