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Category: Telecom

Retail News Asia is committed to providing both local and global retailers with the latest Telecom & Telco news throughout the Asian market. This on a daily base.

  • Singtel’s 5G SA Network Exceeds 95% Nationwide Coverage

    Singtel’s 5G SA Network Exceeds 95% Nationwide Coverage

    Singtel has achieved over 95% standalone 5G nationwide coverage. This comes more than three years ahead of the regulatory target of end-2025, effectively making Singapore the first country in the world to be fully covered by standalone 5G.

    Singtel’s standalone 5G network now covers more than 1,300 outdoor locations and over 400 in-building, as well as underground, creating immense opportunities for the development of ground-breaking applications and immersive experiences for both enterprises and consumers. Singtel was officially awarded the 3.5GHz and the millimeter wave spectrum as part of the 5G license issued by the IMDA in June 2020, and an additional 2.1GHz spectrum in November 2021 which supported the achievement of this critical milestone.

    “We’re extremely excited about this important milestone for both Singtel and Singapore as nationwide standalone 5G coverage is a major leap in technology that will spur unprecedented digitalization. Despite disruptions from COVID and the knock-on impact on manpower and resources, our planners and engineers managed to accelerate our 5G deployment, working through the pandemic to lay the groundwork and build a whole new infrastructure for a secure and resilient 5G network. This means that Singapore can now exploit the full capabilities and best applications that 5G can offer, paving the way for innovation and new growth that will propel our country forward,” said Yuen Kuan Moon, Singtel’s Group Chief Executive Officer.

    He added, “As a homegrown Singaporean company, we feel honored to have provided the critical infrastructure and essential services that have sustained the nation’s progress through the years and are pleased to launch this next-generation technology to commemorate Singapore turning 57. With a world-class 5G network in place, we look forward to keep doing our part in enabling Singapore’s next phase of growth as a global smart city.”

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  • Asia Pacific Spotlights on 5G for Growth

    Asia Pacific Spotlights on 5G for Growth

    As a region, Asia Pacific is poised to become the fast-growing in terms of 5G adoption. Representing two-thirds of the global population, GSMA reports that 5G mobile connections will grow by about 150 million to reach 1,789 million subscribers in 2025. Of which, South Asia will account for the largest growth.

    During this time, GSMA reports that 4G will remain the dominant technology in the region, while 5G takes off, propelled by national digital strategies that have identified digital transformation as a key pillar for economic growth. For instance, Indonesia has launched the Indonesia Digital Roadmap for 2021 to 2024.

    In the region, 14 markets have already launched 5G commercial services, namely Australia, Bhutan, Guam, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, New Zealand, North Mariana Islands, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand. On the other hand, 5G is still undergoing planning for countries including Nepal, Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Samoa, Pakistan and India. South Korea takes the lead in terms of average and peak 5G download speeds according to market research firm Statista.

    The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) for instance, is preparing to launch 5G after holding its auction for licenses in 2.3 GHz and 2.6 GHz bands in April 2022. In India, spectrum auctions will be held in late July, with spectrum to be allocated not only for telecom operators Reliance Jio, Airtel and Vodafone Idea, but also for private networks to enable enterprise 5G to address demands in Industry 4.0 applications.

    Also gearing up for 5G momentum after months of tussle, six of Malaysia’s telecom operators have finally reached a consensus with stated-owed Digital Nasional Bhd (DNB) to collectively own a 70% equity stake in the country’s 5G network infrastructure. As part of the nation’s digital ambitions, Malaysia plans to extend 5G nationwide to 80% in populated precincts by 2024. In Thailand, the Digital Economy Promotion Agency (DEPA) has recently established the Thailand 5G Alliance to promote commercial 5G use and grow the country’s 5G ecosystem, aimed to elevate Thailand to become a digital hub for ASEAN.

    Growing 5G Revenue with More Commercially Viable Solutions

    According to Frost & Sullivan, 5G revenue in the region is expected to grow from $2.13 billion in 2020 to $23.89 billion in 2025, representing a 62.2% CAGR, attributed by accelerated 5G connectivity. Network slicing will play a big part in growing 5G capabilities and delivering 5G services for enterprises.

