Thailand banks on a 5G future
Technology assisting economy, society
The government says it will support the development of 5G network infrastructure and related technology in a bid to help lift the nation’s economy and society pummelled by nearly two years of pandemic.
Digital Economy and Society (DES) Minister Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn said 5G technology and infrastructure will be pushed through five core sectors consisting of smart city, healthcare, farming, tourism, and services.
The minister gave an update on the government’s progress in developing 5G infrastructure at the Bangkok Post Conference 2021, the virtual seminar, titled “Shaping Tomorrow: Power of 5G and Technology Convergence”, held yesterday.
He thanked 5G network providers and mobile operators in the country for their efforts after the government completed the auctions of 5G spectrum licences in February 2020. Since then Thailand has been adopting 5G platforms and solutions in several sectors.
Mr Chaiwut said that 5G technology will be critical for boosting the country’s competitiveness and economic recovery going forward.
He said the government’s 5G development is also aimed to promote equality through various projects which can increase people’s opportunities to access better services. He gave several examples of 5G use with smart tourism in Phuket, healthcare at Siriraj Hospital as a key model, and digital farming as seen via Songkhla Lake basin research in the South.
The 5G technology provides three core advantages for innovation implementation — so-called triangle benefits — including enhanced mobile broadband, massive connectivity/internet of things (IoT), and an ultra-reliable form of communication technology.
According to the minister, the healthcare industry has become a priority sector for 5G development with a target to push Thailand to become the number one medical hub in Asia as Thailand’s medical capability and services have a good reputation among foreign customers.
Through 5G platform implementation, hospitals could offer telemedicine services via a reliable high bandwidth network with low latency which is critical for medical treatments. This also reduces direct personal contact and improves the safety of healthcare workers amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, the internet of medical things (IoMT) will efficiently support health monitoring which is important for Thailand which will be dealing with an increasingly ageing society.
For smart farming, Mr Chaiwut said there are as many as eight million farming households in Thailand and that the farming sector contributed 8.64% of the country’s GDP last year. Smart farming
will provide farmers with precise information and technical tools which can help them to make better decisions and reduce production costs.
For 5G smart city, the minister said, 68% of the world’s population will be living in urban areas by 2050, citing the United Nations.
Urbanisation comes with challenges such as crime, pollution, overcrowding, and social disorder.
Mr Chaiwut said the government through the DES have been promoting pilot development projects in major towns and areas with the goal of transforming them into smart cities.
The Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) has been focusing on such development and has already deployed a 5G smart pole system which is equipped
with a pollution detector for PM 2.5 and airborne toxins levels, SOS button and surveillance camera.
Smart city transformation comprises seven elements, including smart economy, smart mobility, smart energy, smart living, smart people, smart governance and smart environment.
The Digital Economy Promotion Agency (DEPA) has introduced a Smart City Accelerator Program to enhance potential startups for developing solutions to support and promote smart cities and their sustainability, he said.
According to the Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) report in July, 5G subscriptions are expected to reach 580 million by the end of 2021 and increase to 3.5 billion by 2026.
Global mobile subscriptions by 5G
are expected to account for 40.8% of total mobile subscriptions by the end of 2026. Meanwhile, the 4G system will account for 46.8%, GSM 4%, Wideband CDMA at 8.2% and others 0.2%.
According to Opensignal, 5G availability in Thailand was 18.3% of mobile connection time. The 5G availability represents the proportion of time when users have an active 5G connection.
In Asia-Pacific markets, Thailand ranked fourth in terms of 5G video experience with a speed of 80.7 Mbps, behind Taiwan with 84.1 Mbps, South Korea with 82.3 Mbps and Hong Kong with 81.6 Mbps, respectively.
Thailand ranked fifth in 5G gaming experience with 82.2 Mbps while South Korea was top with 90.4 Mbps and Singapore in second place at 87.2 Mbps.
In terms of 5G voice app experience, Thailand ranked fifth with speeds of 82.7 Mbps. The top two were South Korea and Taiwan with speeds of 84.9 Mbps and 83.9 Mbps, respectively.
The government set up the national 5G committee chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha last year, said Mr Chaiwut.
Mr Chaiwut, added that the social aspects of 5G and digital literacy are important, especially for security and personal data protection knowledge. The Electronic Transactions Development Agency provides services for cyber illegal cases through hotline 1212, he noted.
5G has the potential to unlock digital power for business operations, new lifestyles, healthcare and agriculture in the years to come and bring national competitiveness to the next level, say leading telecom operators.
The ultra-fast wireless network should also speed up the convergence of the physical world and the digital sphere, ushering new opportunities for business and catering to new customer experiences.
