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Tag: telecom

  • Axiata Teams Up With Versa Networks To Deliver SASE Technology To Enterprises

    Axiata Teams Up With Versa Networks To Deliver SASE Technology To Enterprises

    Axiata Group Berhad announced it was teaming up with Versa Networks to provide Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) technology for rapidly digitalizing Asian enterprises.

    Under this agreement, Axiata Enterprise – the Group’s B2B unit – will collaborate with Axiata’s operating companies, Celcom in Malaysia and XL Axiata in Indonesia, to launch a wide variety of Versa SASE solutions covering Networking, Security and Cloud Access integration for enterprise customers in these markets.

    This latest partnership complements the expansion of Axiata’s existing enterprise offerings in areas of Managed Connectivity, Smart Services, Cloud and Cyber Security.

    In a statement, Axiata Enterprise’s CEO, Gopi Kurup, said, “Enterprises embarking on their digital transformation want to become more flexible, efficient and location-independent, as they embrace to new ways of working. With increasing connectivity, integration and security are critical to ensure uninterrupted business access. The Versa SASE innovation integrates security, networking, SD-WAN      and analytics to deliver scalable, secure and reliable enterprise-wide networking and security. This is done via adoption of a cloud-type gateway which can efficiently distribute and seamlessly offload between the private office network and the Internet to access other cloud services.”

    Versa SASE delivers tightly integrated services via the cloud, on-premises or a blended combination of both. This solution will be complementary to Managed Connectivity solutions offered by Celcom in Malaysia and XL Axiata in Indonesia.

    “This partnership with Versa Networks further cements Axiata Enterprise’s proposition to empower organisations across the region seeking to raise their digitalisation game. Our combined strengths in technology, capabilities and reach across emerging Asia markets positions us as the right transformation partner to Enterprises that are looking to adopt cloud-based applications and data to accelerate in the post-pandemic recovery phase,” Gopi said.

    Versa Networks’ vice president meanwhile also lauds this partnership.

    “Axiata, one of the leading telecommunications groups in Asia, continuously provides world-class communication services based on the most advanced technology available,” noted Tony Fallows, vice president, Versa Networks. “Versa is excited to be working with Axiata to expand Versa SASE further into the ASEAN and South Asia markets. Axiata, Celcom and XL Axiata will soon be able to deliver Versa’s industry-leading fully integrated and feature-complete SASE to support digitalisation in the regional markets.”

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  • India Offers Free 5G Test Bed to Startups and MSMEs

    India Offers Free 5G Test Bed to Startups and MSMEs

    With an objective to boost the 5G ecosystem within India and to achieve the objectives of Aatmanirbhar Bharat and Make in India initiatives, the Government of India has decided to offer the use of Indigenous 5G Test Bed free of cost to the Indian government-recognized start-ups and MSMEs for the next six months up to January 2023.

    It will be available at a very nominal rate to all other stakeholders. The Department of Telecommunications, Government of India has strongly urged all 5G stakeholders – i.e. industry, academia, service providers, R&D institutions, government bodies and equipment manufacturers – to utilize the 5G testbed facilities and expertise to test and facilitate the speedy development and deployment of their products in the network.

    In keeping sight of India’s specific requirements and to take lead in 5G deployment, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) approved a financial grant for the multi-institute collaborative project to set up an “Indigenous 5G Test Bed” in India in March 2018 with a total cost of Rs 224 crore.  The eight collaborating institutes in the project are IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) Madras, IIT Delhi, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Bombay, IIT Kanpur, IISc Bangalore, Society for Applied Microwave Electronics Engineering & Research (SAMEER) and Centre of Excellence in Wireless Technology (CEWiT).

    The Indigenous 5G Test Bed was dedicated to the nation by the Hon. Prime Minster Shri. Narendra Modi on 17 May 2022.