    A notable trend is the rise of 5G private networks to ensure enhanced security and control, especially critical in growing smart factories and furthering Industry 4.0. In Southeast Asia, 5G private networks are expected to grow from $83.35 million in 2021 to $1,93 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 41.9%, based on an analysis by Allied Market Research. In the region, mobile operators have embarked on commercial 5G private networks to capture new market opportunities created by growing demands for low latency, high-speed connectivity, as well as increased usage of artificial intelligence and other smart connected devices. In 2020, Indonesia contributed the highest market share in terms of revenue, accounting for 40% of Southeast Asia’s private 5G market. Being the fast-growing digital economy, Indonesia is projected to maintain its lead in the private 5G market until 2030, with Malaysia forecasted to report the largest CAGR of 48.6% during this period.

    In Malaysia, for instance, Cisco will be partnering with Telekom Malaysia to build a 5G-as-a-service center to springboard 5G adoption and develop proof of concepts for enterprises and vertical industries to help them gain strategic and competitive advantages. This is in line with the country’s digital goals to grow 5G adoption among Malaysia’s SMEs to positively impact the digital landscape.

    Offloading Towers to Grow High-Cost 5G

    A growing trend in the past couple of years, some operators are offloading towers to raise capital for high-cost 5G investments. For instance, PLDT in the Philippines has received six bids to sell off half of its mobile towers, amounting to 6,000 towers. In Singapore, Singtel sold off 70% sale of Australia Tower Network, a wholly-owned subsidiary that operates Optus, to raise funds for 5G rollout and growth. Elsewhere, New Zealand’s Spark finalized a deal to sell 70% stakes in its tower business to raise $900 million.

    In Australia, Telstra and TPG have struck a network sharing deal over 10 years to share RAN for both 4G and 5G services. This has since been hotly contested by Optus, as well as Commpete, a telco industry alliance that advocates greater industry competition, with claims by Commpete that the agreement can be perceived to be a merger of sort. As of the end of June 2022, Telstra is Australia’s incumbent with a 5G network that covers about 80% of Australia’s population.

    Regarding the adoption of 5G mobile services, Moodys’ revealed in a report that its adoption will be uneven across the region, with 5G frontrunners including China, South Korea, Australia and Japan forging ahead in their 5G pursuits, and pioneer 5G markets able to boost revenue with the launch of 5G services. In China, the country’s fourth carrier, China Broadnet debuted 5G mobile services in June 2022 after being granted a 5G commercial license by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

    Moving forward, mobile operators will stay focused on growing 5G capabilities and services to monetize and ensure competitiveness.

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  • Infovista, PCTEL Joint Solutions Focus on 5G Network Testing

    Infovista, PCTEL Joint Solutions Focus on 5G Network Testing

    Infovista and PCTEL, global leaders in network lifecycle automation (NLA) and wireless connectivity, announced a strategic collaboration to co-develop joint 5G network testing use cases for mobile operators and industry regulators.

    The joint use cases will bring together PCTEL’s 5G scanning receivers, including its flagship Gflex® and Infovista’s market-leading TEMS software to create differentiated and simplified solutions that address specific customer needs and requirements. The initial set of use cases covers 5G C-Band interference monitoring, autonomous testing, beamforming configuration validation, automatic site location detection and automated interference detection.

    Faiq Khan, President of Global Networks of Infovista said, “Mobile operators and regulators are facing new and specific challenges as 5G spectrum is licensed and networks rolled out. Their complexity requires new approaches to network testing, using the latest in AI, automation and cloud-native technologies to reduce the time and cost of network testing and monitoring while also being more accurate and valuable to the business.”

    One of the first joint solutions sees Infovista and PCTEL combining to deliver automated interference source detection and location. Leveraging Infovista’s NLA cloud platform for automated cross-domain troubleshooting, the solution uses network and service performance data from Infovista Ativa™ and its AI/ML analytics engine to rapidly identify and geo-locate cells affected by interference. With the approximate area of the interference identified, Infovista’s precision drive testing algorithms determine an optimal drive route and diagnostics workflow. After which, a tester is dispatched with a PCTEL scanner and guided workflow to quickly find the source of the interference.

    Arnt Arvik, Vice President and Chief Sales Officer of PCTEL said, “Today, effective network testing and monitoring requires purpose-built scanning receivers to measure hundreds of channels across a broad spectrum including 5GNR and mmWave. Testing needs to be fast and accurate, conducted in multiple environments, and it needs to be capable of simultaneously testing multiple technologies and operator networks.”

    Together, Infovista and PCTEL will bring the power of two customer-focused teams to co-develop joint 5G testing use cases and solve tangible challenges their customers face, both today and in the future.

