Twenty years after the Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA) 1998 came into force, Malaysia is set to showcase the fifth generation mobile technology (5G) that is expected to exponentially change almost every aspect of day-to-day life as well as government and business practices. The 5G showcase that is scheduled to be held on 18 April 2019 in Putrajaya will provide Malaysians from all walks of life the opportunity to see and experience first-hand the benefits that this technology will bring and how it positively change and impact their lives.
The CMA 1998 was designed to establish Malaysia as a major global centre and hub for communications and multimedia (C&M) information and content services. Over the years, the industry has grown by leaps and bounds where revenue grew nearly 2.8 times from RM16 billion in 2000 to RM44 billion in 2018. By market capitalisation, the industry today is worth RM135.7 billion on the local stock exchange, from RM50.7 billion in 1999.
To commemorate twenty years of the CMA, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) announced that the 5G Showcase will be graced by Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, Prime Minister of Malaysia. The showcase, which will be opened to the public from 20 to 21 April 2019, will feature 8 areas that are primed to benefit from 5G technology including healthcare, media and entertainment, smart city, automotive, manufacturing, public safety, agriculture and education. The showcases will be offered by leading communications companies and higher institutions of learning in Malaysia including Celcom, Digi, Ericsson, Huawei, Malaysia Automotive Robotics IoT Institute (MARii), Maxis, Nokia, Telekom Malaysia (TM), U Mobile, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and ZTE.
According to MCMC’s Chairman, Al-Ishsal Ishak, “We are extremely honoured to be given the opportunity to spearhead the introduction of 5G into the country. 5G means more than just faster data speeds and greater network capacity, it is about connecting millions of devices, building new services, and supporting a broader adoption of applications that can impact the way businesses and government operate as well as consumers’ daily activities.”
“Although 5G is a few years away from being commercially available, this showcase aims to provide a view of what’s coming, how we can prepare and embrace it. As such, I am happy to note that Malaysia is set to be one of the earliest countries in Asia to showcase this fifth generation mobile technology. This is also in tandem with the government’s National Fiberisation and Connectivity Plan (NFCP) to provide the rakyat with robust, pervasive, high quality and affordable digital connectivity,” Al-Ishsal added.
Some of the real-life applications that will be showcased include remote healthcare diagnosis and consultation, immersive education, real-time e-sports with multiple 4K displays, holoportation, autonomous self-driving cars, drones for various digital mapping and monitoring, robots, smart manufacturing, precision farming, virtual reality classroom and smart internet-of-things (IoT) campuses.
In November 2018, MCMC established a national 5G Task Force comprising various stakeholders and industry players to study and recommend a holistic strategy for 5G deployment in Malaysia. It is supported by four working groups that will address matters pertaining to Business Case, Infrastructure, Spectrum Management & Allocation, and Regulatory. 5G test beds have also been formed in Cyberjaya and Putrajaya to explore the practical uses, technologies and modes of implementation of 5G.
