KUALA LUMPUR: The deployment of 5G in Malaysia will serve as an economic and innovation driver for Malaysia, Ericsson of Sweden said.
According to an IDC White Paper commissioned by Ericsson, there will be 12.7 million 5G connections or roughly 22.4 per cent of total subscribers as well as 43.1 million 4G LTE subscriptions in Malaysia or 76.2 per cent of total subscriptions in 2025.
Ericsson, which was appointed by Digital Nasional Bhd (DNB) to design and roll out the national 5G infrastructure and system, also cited the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research's forecast that 5G would contribute RM8.5 billion to Malaysia's GDP in 2025.
Ericsson said the critical role of mobile networks (4G/5G) in accelerating the Jendela and MyDIGITAL initiatives, Malaysia's 5G readiness compared to its regional peers and potential impact of 5G on the consumer and enterprise segments in Malaysia had been examined and some recommendations for 5G deployment had been made in the White Paper on "Building a 5G Foundation for Digital Malaysia"
"The White Paper was commissioned as part of our 5G study on Malaysia to see how Malaysians, investors and industries could be empowered to reach their full potential with a network that is reliable, robust, energy efficient and secure.
"Ericsson now looks forward to working with DNB to deliver a world-class 5G network for Malaysia and accelerate the digital transformation for Malaysian consumers and enterprises," head of Ericsson Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh David Hagerbro said in a statement today.
Hagerbro added that in order to leverage the capabilities of 5G, mobile services providers, academia and the start-up ecosystem should work together to enable development of innovative applications and use cases for both consumers and industries.
Some recommendations from the White Paper include the need for mobile network operators (MNOs) to introduce innovative applications, work with and enable developers to create robust apps and use cases that take full advantage of the speed, latency and reliability offered by 5G to enable them to rapidly grow their customer base.
"To realise the full benefits of 5G in Malaysia, 5G standalone network (SA) is also recommended as the ultimate architecture for 5G, with careful planning required to prepare for 5G SA for both network and device readiness," Ericsson said.
IDC vice president of IoT and telecommunications Hugh Ujhazy said 5G would play a critical role in enabling the MyDIGITAL initiatives.
"Industries, including manufacturing, public sector, BFSI and retail will reap the benefits arising from 5G. Infrastructure investments over the last decade have built the backbone that 5G innovation will rely upon.
"The formation of DNB will open the way for Malaysia's wireless services to move to the next level, driving the convergence of fixed and wireless infrastructure. The next three to five years will be an important period for Malaysia to integrate 5G into daily life and business processes," Ujhazy added.