Huawei country chief calls kingdom a pioneer
Global tech powerhouse Huawei has praised Thailand for being a pioneer of 5G in Asean and suggested that the country would better benefit from the cutting-edge technology by establishing a national 5G alliance.
The statements from Huawei were made by Abel Deng, chief executive of Huawei Technologies Thailand, during a speech at “Shaping Tomorrow: Power of 5G and Technology Convergence”, a virtual event hosted by the Bangkok Post yesterday.
“Among all the Asean countries, I would like to say that Thailand is now definitely the leader in 5G,” said Mr Deng as he gave examples of 5G developments in Thailand’s consumer and industrial sectors.
In the consumer market, new infrastructure has stimulated the rapid development of 5G across Thailand. There are now 3 million 5G subscribers, a massive expansion of more than 20,000 5G sites countrywide, and a better user experience compared to 4G in terms of download speed and latency.
In terms of industrial use, 5G has been adopted by major companies across important sectors in Thailand such as manufacturing, financial services, retail, healthcare and agriculture.
“We are so inspired and excited to see the infrastructure deployment in Thailand for 5G. We now have a very good network with a very good customer experience. For the public’s empowerment, we have done a lot like to make it more affordable and to train more talent in Thailand, so that no one is left behind by this innovative technology.”
Furthermore, the Thai Huawei CEO talked about plans for a comprehensive digital infrastructure policy involving world superpowers. Examples he gave included the New Infrastructure Plan in China with 5G as its primary component, Next Generation EU in the European Union, the New Deal in South Korea and the Rescue Plan in the United States.
The Chinese telecommunication giant sees those digital policies as incentives to stimulate a more efficient digital economy development and suggested further steps for Thailand to make 5G more beneficial.
“We think the establishment of a national 5G alliance is a must. Other pioneering countries provide a reference point for improving the ecosystem, to bring 5G to a higher level, to enrich people’s lives, to bolster development of industry, and to boost the digital economy.”
He said Thailand had done an excellent job in terms of implementing digital policy and the ecosystem. Though Huawei is “looking to more mergers to really inspire the whole industry and to bring more people together who can contribute to hastening the spread of 5G in society”.
Referencing a slide presented at the virtual conference, Mr Abel divided Thailand’s 5G Alliance into five parts: information sharing, collaborative innovation, standard influence, technology support and cross-industry exchange.
“Huawei’s vision is to establish a platform for private-public sector cooperation and cross-industry collaboration in the 5G industry to boost the digital economy development.”
Mr Deng closed his speech in an optimistic tone and expressed confidence that 5G will light up a brighter future for Thailand.
“Together, we would like to bring 5G and digital technology to every person, home and organisation for a fully connected, intelligent and lowcarbon Thailand.”
The Office of the National Digital Economy and Society Commission has projected that 5G could increase Thai GDP by 10.12% or approximately 2.3 trillion baht by 2035.
‘‘ Among all the Asean countries, I would like to say that Thailand is now definitely the leader in 5G. ABEL DENG CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES THAILAND