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  • Ooredoo Plans To Exit Myanmar

    Ooredoo Plans To Exit Myanmar

    Qatari telecoms giant Ooredoo is considering selling its Myanmar unit, a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, following the exit of Norwegian carrier, Telenor, in March this year.

    Ooredoo is now the only foreign telecoms service provider operating in Myanmar amid the increasing pressure on the local industry, the result of the military coup launched in February 2021.

    According to sources cited by Reuters, Ooredoo has notified the local regulator, Myanmar’s Posts and Telecommunications Department (PTD), of its plans to sell its Myanmar unit for an undisclosed amount.

    One insider also told Reuters that potentially interested investors could include local conglomerate Young Investment Group, Singapore-headquartered network infrastructure operator Campana Group, and telecoms company SkyNet.

    No final decision has yet been made regarding the potential buyers.

    Reuters said the Doha-based telecom firm did not immediately respond to its emailed inquiry. The news agency also said it tried to reach the interested investors, but no immediate comment has been given.

    The departure of Telenor earlier this year took place after Reuters last year reported that the PTD has issued a directive, which bans senior foreign executives of major telecommunications firms from leaving Myanmar without permission. After this ban, the junta then released a second order instructing telecoms firms to fully implement an intercept surveillance technology, enabling authorities to monitor various communication channels.

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  • Huawei Joins Sisvel Wi-Fi 6 Patent Pool as Founding Member

    Huawei Joins Sisvel Wi-Fi 6 Patent Pool as Founding Member

    Huawei has joined Sisvel Wi-Fi 6 patent pool as one of its founding members. This new patent pool provides an avenue for Wi-Fi 6 standard essential patents of Huawei and other innovators to be shared. Huawei has also concurrently become a licensee of the pool.

    “Huawei is excited to share our innovative Wi-Fi technologies with the industry,” said Alan Fan, Head of Huawei’s Intellectual Property Rights Department. “Wi-Fi technologies are widely used in fields like consumer electronics, smart homes and industrial enterprises. The patent pool will increase the transparency of patent licensing and reduce licensing disputes. Implementers can obtain a license under all patents in the pool at one time, which increases licensing efficiency and reduces licensing costs.”

    Fan added that Huawei has long advocated for innovations to be properly rewarded. Patent pools can help companies, especially SMEs, license their patents and invest licensing revenue into more innovation activities. Huawei hopes the successful operation of this patent pool will encourage more companies to invest in the next-generation Wi-Fi technologies.

    Mattia Fogliacco, President of Sisvel International, commented, “We are thrilled to welcome Huawei among the patent owners of our new pool. During the past two years of facilitation, we have created a framework that we feel will benefit the markets for technology as a whole, removing friction and aligning interests of innovators and implementers: Huawei accepting to become a founding member and a licensee/licensor offers a strong validation for this approach. We trust that this, together with the quality of the IP contributed by Huawei and the other participating patent owners, will quickly attract additional licensees and possibly additional patent owners.”

    Huawei remains open to entering direct licenses with other companies through bilateral discussions, thus giving implementers the choice of obtaining the license of Huawei’s Wi-Fi 6 patents through either the Sisvel Wi-Fi 6 patent pool or a direct license with Huawei.

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  • Globe Telecom Earns MEF 3.0 Ethernet Services Certification

    Globe Telecom Earns MEF 3.0 Ethernet Services Certification

    Globe Telecom announced that it has passed the MEF 3.0 Carrier Ethernet services certification for transformative ethernet services.

    In a company press release, it said that the award was given for its “conformance to rigorous specifications established by MEF.”

    MEF’s President, Nan Chen, extended his congratulatory message to the Philippine’s telecom operator. He said, “Companies who purchase from a certified MEF 3.0 service provider can have confidence that they will receive services which conform to MEF’s industry-leading global standards. Companies like Globe understand the value that certification provides—simplified, pre-validated functionality for buyers and simplified, frictionless implementation and partnering.”

    MEF 3.0 Carrier Ethernet certified services indicate the benchmark for connectivity, delivering the maximum level of performance, assurance and agility offered in the market.

    Globe had earlier achieved MEF CE 2.0 certifications for its E-Access, E-LAN and E-Line services. Raymond Policarpio, the Vice President for Product Management and Marketing at Globe Business, Enterprise Group said that this new recognition shows their commitment to providing maximum connectivity solutions to their users. “As network transformation continues at a rapid pace, these MEF industry standards eliminate confusion regarding service components, core capabilities and concepts.”