    The end-to-end test bed is compliant with the global 3GPP standard and the ORAN standard.  Indigenous 5G Test Bed provides an open 5G test bed that enables R&D teams of Indian academia and industry to validate their products, prototypes and algorithms, and demonstrate various services. Further, it provides complete access for research teams to work on novel concepts/ideas holding potential for standardization in India and on a global scale. It provides the facilities of 5G networks for experimenting and demonstrating applications/use cases of importance to Indian society like rural broadband, smart city applications and intelligent transport system (ITS) and will provide help to Indian operators to better understand the working of 5G technologies and plan their future networks.

    The development of this Indigenous Test Bed is a key milestone for India’s becoming self-reliant in the 5G technology domain and pushing towards 5G Aatmanirbhar Bharat. This test bed is providing the indigenous capability for testing and validation of 5G products being developed and manufactured by Indian start-ups, MSME, R&D, academia and industry users. This has resulted in huge cost efficiency and reduced design time, due to which, Indian 5G products are likely to become more market competitive globally.

    The development of this test bed has also resulted in the development of many 5G technologies/IPs that are available for technology transfer to Industry players which will facilitate for Industry players the smooth and speedy deployment of 5G in India.

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  • Globe Gains Approval to Sell 7,000 Towers

    Globe Gains Approval to Sell 7,000 Towers

    Globe announced that it received board approval to sell over 7,000 towers in what is to be the largest ever tower sale and leaseback deal in the Philippines.

    In a company disclosure, Globe said the tower assets offered for sale are comprised of 79% ground-based towers and 21% rooftop towers. The sale has been grouped into three distinct portfolios assigned to three different tower companies representing local and international groups.

    Globe said it expects to raise a significant amount of capital over the next few quarters by executing these transactions. Of the total proceeds, approximately 75% will be used to fund capital expenditures      to support ongoing network expansion and sustain industry-leading network consistency and reliability scores. The balance of 25% will be earmarked to cover 2023 debt servicing requirements.

    Globe said that this will significantly improve the overall health of its balance sheet and provide sufficient flexibility to properly compete in a dynamic market as well as further expand its digital ecosystem.

    As the biggest milestone of this initiative, Globe signed two sale and leaseback agreements for two portfolios consisting of 5,709 telecom towers and related passive telecom infrastructure for over 71 billion pesos.

    The first portfolio being sold consists of 2,180 telecom towers in Luzon, which will be acquired by MIESCOR Infrastructure Development Corp. (MIDC) for a total consideration of 26 billion pesos and be leased back to Globe for an initial period of 15 years. The first close for this portfolio is targeted      within the 3rd quarter of the year, with subsequent closings happening as and when closing conditions are met.  MIDC is a joint venture between investment firm Stonepeak and the country’s largest electric distribution utility company, Meralco.

    The second portfolio consisting of 3,529 towers will be sold to Frontier Tower Associates Philippines Inc. for 45 billion pesos and also leased back over an initial period of 15 years. The first closing target for this portfolio is set for the late third quarter, with subsequent closings happening as and when closing conditions are met.

    Globe is also in advanced discussions with one other tower company for the potential sale and leaseback of an additional ~1,350 telecom towers and related passive telecom infrastructure. This last portfolio is comprised of towers located in the Visayas and Mindanao islands. Globe expects to sign the sale and leaseback agreement with this tower company within the third quarter, with the first closing happening within the 4th quarter of the year.

    “These expanded long-term relationships with the tower companies show Globe’s commitment to help improve the Philippines’ internet condition, as well as our desire to have as many Filipinos enjoy the benefits of having access to reliable internet. We also believe that through these monetization efforts, Globe will be able to further improve overall operational efficiency, allowing us to serve our customers better, and supporting our goal of enabling the digital lives of Filipinos,” said Ernest Cu, Globe President and CEO.

    “We are very pleased with this landmark deal with Globe that marks a critical milestone in MIDC’s strategy to enter digital infrastructure space, which plays a pivotal role in driving economic growth and social well-being through digital inclusion. This also gives momentum to pursue more opportunities that will help us achieve our aspiration to become a trusted telco tower operator in the Philippines and eventually, a market leader in the digital infrastructure business,” MIDC Chairman, Ray Espinosa stated.

