TRC Reports Early Progress in Cambodia's 5G Network Deployment
Following the official launch of 5G services on 1 January 2026, TRC reported initial network deployment by Cambodia's three mobile operators and continued expansion across Phnom Penh and provincial areas.
Development
Cambodia officially launched commercial 5G mobile services on 1 January 2026.
In an announcement published on 12 February 2026, TRC reported the following initial deployments: Smart Axiata — 674 5G base stations; Viettel Cambodia — 531 5G base stations; CamGSM — 289 5G base stations.
TRC stated that operators were continuing to accelerate deployment while also maintaining and expanding 4G services.
Regulatory considerations
Companies supporting 5G deployment may need to consider several separate approval areas depending on their activities: telecommunications licensing, spectrum authorization, radio-site or infrastructure permissions, equipment type approval, import compliance, electromagnetic-field exposure requirements, construction or local-authority approvals, and cybersecurity and network-security obligations.
The applicable approvals depend on the equipment, service, location and business model — not every requirement applies to every company.
Legal and regulatory framework
The 5G network deployment sits within Cambodia's broader telecommunications legal framework, principally the Law on Telecommunications (2015), the sub-decrees on licensing and spectrum management, and successive Prakas issued by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications and the Telecommunication Regulator of Cambodia.
Where a specific instrument has not yet been formally adopted, operators should read announcements together with existing licence conditions, general regulatory duties and international commitments Cambodia has undertaken through the ITU and ASEAN.
Because ministerial and regulatory instruments in Cambodia are frequently updated, compliance teams should not rely on a single Prakas in isolation but should trace the underlying legal basis and any amending texts before assuming a rule applies.
Who is affected
Cambodia-licensed mobile network operators, fixed operators, internet service providers, tower and passive-infrastructure providers, satellite and VSAT operators, equipment importers and vendors, enterprise connectivity buyers and investors evaluating market entry should all monitor the 5G rollout.
Foreign companies providing cross-border digital services to Cambodian customers should also assess whether their commercial model creates a nexus that brings them within scope, even if they do not hold a Cambodian licence.
Group companies with a Cambodian subsidiary should ensure that head-office compliance policies are localised and do not simply mirror requirements from another jurisdiction, as Cambodian requirements often differ in detail even where the overall policy objective is similar.
Practical compliance considerations
Operators should map current internal practices against the direction of the 5G network deployment and identify areas where documentation, disclosures, contracts, technical measures or governance need to be strengthened.
A written internal impact assessment — capturing which business lines are affected, which teams own each obligation, and what evidence would be produced in a regulator inspection — is a low-cost step that materially improves readiness.
Where obligations are not yet in force, boards and executive committees should be briefed on likely direction of travel so that budget cycles, procurement decisions and vendor contracts already reflect anticipated requirements rather than being retrofitted later at higher cost.
Interaction with other regimes
The 5G network deployment does not operate in isolation. Companies should consider how it intersects with data protection expectations, cybersecurity obligations, consumer-protection rules, tax and foreign-exchange controls, and — where relevant — sectoral rules for banking, e-commerce or critical infrastructure.
Contracts with vendors, roaming partners, tower companies, cloud providers and interconnection counterparties should be reviewed to allocate responsibility and cost for any additional obligations that arise.
For groups operating in multiple ASEAN jurisdictions, alignment with regional peers can reduce friction, but Cambodia-specific carve-outs are usually required rather than a purely regional template.
Timing and monitoring
The regulatory calendar in Cambodia often compresses between announcement and effective date. Operators that wait for a formally adopted text before starting work frequently find themselves with only weeks to implement changes that require quarters of preparation.
Legal and compliance teams should establish a monitoring routine covering MPTC and TRC official channels, the Royal Gazette, and industry association updates, and should record the date each new document is reviewed together with a short internal note on its impact.
Where uncertainty remains, engaging early with the regulator through industry associations or bilateral technical meetings is usually more effective than waiting for enforcement action to clarify the intended interpretation.
How Lex Civora supports clients
Lex Civora advises Cambodia-licensed operators, foreign investors and vendors on the practical implications of the 5G rollout, including gap analyses against existing licence conditions, drafting of internal policies and customer-facing documentation, and structured engagement with MPTC and TRC.
For matters that touch adjacent regimes — data protection, cybersecurity, consumer protection, tax and foreign investment — we coordinate with specialist counsel so that the client receives a single integrated compliance view rather than fragmented advice.
Where a matter is time-sensitive, we can deliver a focused risk brief within a short timeframe to inform board or investment-committee decisions while the full compliance workstream is being scoped.
Deployment figures reflect the regulator's announcement as of February 2026 and may change as network construction continues.