    He added, “We’re especially honored to be the first in Asia to achieve a MEF 3.0 Certification for Globe’s 100G E-Line services. Meeting these standards allows us to become a trusted partner in network-based enterprise services. Access to MEF’s ecosystem of frameworks, training programs and expert partners empowers us to provide quality services to businesses as we guide them through their digital transformation.”

  • China Now Has More Than 1.85 Million 5G Base Stations

    China Now Has More Than 1.85 Million 5G Base Stations

    China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said that the country has now deployed more than 1.85 million 5G base stations nationwide as it pushes for its target of a total of 3.64 million by the end of 2025.

    According to the government website, fixed asset investment in the telecommunications industry has also increased by almost 25% year-on-year, now reaching 189.4 billion yuan during the first six months of the year.

    Data from the industry regulator shows that as of June, the country has deployed more than 1.85 million 5G base stations, and the number of 5G mobile users was at 455 million.

    The spokesman and chief engineer of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Tian Yulong, stressed that initiatives should be undertaken to immediately begin a series of crucial projects in 5G, gigabit optical networks, the industrial internet and other new information infrastructure to both broaden investment and boost consumption.

    Officials also said that China is seeking to add 600,000 5G base stations this year and speed up their upgrade of the industrial internet.

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  • SK Telecom to Spearhead Global Standardization of Quantum Cryptography Technologies

    SK Telecom to Spearhead Global Standardization of Quantum Cryptography Technologies

    SK Telecom announced that its two technologies related to the control and interworking of quantum cryptography communication networks were adopted as new work items at the ITU-T meeting held in Geneva, Switzerland.

    The South Korean telecom service provider said in a press release that these latest solutions will be given international certification standards through its talks among member countries of the ITU-T.

    SK Telecom’s two technologies chosen as work items are: Quantum Key Distribution Network Interworking – Software Defined Networking Control; and Framework of Quantum Key Distribution Network Federation.

    The company said these latest innovations serve as an important tool for the popularization of quantum cryptography communication technologies.

    One of these technologies, the Software Defined Networking Control System for Interworking of Quantum Key Distribution Networks, enables telecommunication operators to run their existing communication networks and QKD networks holistically and efficiently.

    Meanwhile, the company compares the Quantum Key Distribution Network Federation to international roaming between mobile operators. This technology enables the delivery of quantum-safe communication services no matter whose QKD network they are on by “supporting interworking/federation between QKD networks of different service providers.”

    SKT’s Chief Development Officer Ha Min-yong, said, “The approval of these two items by ITU-T carries a significant meaning as they will serve a pivotal role in accelerating the adoption of quantum cryptography communication throughout the globe.”

    He added, “We will continue to drive the growth of the quantum ecosystem by taking an active part in the international standardization of quantum technologies and developing attractive services and business cases.”

    Furthermore, SKT has also employed projects for the Ministry of Science and ICT, in partnership with the SK Broadband consortium and Swiss-based firm ID Quantique. These projects focus on creating pilot QKD infrastructure and advancing application services for 17 different institutions from the public, medical and industrial sectors.

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  • ZTE Signs Partnership with Two Philippine Universities

    ZTE Signs Partnership with Two Philippine Universities

    ZTE announced that it has entered strategic partnerships with two well-known universities in the Philippines as it aims to cultivate young talents in the telecom industry under its program called the “Ultimate Service, Leading Ecosystem”.

    The global telecommunications giant has signed an agreement with the University of Santo Tomas (UST) and Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP).

    In a press release, ZTE said that this cooperation involved a wide range of programs including internships, faculty immersion, career consultancy and campus recruitment, online seminars and forums, training camps, a scholarship program and joint research exploration in emerging technology fields, among others.

    UST’s President and Rector, Richard G. Ang said that they look forward to this partnership with ZTE as it fits in line with the university’s future development. He added, “We hope that our partnership will set up a new model for the Industry-Academe Linkage Program.”

    Meanwhile, PUP’s President, Dr. Muhi said, “I am very happy that PUP is the first university in the Philippines to sign a strategic cooperation with ZTE. This can enhance the accessibility to the telecommunication knowledge for our college students and provide them with financial support to continue their studies.”

    ZTE said that this collaboration with the two Philippine universities serves as an essential component in the company’s ecosystem plan in the country, and can also allow the company to broaden this ecosystem and boost its competitiveness with its partners in the industry to deliver better services and products.

