SINGAPORE (May 27): The wireless fifth generation (5G) network has more to offer than just cellular communication for smartphones, and many telecommunication players are exploring what else it can enable, according to StarHub chief technology officer Chong Siew Loong.
“When 3GPP (the Third Generation Partnership Project) started working on defining the 5G network, one thing they were very clear about was that 5G cannot be serving smartphone devices only,” he tells The Edge in an interview at the Invest Asia 2019 conference in Singapore, which was organised by Maybank.
“Today, if you talk to anyone in the telco industry, they will tell you that the new 5G network should be able to support three major segments — smartphones, massively connected devices and ultra-low latency service,” he says.
He adds that the existing 4G network is mainly being used to serve the smartphone, providing users with high-speed internet and a fast experience.
Chong was one of the pioneers in StarHub’s formative years, when the company won the licence to operate as a telco in 1998.
“Smartphone is a traditional market segment. Everything will continue (in 5G), but users will be expecting enhanced mobile broadband,” he says. When asked about StarHub’s plans for 5G, Chong says he cannot reveal the company’s plans for now “due to a commercially sensitive period” as the regulator in Singapore is seeking views in a public consultation that will end on June 19.
StarHub — one of the largest mobile network operators in Singapore — is listed on the Main Board of the Singapore Exchange with a market capitalisation of more than $2.6 billion.
Apart from StarHub, two mobile network operators — Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel) and M1 — have also been testing 5G applications over the past few months.
Last November, StarHub and Nokia conducted a series of tests over a live pilot 5G network installed at StarHub’s Ubi headquarters. The tests demonstrated how sports fans can turn to virtual reality headsets to view live events virtually lag-free over 5G, among other things.
In January, Singtel and Ericsson set up 5G Garage, Singapore’s first live 5G facility, located at Singapore Polytechnic, where users can test the 5G innovations they are developing.
Singapore has plans to roll out at least two 5G networks by next year to enable the first next-frontier commercial applications, such as driverless cars and virtual reality content-streaming services.
Its Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) has called for interested telcos to submit detailed proposals on their deployment plans, with the intention to assign 5G airwaves to two winning submissions.
When asked if it had submitted a proposal, StarHub said: “5G is poised to be a catalyst of change, enabling digital innovation and automation like never before. As a telco keen to meet our customers’ needs, we look forward to IMDA’s 5G spectrum allocation. In preparation, we have been upgrading our network to be ready for 5G. We are broadcasting ‘live’ 5G signals at our headquarters to facilitate ongoing trials and industry engagement with partners. We will provide IMDA with further comments on the consultation paper in due time.”
During our interview, Chong is clearly excited when he talks about the two new segments — ultra-low latency service and massively connected devices — that will be supported when 5G kicks off. For example, he says the system used during remote surgery must have ultra-low latency. The 5G network enables ultra-low latency, which enables both sides to move simultaneously with minimal lag.
“For example, a surgeon is on a trip to New York. He receives a phone call from his hospital in San Francisco, alerting him that a patient requires an urgent operation. It is an emergency but no other doctors are available. The surgeon has the required skills to perform the surgery but he is physically too far away and will not be able to get to San Francisco in time… but if there is a robot in the San Francisco hospital, they might be able to perform the surgery together using 5G. The surgeon would be able to perform a remote surgery from New York by controlling the robot in San Francisco using 5G as an enabler,” Chong says.
Another example is the mining industry, where miners are at risk of being trapped if a mine collapses. “But in future, if we could build a 5G network that can be beamed into the mine, trucks could be operated safely from outside. Similarly, port operators could do the same with containers,” he says.
Massively connected devices including small gadgets such as sensors and smart-meters can also benefit from 5G, he adds. For instance, utilities would be able to use smart meters to transmit the readings automatically using the network, he says, adding that this is an alternative to labour-intensive manual meter reading. “While this could be perceived as replacing jobs, in reality, utilities are actually facing a problem hiring people to do this mundane job. In future, a lot of devices will be connected and the 5G network will be supporting these millions of massively connected devices.” Another example is the urinal bag in hospital. With the 5G network and massively connected devices, the urinal bag would send a beep to the nurse when it is full.
“It removes the need to check the urinal bag manually... allowing nurses to be more productive with the help of technology,” Chong says.
He recalls that 15 to 20 years ago, nobody would have imagined that WhatsApp, YouTube and Netflix could be used in 3G or 4G networks. But once these networks were available, a lot started to happen.
Fast forward to today, as many technologies are moving in tandem with the development of the 5G network, Chong acknowledges that most telcos have a very clear direction — to build a network that supports all these possibilities.
In short, the 5G network is the enabler.
“The possibility of enabling a new era is really up to your imagination. Humans are very creative. Once the network is there, a lot of new opportunities and new industries will be created,” he says.
Liew Jia Teng is an assistant editor at The Edge Malaysia
