As Malaysia draws near to its 5G implementation, industries especially need to understand the application of such a technology in their operations. The new connectivity feature of 5G is not just about speed or download time, there are astounding functions this technology can offer and is about change the landscape as we know it.
One such company familiar with this transformation is ZTE Corporation, having already involved in rollouts in China, the Malaysian counterpart recently organised a teleconference highlighting the need for local industries and telecommunication operators to be open and receptive to the many opportunities that will manifest in the global post-pandemic era. This includes the implementation of efficient network modernisation and 5G evolution to support the growth of the country’s digital economy, promote industry reform and enhance socioeconomic values.
Key areas that were presented were on latest 5G innovations that can address network transformation for 5G commercialisation and deployment in the ecosystems including Urban, Extreme Data Venues and Data-Intensive Indoor.
In his keynote address, Bai Yang, Vice President of ZTE Corporation stressed on the transformative changes brought on by 5G and many other new information technologies. Examples of 5G used in the manufacturing, transportation and power sectors including that of renewable energy sources were illustrated. Bai Yang also stressed that ZTE is more than willing to cooperate with its partners to realise a new wave of iterative technology innovations in Malaysia.
The manufacturing sector which accounts for approximately 21% of Malaysia’s GDP is just one of the many key industries poised to benefit from digital transformation to turn production lines in manufacturing factories into “smart factories”. This can be done by creating 5G Standalone (SA) private networks. Bai Yang further elaborated that more efficient and intelligent production and manufacturing could be realized with lower power consumption through 5G Industrial Internet, Multi-access Edge Computing and Artificial Intelligence.
Among use case scenario, a top wireless carrier in Thailand is working in collaboration with Suranaree University of Technology to develop the nations first 5G smart factory. This was accomplished with the use of multiple advanced solutions such as 5G cloud machine vision, 5G industrial Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV), Augmented Reality (AR) remote guidance, Virtual Reality (VR) panoramic monitoring and unmanned inspection robots. These technologies could similarly be applied to Malaysia added ZTE.
Application in China includes, China’s first 5G intelligent district in the Binjiang district of Nan Jing, ZTE had also showcased its 5G private network verticals in other industries such as the Austria 5G bee-o-meter and the Belgium Antwerp smart port.
5G is definitely the future. A study compiled by IHS Markit (published in late 2019) underlines the potential of 5G. It projected that the use cases enabled by 5G will contribute a staggering USD 13.2 trillion to the global economy by 2035 and will be responsible for generating more than 22 million jobs. Malaysia cannot afford to be left behind.