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  • Australia and Singapore to Jointly Fight Against Scam Calls and Messages

    Australia and Singapore to Jointly Fight Against Scam Calls and Messages

    Australia and Singapore will unite in the fight against unsolicited telemarketing, spam and scams, following an agreement between the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) and the Info-communications Media Development Authority of Singapore (IMDA).

    The new strategic agreement will promote further engagement and information-sharing between the two agencies and assist with both investigations and compliance with telecommunications laws in both countries.

    This memorandum of understanding (MOU) complements the 2020 Australia-Singapore Digital Economy Agreement to expand trade and economic ties in our region. It follows similar agreements the ACMA has made with its regulatory counterparts in the USA, Canada and New Zealand.

    Research conducted by the ACMA in 2021 found that 98% of Australians received some form of unsolicited communication. Scam calls were the most prevalent type of unwanted communication, with 4 in 10 Australians receiving them at least weekly.

    ACMA Chair Nerida O’Loughlin said she was pleased to further strengthen the ACMA’s strong working relationship with the IMDA.

    “Almost every Australian is impacted by unwanted calls, SMS and emails, and we know that many of our international colleagues are dealing with the same issues,” O’Loughlin said. “This agreement will see us building stronger ties with our Singaporean counterparts to crack down on unsolicited calls and messages, particularly when cross-border issues are involved.”

    Lew Chuen Hong, Chief Executive of IMDA said, “Scams is [sic] a global issue that do not respect geographical boundaries. This MOU is an important step for the international community to join forces and tackle this issue decisively. I am happy to join in this partnership with our Australian counterparts and together, the MOU will benefit the citizens of our both countries and increase trust in our telecommunication systems.”

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  • AWS Cloud WAN, New Serverless Analytics Have Universal Access

    AWS Cloud WAN, New Serverless Analytics Have Universal Access

    Amazon Web Services (AWS), the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud offering, has announced several services for general availability.

    The AWS Cloud WAN is a new managed wide area network (WAN) service that connects on-premises data centers, colocation facilities, branch offices and cloud resources to simplify operating a global network. Using a central management dashboard built into AWS Cloud WAN, customers can define their network configuration, view the health of their global network and automate routine configuration and security tasks.As a result, enterprises can now use AWS Cloud WAN to simplify the way they build, manage and monitor their networks using a single dashboard with minimal complexity.

    With just a few clicks, teams can quickly and easily apply a policy that requires network traffic from branch offices to be routed through a specific network firewall before reaching cloud resources running in an AWS Region. AWS Cloud WAN also integrates with leading SD-WAN, network appliances and independent software vendors to make it easier for customers to connect their on-premises SD-WAN devices to AWS.

    David Brown, Vice President of Amazon EC2 at AWS said, “As the edge of the cloud continues to be pushed outward, and more customers move their applications to AWS to become more agile, reduce complexity and save money, they need an easier way to evolve their networks to support a modern, distributed model that allows them to reach their customers and end users globally with high performance.”

    Additionally, with the new serverless offerings for Amazon EMR, Amazon MSK and Amazon Redshift, AWS offers the broadest set of serverless analytics capabilities in the cloud, making it even easier for customers to lower costs, expand analytics to more users and maximize their data’s value.

    • Enabling customers to run big data applications and petabyte-scale data analytics faster, Amazon EMR Serverless lets customers specify the framework they want to run and automatically provisions, manages and scales the necessary computation and memory resources as workload demands change.
    • Analyzing real-time data streams from IoT devices, website clickstreams, database logs and many other sources, Amazon MSK Serverless provisions, manages and scales clusters automatically, so customers no longer have to worry about capacity planning or unpredictable streaming workloads.
    • Collectively processing more than two exabytes of data with Amazon Redshift every day, Amazon Redshift Serverless now makes it even easier to get insights from data quickly without the need to manage data warehouse infrastructure.

    Other serverless analytics offerings from AWS include Amazon QuickSight for business intelligence and AWS Glue for data integration.

    Swami Sivasubramanian, Vice President of Database, Analytics and Machine Learning at AWS noted, “With these new serverless options, customers can run even the most variable and intermittent analytics workloads and expand the use of analytics throughout their organizations without worrying about provisioning or scaling capacity—or incurring excess cost.”