The operators were speaking at the Bangkok Post conference entitled “Shaping Tomorrow: Power of 5G and Technology Convergence”, held online yesterday.
THREE CORE PILLARS
Somchai Lertsutiwong, chief executive of Advanced Info Service (AIS), said collaboration between the government and the private sector is needed to enhance competitiveness, driven by the strength of 5G infrastructure and adoption.
As for much faster digitisation and new business models, the government is urged to provide more support to ease the burden of the private sector and capitalise on innovation implementation amid new digital lifestyles, he said.
“5G tech adoption and development in Thailand is not inferior to other countries globally, thanks to 5G licence auctions and serious investment from major operators for years,” said Mr Somchai.
Early adoption of 5G benefits various sectors, including innovation platforms and solutions in manufacturing, retail, healthcare and agriculture, he said.
“The strength of the 5G infrastructure and its ecosystem development is led by major operators’ continued investment,” said Mr Somchai.
5G can help a smaller country compete with larger economies if it has strong innovations and service platform development. However, proper promotion of 5G adoption and investment is needed to ensure success, he said.
Mr Somchai urged government and private sector cooperation to drive 5G development as they all play a key role in determining the future.
Amid the three parties, the
government is the most needed to provide greater support while operators are committed to continuously investing in 5G networks and people are eager to adopt innovations.
The Chinese government provides a good example as it gave away spectrum bandwidth to mobile operators to support 5G rollout, he said.
Mr Somchai said the 5G market value in Thailand could reach US$1.2 trillion by 2025.
The three core markets for 5G with potential for growth are home internet through Fixed Wireless Access devices, mobile internet and business-to-business in the industrial sector, with an emphasis on manufacturing, retail and logistics.
He said 5G could also contribute to three aspects of digital lifestyles.
First, 5G technology can support people to work or study anywhere and any time. Second, through 5G, data drawn from people’s behaviour can be analysed to gain insight and personalised services.
Lastly, 5G will blur the line between physical and virtual worlds with more people becoming engaged in the online world, such as shopping, studying and content consumption.
COMPETITIVE BOOST
Natwut Amornvivat, co-president of True Corporation, said a complete 5G ecosystem will truly lift the country’s competitiveness and the company has been developing the 5G ecosystem both directly and through partnerships.
Currently, True operates a digital entertainment community, retail, logistics, commerce, media and content, finance and payment, mobile service and hi-speed internet as well as smart solutions.
True is also equipped with a complete ecosystem comprising True digital park its 5G innovation hub, True digital economy for building digital talent, True data centres and cloud services, and True digital that enables digital transformation. This ecosystem is centrally connected by 5G infrastructure.
True digital park now demonstrates 5G world tech X as the tech show for digital exponential world, including AR glasses, and 50 solutions for the manufacturing sector co-provided by 35 tech partners.
“We strongly believe in partnership and a complete ecosystem that will provide most the proper benefits to customers via innovation platforms,” he said.
Data is the new oil but Internet of Things (IoT) is how to drill for it. IoT powered by data analytics and artificial intelligence could transform physical resources to be real time and insights of consumers.
True has deployed innovation solutions and platforms for several sectors to support their digitalisation journey.
He cited examples including its health solutions working with Siriraj Hospital that provides telemedicine and medical tech ambulance.
True 5G has been deployed by the retail business to help stores proceed with data analytics while 5G-powered autonomous robots create seamless integration of physical and digital experiences.
The company has also deployed True’s digital cow platform that can check livestock behaviour, perform accurate predictions and ensure productivity optimisation.
GET BACK TO SPEED
Sharad Mehrotra, chief executive of Total Access Communication (DTAC), said Thailand could significantly boost its 5G development and economic recovery by unlocking the 3500MHz 5G spectrum.
He also highlighted the importance of public and private ecosystem when leveraging 5G for economic growth.
“There’s the opportunity of the number one 5G band in the world, 3500 MHz, which is still missing from Thailand’s 5G portfolio. That is the gold standard for 5G networks globally. Unlocking this spectrum in Thailand’s will undoubtedly boost 5G development and economic recovery.”
Mr Mehrotra said Thailand should overhaul regulations and facilitate access to thousands of sites as they need to be upgraded to 5G or built from scratch.
“Thailand’s 5G adoption is happening much more slowly than it did in Korea. And Korea’s 5G is 35 times faster than average download speeds in Thailand,” he said.
“Although we were the first country in Asean to switch on 5G, there’s now a risk of losing our leadership position. We need to do more to get back to speed.”