BANGKOK (The Nation/Asia News Network): Fifth-generation technology would be a game-changer and enabler for the Thai economy, Total Access Communication (Dtac) CEO Sharad Mehrotra (pic) said at the seminar “5G Thailand Big Move” at Siam Kempinski Hotel Bangkok on Thursday (Dec 2).
Mehrotra said he was amazed with how Thailand adopted new technology so quickly. He gave an example, saying the government introduced the “Paotang” application two years ago and gained 40 million users.
He said many countries that adopt 5G still do not adopt QR-code technology.
Public-private partnership is extremely important for the success of 5G, he said.
Mehrotra pointed out that 5G is built on 4G because 5G is more than just a network, it is a platform.
He said 5G brings the fastest computing power, devices, network services and cloudification into one ecosystem. 5G could also supercharge innovation and transformation in Thailand.
He mentioned that 5G is used differently from 4G. 5G has the highest value in industrial applications such as manufacturing. Dtac is not focusing only on commercial 5G to address this opportunity. Dtac is also using industry partners to develop and adopt 5G.
Mehrotra said that 5G will be a game-changer for many industrial applications, especially manufacturing. He said it needs vision and all types of businesses to think “very big”. 5G also needs expertise or a skillset, which Telenor possesses.
According to him, Telenor was named by the European Union as the leader in public-private partnership in 5G innovation with major global partners such as Ericsson, Google, Amazon, and Microsoft.
He said Telenor is a global leader of IoT and smart services, adding that Dtac has teamed up with ABB in automation, WHA Group in smart water management, ASEFA in smart energy and PTT in smart surveillance.
Dtac has also built Thailand’s first private network for analysing Covid-19 risk at its corporate headquarters Dtac House in real-time with Amazon Web Services.
The Total Access CEO said Dtac believes these solutions will be critical in lifting the Thai economy from the current situation: “We are already seeing it start to happen.”
Mehrotra said this ecosystem would have a shorter delivery time, faster manufacturing and reduced energy costs. More new products and services will also be needed post-pandemic and even during lockdowns.
He believed that private networks are the most exciting cases for 5G. It guarantees stable speed because there is no impact from public usage. It also enables edge computing and archives real-time latency within as little as one millisecond.
Mehrotra said 5G private networks have a lot of benefits, especially safety. There have been more cyberattacks during the Covid-19 crisis and 5G private networks offer an air-tight environment, being safer than 4G and WiFi.
He mentioned that the Norwegian armed forces and Atlas Copco use Telenor’s private network because of the firm’s expertise and connection services.
He said 5G adoption depends on mobile services and Thailand’s public-private ecosystem, adding that there is an opportunity to encourage network sharing to increase 5G coverage even faster.
Mehrotra said we need to continue building across the region so Thailand can achieve digital business success on solid ground. He said we need to consider 5G for sustainable development.
The CEO said a great challenge for Thailand in the next 10 years would be climate change. Dtac itself has committed to reducing greenhouse carbon emissions by 50 per cent by 2030. Meanwhile, 5G is 90 per cent more efficient than 4G in Mbps per watt.
Furthermore, 5G’s greatest potential is when it is used as an enabler. 4G can enable a 2.1-billion-tonne reduction in greenhouse gas, 5G could achieve much more, he added.
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