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  • SmarTone to Terminate 2G Services on October 14

    SmarTone to Terminate 2G Services on October 14

    SmarTone said that it would terminate its 2G services on October 14. This comes after Hong Kong’s Office of the Communications Authority announced the Communications Authority’s decision to grant prior consent to the application by SmarTone to discontinue its 2G services.

    In a press release, the company said that in response to the massive growth of mobile data usage in recent years and the decreasing market demand for 2G services, spectrum resources currently deployed for 2G network will be reallocated efficiently to drive 5G network development, bringing more innovative services and a better network experience to its customers.

    SmarTone said that in entering the 5G era, the need for and usage of mobile data and digitalized services are growing. The number of SmarTone customers upgraded to 5G has been increasing. As of April 2022, the number of SmarTone customers using 2G handsets or devices only accounts for less than 0.1% of its customer base.

    To fully appropriate the existing spectrum resources utilized by the 2G network (i.e. the 900 MHz and 1800 MHz bands of spectrum), the spectrum will be reallocated on October14 to better provide more advanced mobile services to customers using SmarTone’s 4G and 5G networks. SmarTone’s existing 2G network will continue as normal until October 14.

    Norman Tam, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of SmarTone, said, “The value of ‘Building Network with Heart’ has always been at the core of SmarTone’s development, and we will continue to adapt to the ever-changing needs of our customers to deliver the best possible user experience in 5G and beyond.”

    To facilitate a smooth migration from 2G to more advanced mobile networks, SmarTone has been facilitating the affected customers to upgrade their 2G handsets or devices to options that have supported a higher generation mobile network since early 2021.

    SmarTone is also working with a few enterprise customers who are still using 2G devices to ensure their smooth transition to 4G/5G services. SmarTone will continue to assist the affected customers in their upgrade of handsets or devices for the enjoyment of its 4G/5G services, and endeavor to offer proper arrangements to those who do not intend to upgrade from 2G.

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  • 2G and 3G Migrations Completed or in the Pipeline

    2G and 3G Migrations Completed or in the Pipeline

    The Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) has released the findings of its new report ”2G-3G Switch-off July-2022”. Drawing on information collected by the GSA about the switch-off of 2G and 3G around the world, this report noted that 135 operators have either completed, are planning or are in progress with 2G and 3G technology transitions in 68 countries and territories.

    75 operators in 42 countries and territories have either completed or are planning 2G switch-offs with 23 operators in 14 countries and territories having completed 2G switch-offs.

    For 3G, the report reveals that 75 operators in 40 countries and territories have either completed, are planning or are in progress with network switch-offs, including 26 operators in 15 countries and territories that have completed the move.

    The report observes disparities between regions including the pace of 2G and 3G network switch-offs. Europe has or will be undertaking the largest number of technology migrations,   of the total. Asia will be responsible for 31 (23%), followed by North America, and the Middle East and Africa with 8 (6%) each, and Oceania with 7 (5%). Latin America and the Caribbean have just 2 (1%) 2G and 3G switch-offs.

    “When they were first introduced to the market, 2G and 3G were highly important innovations, but as greater technological advances have emerged, their importance has waned, and usage of both technologies is now diminishing worldwide,” stated Joe Barrett, President of the GSA. “As such, more and more operators and governments are coming to the decision that the older 2G and 3G technologies as well as the spectrum allocated to them should be migrated to faster and more efficient 4G and 5G networks. At the GSA, we are forecasting an increase in the number of operators moving off 2G and 3G networks as the transition to 4G and 5G will fully unfold.”

  • IFC Provides $70 Million for Shared Mobile Infrastructure Project in Philippines

    IFC Provides $70 Million for Shared Mobile Infrastructure Project in Philippines

    The International Finance Corporation (IFC) announced that it is providing $70 million to fund a shared mobile infrastructure project in the Philippines.

