This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on March 1, 2019

BARCELONA: Success of the upcoming 5G test bed could be a game changer for Malaysia, which is taking a very practical approach on adoption, with focus on improving yield for industries and the people’s quality of life.

“This is a huge project, a huge leap forward... a lot of people are excited about the fact that Malaysia is actually doing test beds in Cyberjaya and Putrajaya (in April and May). This is again something that puts us in front when it comes to moving ahead with technology in our region.

“Malaysia has to step up and again become the leader, especially in technologies like this, particularly given the fact that many years ago it was our prime minister who launched the Multimedia Super Corridor and we need to reboot that,” Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo told reporters on the sidelines of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona.

According to him, the government is “looking at a large number of things across the board” but is giving specific focus to “a few verticals, which include agriculture sector, fisheries, medicine” as well as smart cities.

He cited an example of how a fish farm is able to raise yields tremendously by cutting wastage and is able to raise the quality of produce using 5G-enabled automated real-time monitoring. Boosting plantation yield is another “very important” focus for the country, he said.

“We have to take all steps and make all efforts to make sure that we can thrive and expand connectivity in our country as soon as possible, as quickly as possible, using the least cost as possible,” he said, adding that the role of other technologies in the ecosystem will not be overlooked “because it takes 10 years to fully realise the potential of 5G in Malaysia”.

The 5G taskforce, headed by Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission chairman Al-Ishsal Ishak, will present him a report “in the next few weeks” on its consultation with various stakeholders, including concerns over competition and costs.

“What we are trying to do is to open up and adopt a more inclusive approach where we don’t just deal with select parties but we give opportunity to every one who can play a role in this industry a chance to be heard as well. This I hope it will encourage a greater interest, across the industry in Malaysia because this is not something small, this is huge. Once we are able to launch it, once it starts moving, it is going to have an impact on so many different sectors.

“Having said that, what is also important for us to recognise is the fact that since that is the kind of impact that we are looking at, it is best for us to actually sit back and work with everyone concerned to see how they can participate in building our policies with 5G,” the minister said.

A policy announcement will be made after concrete policy suggestions are approved by cabinet, something he hopes can happen by year end.

While a 5G master plan is not currently in the works, Gobind said he does not rule out its possibility. What is clear is the government needs to make sure Malaysia and Malaysians are prepared to take full advantage of technology.

“There is a lot of investment that we will have to look at... we’ve got to recognise that the world is moving towards a 5G era. We have a choice, we can either say let’s embrace it and deal with the challenges that we have now so that we’re able to keep up and remain at the front of it or we can say we’re going to take a step back... we have to rise to the challenge,” he added, noting the importance of education on top of making sure the necessary infrastructure is in place to facilitate change.