Earlier this week at the Malaysia Tech Week 2019, YB Gobind Singh Deo, the Minister of Communications and Multimedia Malaysia mentioned about the progress of 5G’s implementation in his opening speech. To date, more than 110 participants had ventured into the 5G space.
“We hope to see new capabilities, skills, business opportunities and, most importantly, a vital eco-system emerge that help us propel in the next growth of Malaysia’s human economy,” he said.
We’ve heard a bit about the benefits of 5G, but before we can see a nationwide rollout, there are some factors that have to be overcome, as shared by experts and industry insiders.
1. A lack of readiness in the market.
Malaysian telcos and industry players had made running tests on their 5G network in preparation in achieving a different spectrum without signal interference. They also looked into how the Internet speed is affected by the bandwidth allocation.
This to ensure that they are prepared to utilise these findings to devise solutions for maintaining and improving 5G for the long-term.
Idham Nawawi, CEO of Celcom highlighted that the industries need to look into these issues so that they are able to evolve with 5G.
“The industries will have the readiness in adapting and solving spectrum-related issues in the next generation with 5G,” said Idham.
Taking relevance in adapting 5G into cloud gaming, Lee Li Meng, Chief Strategy Officer of Razer Inc., suggested to expand the market focus. Also, businesses need to look into whether the market is prepared to experience the new technology.
“Your idea may be great but the market may not be ready.”
2. Optimisation of the existing platforms.
At the moment, the average 4G download speed in Malaysia is at 21.1 Mbps due to the end-to-end network architecture that is partially fiberised.
As 5G is planned to be launched in 2021 or 2022, there are lot of things that need to be done for innovation and adapting to the changes in moving across from 4G to 5G network.
Ahn Sae Min, Managing Partner of Rakuten Ventures commented that 5G will succeed in delivering output in Malaysia by having talents in the team.
“People who have the upper hand with technology support the project.”
Victor Chua, Managing Director of Vynn Capital, further added that it depends on how the businesses leverage with the existing platforms to capture the value and gain more opportunities in the market.
3. Getting the timing right.
A few speakers commented about the importance of time in implementing 5G in Malaysia.
Since November 2018, the National 5G Task Force has been studying the 5G technology developed by China to recommend a holistic strategy for Malaysia. This requires time in their research and implementing 5G across the nation. The team also need to set 5G into the eco-system at the right time—not too early, not too late.
Gokhan Ogut, CEO of Maxis, is optimistic about having 5G as a transformational movement but it will take time to build the network.
The markets have previously use 3G and 4G networks which showed dramatic changes in its availability and speed downloads.
Albern Murty, CEO of Digi Telecommunications said that 5G network could be a transformational movement to the market.
“It’s about looking at 5G’s potential and progressive in utilising the network.”
With a concrete plan for 5G, taking one step at a time, the next generation will be able to adapt to the rapid growth in technology which benefits their lifestyle and business.
- You can find out more about Malaysia Tech Week 2019 here.
Feature Image Credit: Malaysia Tech Week 2019
