Why Kuwait 5G network is more crucial than ever
As the global COVID-19 pandemic spread and over one-third of the world’s population went under lockdown, we cannot deny the huge socio-economic impact of the virus on how we live and do business. One of the outcomes of this global disruption is that people’s behavior has shifted even more towards the extensive use of digital technologies and online services. From video streaming to e-commerce and the use of video business collaboration tools, our reliance on these technologies has truly become the new normal.
Governments and enterprises alike realize that this digital transformation is not a “nice to have” to improve their service agility. It is a “must do” to ensure survival and business continuity. Technologies such as 5G, cloud, and AI are playing a crucial role in enabling nations to become fully digitalized. Kuwait is no exception.
In particular, the advantages of 5G infrastructure in Kuwait are increasingly clear, with the demand for connectivity rising in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. 5G not only provides faster connection speeds and lower latency to the public, but it is helping to transform emergency healthcare response, provide remote monitoring and diagnosis during patient transfers, and enhance pandemic monitoring platforms. Outside of healthcare, verticals such as education, energy, and security are exploring 5G’s potential to solve their most urgent issues, ensuring education continuity, optimizing oil production costs, and much more.
Connected societies like those in Kuwait clearly stand to benefit from the continued roll-out of 5G infrastructure. Telecommunications companies in Kuwait have already started to launch their 5G services, with continuous endeavors to pursue the digital transformation plan outlined in the New Kuwait 2035 vision. More and more requirements for industry digital transformation using 5G are now emerging, and that will speed up 5G network evolution.
It is also why network security is now being brought under the spotlight. The power and security afforded by 5G are supporting telecom operators to manage a rapid surge in data traffic for applications such as online education and work-fromhome policies. Traditional security design focused on the protection of individuals’ voice and data. Yet 5G goes beyond serving individuals to empower vertical industries, all of which have diverse security demands.
5G is also different from earlier networks in that it is an ecosystem. Many links are involved for one piece of information to flow from one consumer to another, including devices, transmission equipment, routers, and more. Thankfully 5G networks are not only faster and more agile than 4G, but they have enhanced security features to ensure that industries and communities are more protected than ever before.
We see this security as a necessity for a world that relies increasingly upon the Internet of Things (IoT), AI, big data analysis, and more. For instance, while 5G alone is an upgrade to our communications infrastructure, AI provides us with more powerful computing engines. It is the applications built on both of these platforms that will truly change the way we work and live in Kuwait. We have already begun collaborating with telecom operators and partners in the region to explore such applications in dozens of industries— from healthcare to intelligent connected vehicles, smart factories, smart grids, and so on.
In the end, all of this technology really comes down to one thing: supporting people. Kuwait is already combining the power of 5G, cloud, AI, and other technologies for this goal. Moving forward and in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, we must focus on how new applications can bring value to local communities in times of crisis. By actively tackling the challenges of today through alliances with governments, customers, and partners, Kuwait’s telecommunications industry can deliver the standard of service and security that users not only demand, but deserve. Note: Rico Lin is CEO of Huawei Technologies Kuwait