High capex should not be seen as obstacle for 5G deployment – Nokia
05 Aug 2020
High capital expenditure required to deploy the fifth-generation (5G) network should not be seen as a stumbling block, as studies have shown that that investments in telecommunications would have a huge economic multiplier effect for the country.
Nokia country head for Malaysia, Datuk Siva Shanmugam, said he expected a virtuous cycle of investments for 5G, with operators continually updating their existing networks to reduce complexity and costs.
“This will be followed by a further wave of investments by enterprise customers in private wireless technology,” he told Bernama in an interview.
Citing India as an example, he said the country showed a 3.3 per cent growth in gross domestic product (GDP) in 2018 following a 10 per cent increase in telecommunications investment.
For low- and middle-income economies such as like Malaysia, a World Bank study on fixed broadband showed that a 10 per cent increase in broadband penetration would yield an additional 1.38 percentage points in GDP growth.
“5G is not just the next G – it is a complete redesign of network architecture, resulting in higher speeds, higher capacity, lower latency, and greater reliability.
“It will deliver new business models and accelerate digital transformation. We can digitalise the whole ecosystem very quickly, therefore justifying any investment made into the technology,” he said.
Siva said Nokia was delivering 5G that would unlock economic growth, prosperity, and opportunity for Malaysia and Malaysians.
Market reports have predicted that mobile data usage in Malaysia would double between 2017-2022 to 10.4 gigabytes (GB) per user per month driven by the rising consumption of online video content on smartphones, underlining the need for faster connections on the consumer side to keep up with consumer trends.
With 5G, customers would experience greater data speeds and reliable connectivity, and gain access to a variety of services including augmented reality, virtual reality, and mobile gaming, which would in turn drive new industries in Malaysia.
On the enterprise segment, Siva said Malaysia was moving towards a new “Malaysia 5.0” digital economy and 5G could be the springboard for this digital transformation by enabling Industry 4.0 use cases and improving productivity at its ports, oil and gas fields and factories.
“5G will help push Malaysia towards the Shared Prosperity Vision 2020 goals that it has set for itself,” he added.
Nokia participated in a government showcase to promote 5G in Malaysia in April 2019. The event featured eight sectors that could benefit from 5G technology, namely healthcare, media and entertainment, smart city, automotive, manufacturing, public safety, agriculture and education.
Nokia had also been active in promoting 5G in Malaysia by doing roadshows in selected states to show which unique cases could be deployed in those areas, he said, adding that these roadshows were important to stimulate significant, holistic growth for 5G applications in the nation and create fresh, innovative ways to explore new business opportunities and overcome socio-economic gaps.
Nokia is a global leader in 5G, with 152 commercial 5G engagements with customers worldwide and 85 commercial 5G deals in key markets across the world, including 33 in live networks.
Source: Bernama