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  • 5G Connections In APAC To Reach 400 Million In 2025

    5G Connections In APAC To Reach 400 Million In 2025

    A study published by a global organization of telecom operators suggests that in the next three years, 5G connections in Asia Pacific will soar to 400 million, four times higher than this year’s level.

    In its “Mobile Economy Asia Pacific 2022”, GSMA also indicated that the regional mobile network coverage today has reached 96% of the population. Of this, 1.2 billion users now have access to mobile internet services. This shows a penetration rate of just below 45% of the population. And among the reasons for this usage gap are the digital divide, the income gap and online safety issues.

    It meanwhile predicts a continuous acceleration of 5G’s momentum across the region as commercial 5G services are now accessible across 14 markets. This is due to the economic improvement following pandemic lows, as well as the increasing sales in 5G handsets and overall marketing efforts. Commercial 5G services are also expected to expand to other markets, including India and Vietnam in the coming years.

    The study also shows that the mobile ecosystem continues to propel the regional economy, as technologies and services brought in 5% of GDP, which is tantamount to 770 billion dollars of economic value added. The industry also supported nearly 8.8 million jobs in 2021, and enabled financial contributions to the public sector.

    According to the study, “The mobile industry continues to deliver social impact across Asia Pacific, primarily by providing the connectivity that enables the growth of small businesses and digital transformation of enterprises, and granting access to life-enhancing services and tools for citizens.”

    And amid the continuous deployments of 5G networks, the technology’s ability to empower next-generation offerings—cloud services, artificial intelligence, internet of things and edge computing—will boost digital economic development and innovation.

  • SK Telecom Teams Up with Ahnlab and Atomrigs for E-Wallet Service

    SK Telecom Teams Up with Ahnlab and Atomrigs for E-Wallet Service

    SK Telecom announced that it has collaborated with the startup firms AhnLab Blockchain Company and Atomrigs Lab to develop its digital wallet service called Web3 wallet.

    In a press release, the company said the digital wallet services will integrate different types of virtual assets, including cryptocurrencies and NFTs, among others, which can be used to verify a person’s identity.

    The Web3 wallet service will be based on the e-wallet technology to be developed by Atomrigs Lab. After its completion, SK Telecom and AhnLab Blockchain Company will take over the implementation, while Atomrigs will deliver technical support services to their operations.

    The company said in the statement, “Users can safely manage their digital assets through the Web3 Wallet and use it as a point of contact for various Web3-oriented distributed app services.”

    The three companies met during a signing ceremony held at AhnLab Blockchain Company’s headquarters building in Seongnam City, Gyeonggi Province in South Korea.

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  • 5G Connections In APAC To Reach 400 Million In 2025

    5G Connections In APAC To Reach 400 Million In 2025

    A study published by a global organization of telecom operators suggests that in the next three years, 5G connections in Asia Pacific will soar to 400 million, four times higher than this year’s level.

    In its “Mobile Economy Asia Pacific 2022”, GSMA also indicated that the regional mobile network coverage today has reached 96% of the population. Of this, 1.2 billion users now have access to mobile internet services. This shows a penetration rate of just below 45% of the population. And among the reasons for this usage gap are the digital divide, the income gap and online safety issues.

    It meanwhile predicts a continuous acceleration of 5G’s momentum across the region as commercial 5G services are now accessible across 14 markets. This is due to the economic improvement following pandemic lows, as well as the increasing sales in 5G handsets and overall marketing efforts. Commercial 5G services are also expected to expand to other markets, including India and Vietnam in the coming years.

    The study also shows that the mobile ecosystem continues to propel the regional economy, as technologies and services brought in 5% of GDP, which is tantamount to 770 billion dollars of economic value added. The industry also supported nearly 8.8 million jobs in 2021, and enabled financial contributions to the public sector.

    According to the study, “The mobile industry continues to deliver social impact across Asia Pacific, primarily by providing the connectivity that enables the growth of small businesses and digital transformation of enterprises, and granting access to life-enhancing services and tools for citizens.”

    And amid the continuous deployments of 5G networks, the technology’s ability to empower next-generation offerings—cloud services, artificial intelligence, internet of things and edge computing—will boost digital economic development and innovation.

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  • Iridium Is Here for a Long Haul, Says EVP Bryan Hartin

    Iridium Is Here for a Long Haul, Says EVP Bryan Hartin

    With a cross-linked constellation of 66 satellites, Iridium’s global network connects people and things in the world’s most inaccessible locations. We spoke to Bryan Hartin, Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Iridium, to know more about the company’s offerings, market competition, and growth plans.