    In a press release, the organization said it is collaborating with Renewable Energy Infrastructure (CREI) Phils Inc. to help address the digital gap in the country through tower-sharing.

    The $70 million financing package consists of a $25.5 million loan from IFC and the provision of a facility worth $44.5 million.

    IFC’s investment will allow CREI Phils, a newly formed tower company in the Philippines, to fund the construction of over 600 w towers by next year. For the first time in the country’s history, these towers will be shared on an open-access basis. Aside from creating a competitive market for tower colocations, the loan will help increase mobile network capacity, allowing operators to expand high-speed mobile networks (4G and 5G) across the country, offering better services at more affordable rates.

    According to the 2020 Global Digital Overview, the number of internet users in the Philippines has more than tripled from 23 million (2010) to 73 million (2020). Yet, the quality of mobile connectivity is inadequate given its pervasive network congestion. The country ranks 95th out of 142 countries for mobile internet download speed. Further, the number of mobile subscribers per tower – a measure of network congestion – is more than double the regional average. According to market estimates, to fill the gap, the Philippines would need a significant number of new towers built in the next seven to eight years to support the government’s network capacity requirements.

    “We are thrilled to be working alongside IFC in supporting the government of the Philippines’ development of its mobile infrastructure sector,” stated Kadri Hakim, CEO of CREI. “Despite the challenging market conditions triggered by the pandemic, IFC’s long-term funding will allow us to meet our ambitions of expanding our digital infrastructure portfolio in the Philippines. Our management team’s extensive knowhow gained through 15 years of telecoms operations across South-East Asia and Africa combined with IFC’s deep knowledge of the country’s telecoms regulatory regime and its experience as an investor in tower companies, will enable us to effectively develop and grow our operations in the country.”

    The company’s entry into the Philippines telecoms market brings robust expertise in the design, construction and operation of towers, as well as the provision of efficient energy solutions that help displace and reduce the use of diesel fuel on towers connected to the grid. In line with the nation’s climate goals, this project will lead to significant greenhouse-gas (GHG) savings. IFC will also assist the company align its environmental and social practices with IFC’s performance standards.

    “Digital connectivity is more important than ever for businesses and people to thrive,” said Jean-Marc Arbogast, IFC Country Manager for the Philippines. “By supporting the entry of a new company, IFC’s investment will contribute to a strong independent tower market in the Philippines, increasing competition, creating jobs, spurring economic growth and help cut emissions.”

  • ZTE’s CEO Xu Ziyang Awarded at the GSMA’s Asia Mobile Awards

    ZTE’s CEO Xu Ziyang Awarded at the GSMA’s Asia Mobile Awards

    ZTE Corporation, a major international provider of telecommunications, enterprise and consumer technology solutions for the mobile internet, has announced that its CEO Xu Ziyang has been awarded the Outstanding Contribution to the Asia Mobile Industry Award at the GSMA’s Asia Mobile Awards (The AMOs) 2022, held in Hong Kong. The award recognizes Mr. Xu Ziyang’s outstanding leadership in guiding ZTE to continuously promote industrial innovation, increase cross-industry cooperation and boost the development of the global mobile industry.Mobile communication technology has become the key driving force in the booming digital economy for enriching people’s lives, accelerating the digital transformation of industries and promoting economic growth. In order to cope with the challenges brought by the Covid-19 pandemic with innovative ICT technologies as well as facilitate the digitalization and low carbonization of the industry for the healthy development of the economy, ZTE has carried out in-depth cooperation in digital infrastructure construction, digital industry development and more with its global partners. To date, ZTE has entered into cooperation with more than 110 operators worldwide on 5G, while working with over 500 partners to jointly explore more than 100 innovative 5G application scenarios in 15 industries.

