After being away from Singapore for more than a year, S T Liew is trying to recreate local hawker fare from his home in Taiwan, where he is now based. He says: “I was back in Singapore last March, just before the “circuit breaker”, and I really want to go back. Last weekend, I actually cooked myself char kway teow and fried prawn noodles”.
Taiwan has fared relatively well in the face of Covid-19, and Liew — the president of Qualcomm’s operations in Taiwan and Southeast Asia — hopes borders can reopen soon. “Singapore is in a very central position in Southeast Asia. I think Singapore can play a very important role in pulling together necessary projects that can go beyond its borders,” says Liew in an interview with The Edge Singapore.
Specifically, Liew is talking about the potential of 5G technology in the city-state. “Many of [5G’s] use cases will need collaborations with various partners and system integration. Singapore is a country with that kind of capability to pull something like this together, and I look forward to working with companies and firms in Singapore”.
Liew: I think Singapore can play a very important role in pulling together necessary projects that can go beyond its borders
Lagging behind?
In March, Singapore’s three main telcos fell several places in a ranking of global download speeds compiled by mobile analytics firm Opensignal. StarHub, the fastest of the three, fell from seventh to eighth place, despite clocking faster speeds of 56.5 megabytes per second (Mbps), up from 53.4 Mbps last year.
South Korea, Canada and the Netherlands took the top seven spots, owing to the rollout of 5G networks from as early as 2019. South Korea’s SK Telecom took the top spot with its download speed of 74.9 Mbps. The city-state’s two full-fledged 5G networks will only go live by 2025, with Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel) building one of the networks and a joint venture between StarHub and M1 building the other.
With countries already rolling out 5G networks for mobile and internet services, could Singapore be lagging behind? “I don’t think Singapore is lacking in any sense at all,” says Liew. “If anything, I think it’s more progressive, thinking how to create a sustainable and forward-looking plan. I think what Singapore is doing is very prudent”.
“5G is more than just about smartphones. You just don’t see [some applications] because they are happening in machines, factories, and buildings,” he adds.
Liew also highlights Qualcomm’s relationship with Singtel on its fixed wireless access products, which allows users to enjoy 5G speeds via router, whether at home or in the office.
In February, the San Diego chip designer launched the X65 modem — Qualcomm’s fourth generation 5G release — capable of peak download speeds of up to 10 gigabits per second, some 10 times faster than previous networks and comparable to fibre broadband speeds. The X65 modem will start hitting markets in 2H2021.
Meanwhile, Singapore set aside $40 million in 2019 to support 5G trials in strategic sectors. Last May, a consortium comprising the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), IBM, Samsung and M1 announced an Industry 4.0 trial to test 5G use cases in manufacturing and factory maintenance.
IMDA intends to share findings with local small and medium-sized enterprises and businesses in the manufacturing sector, along with others in the 5G ecosystem. With the initial fund reportedly disbursed, a new $30 million government fund was announced in January. Successful applicants with plans for commercialisation will receive up to 70% of the costs of their projects.
The next generation
For the everyman, 5G networks promise faster download speeds and low latency when browsing the web.
5G technology will also be crucial in the development of self-driving cars, noted Fitch Solutions Country Risk & Industry Research in a commentary last September, as roads of the future will require fast and dense wireless networks with minimal lag. In January, Murata Manufacturing — the world’s biggest maker of ceramic capacitors for Apple and other smartphone brands — said it expects demand for 5G wireless devices to surpass 500 million handsets in the coming fiscal year.
By 2025, more than 1.7 billion subscribers are predicted to be using 5G networks, according to global mobile networks organisation GSM Association.
Qualcomm has been entrenched in the wireless technology space for more than three decades, starting with the advent of 2G technology in the late-1980s. “Your smartphone is probably one of the most successful technological inventions of the human race, and many of the smartphone innovations actually come from Qualcomm,” says Liew.
“Over the years, we have developed ourselves not just in semiconductors and manufacturing, but also in solutions. We continue to provide an ecosystem solution that will really bring the essence and benefits of technology to people,” he adds.
Liew also says that Qualcomm is developing 5G in three areas: Enhancing mobile broadband; improving mission-critical communications in areas like key infrastructure, transport and medical equipment; and enabling massive Internet of Things (IoT) connections, from smart homes to smart cities. Qualcomm’s first 5G modem chip was announced in October 2016 and a prototype was demonstrated in October 2017.
The company’s first 5G antennas were announced in July 2018, before mobile phones incorporated with Qualcomm’s 5G technology hit the market in late-2019. While mobile phones have transformed over the past two decades, the potential of 5G technology stretches far beyond just one device, says Liew.
“Many of the innovations or use cases for 5G are probably still being invented as we speak. [There is a] very fertile landscape and environment for companies and for people to innovate, simply because it is so broad”.
He adds: “From IoT [Internet of Things] to connecting people, 5G opens up possibilities for many different types of companies, industries, enterprises and so on to look at 5G and ask, ‘What can I do with it? How can my industry and my services benefit from it?’”
“We may be in the third year of the commercialisation of 5G but really, we are still at the beginning of 5G’s evolution."