    Growth in IoT is driving increased connectivity worldwide. Can you tell us about Iridium’s growth in the past year?In 2021, Iridium had the best subscriber growth in the company’s history, with total billable subscribers growing 17% year-over-year, driven by growth in IoT. We rely on the success of our ecosystem of partners to develop, sell, design, and market Iridium-based solutions, while we focus on what we do well. Our constellation is one of the youngest L-band networks worldwide. Presence in low earth orbit gives us the unique advantage in IoT as our satellites are closer to earth, and can hence offer solutions for devices that are a lot smaller. They are also very efficient, lighter and faster than our competition.

    In addition, we provide our ecosystem of partners with enabling technology through modules that provide Iridium-based connectivity. Our partners leverage this enabling technology for IoT products and solutions. Some of our IoT solutions are used by heavy equipment OEM companies such as Caterpillar, Komatsu, Hitachi and Doosan, for telematics mainly, and to track their assets worldwide. For some of these OEMs, more money is derived from maintenance parts sales and services, compared to sales of the equipment. Globally, we also have partners who tap on Iridium’s enabling technology to perform vessel monitoring for fishing regulations or research into climate change.

    One of the uses in IoT or personal communications is enabling technology that can fit in small devices – with personal communications as an area that is quickly gaining traction. An example of this is Garmin, which uses Iridium enabling technology in small devices to track locations and send SOS messages during an emergency.

    Another product is the Iridium Edge Solar, which offers real-time GPS tracking and local wireless sensor and communication capabilities over Bluetooth. It can be placed on a container to track its position, monitor the temperature of the container, or determine if the doors are open or shut.

    Essentially, our target is not replacing cellular technology, but complementing it so that connectivity can be maintained even outside terrestrial coverage. We are uniquely qualified to do so because of Iridium’s truly global network, comprised of 66 crosslinked satellites in space with 9 spares on-orbit and another 6 on the ground.

    Can you share with us more on Iridium’s award-winning Iridium Certus and how it is designed to match customer needs?

    To give you a background, we started as a legacy narrowband company that subsequently added broadband capabilities to our offerings. When we first developed the new network, one of our design criteria was to support broadband.

    As L-band is very reliable and resilient, we arrived at the name Iridium Certus as “Certus” is Latin for “certain” and “reliable”. Demonstrating this, our products and services can work under any weather conditions, and is in fact, more resilient than some VSAT providers.

    So we ventured into broadband products and then pivoted back to cover the gap between narrowband and broadband to support midband. Our broadband speed ranges up to 704 kilobits per second, which is on the higher end of the speed capability for the L-band. We also rely on 3 world-class value-added manufacturers (VAMs) to build the products – namely Cobham Satcom, Thales and Intellian – that sell our products to service providers, and in turn, take these products and services to all kinds of ships worldwide.

    Clearly, maritime shipping is one of the largest markets that uses Certus’ broadband products. Fishing and leisure are also big markets for us. We are also into unmanned surface vessels (USVs) – an area where we are starting to see a lot of interest. Because Iridium operates globally, we are able to provide constant connectivity to support autonomous vessels. We are also well-positioned to provide aviation safety services, primarily in cockpits, as well as land products that ensure vehicles stay connected. For instance, ministries of defense and governments use Certus land products for deployed operations.

    How do you expect satcoms to evolve in the foreseeable future?

    Currently, we are seeing a lot of new entrants in the market, which bodes well for the satellite business. However, some of these new players are focused on higher-speed services and would be competing with companies to offer residential broadband. While we see opportunities to work with some of these new entrants, we are mostly focused on staying in our lane and growing that lane a bit wider – especially in IoT.

    Moving forward, a gamechanger for the satellite industry is enabling technologies for smartphones – an emerging area that we are uniquely qualified to support. With more than 25 years of experience, we have provided consistent and meaningful growth for our shareholders and we are committed to continuing with that.

    The Asia Pacific, being a region where Iridium is doing very well, will continue to be a market where we will grow and expand into new areas. For instance, many fishing companies in Asia require reliable satellite communications. And Singapore, being a major port city, is an important market for Iridium as ships arrive from all over the world. Finally, in Asia, aviation is another important market as OEMs with facilities in the region, such as the likes of Boeing and Airbus, rely on Iridium to operate efficiently across the globe.

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