    Moving forward, with a focus on the construction of ICT infrastructure, ZTE will keep working with the whole industry to expand the application scenarios of digitalization in order to build a green digital and intelligent world, and contribute to the sustainable development of the global mobile communications industry and society.

    The GSMA’s Asia Mobile Awards are the Asia Region’s leading stage for excellence, innovation, and achievement. As the highest honor in the Asia Mobile Awards, the Outstanding Contribution to the Asia Mobile Industry Award recognizes sustained or extraordinary contributions by individuals, organizations or collaborative achievements that advance the value and benefits of mobile communications for people, businesses and societies in Asia.

     

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  • Singtel to Invest Additional US$100 million into Innovative Tech

    Singtel to Invest Additional US$100 million into Innovative Tech

    Singtel plans to invest a further $100 million into Singtel Innov8, its corporate venture arm, raising its total capital commitment to $350 million. One of the earliest corporate venture capital firms in Southeast Asia, Innov8 invests in start-ups that align with Singtel Group businesses in the areas of 5G, artificial Intelligence, the digital economy, sustainability, cybersecurity and emerging technologies. It operates on an evergreen fund model, re-investing returns from portfolio exits into new investments. With the capital injection, Innov8 will further expand its portfolio of investments in Southeast Asia, the United States, China, Israel and Australia.

    “This capital infusion is meant for identifying and growing innovative start-ups with new technologies and capabilities that are synergistic and in lockstep with Singtel’s strategic reset to drive greater improvements in our core operations, accelerate our new growth engines, and place us at the forefront of new and fast-evolving areas,” said Yuen Kuan Moon, Group Chief Executive Officer of Singtel and Chairman of Singtel Innov8. “As we sharpen our business focus, we will recycle our assets and capital into selected growth areas, reshaping our portfolio to better serve our stakeholders and build momentum for the longer term.”

    Edgar Hardless, Chief Executive Officer, Singtel Innov8 added, “Singtel Innov8 is empowered to move quickly to capture investment opportunities in the fast-paced venture market. Our mandate is flexible, allowing us to invest in both early and growth stage companies. We believe in backing founders to execute on their vision and support the company’s growth through partnerships with the Singtel Group. Innov8 facilitates access to businesses units across the Group’s footprint, evangelises innovative technologies within the Group, and supports partnerships with the business units. This additional funding and our proven approach will help drive further investment deal flow and greater collaboration with the start-up ecosystem, unlocking more value for both the Group and our portfolio companies.”

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  • Elevating Customer Experience in the Telecom Sector

    Elevating Customer Experience in the Telecom Sector

    Communication service providers (CSPs) understand the value of elevating customer experience and digital engagements to stand out from competition. This shift to an increased focus on digital customer experiences is essential to CSPs’ transformational journeys.

    Customer experience is a critical aspect in every service business and a main differentiator in a competitive telecom landscape. Instead of merely being focused on upgrading network capabilities, CSPs are increasingly challenged to prioritize intuitive, seamless designs that simplify customer engagement in order to provide what they want and need. For instance, a single mobile app can serve as a  one-stop platform for myriad services, even billing.

    As CSPs reinvent their relationships with customers, cloud capabilities and features such as virtual assistants or chatbots are also becoming commonplace to streamline customer service processes. Looking ahead, customer experiences can be enhanced with augmented reality to support user functions across markets.

    In a report specific to the Indian market, KPMG cited that improving customer experiences can help companies, including telcos, raise their valuation by 125% to 400%. Enhanced customer experience is key to building long-term customer relationships and creating sustained value to help companies grow.

    Personalization Key to Evolving Customer Experiences

    Personalization in services is important in elevating customer experiences. Big data and analytics are instrumental in creating tailored and specific experiences based on the characteristics of customers. They provide useful metrics that allow operators to track customer satisfaction and more.

    Round-the-clock and consistent, reliable services add value to an omnichannel customer journey that facilitates meaningful touch points. Building from past behaviours and patterns, customer engagement is advanced to a new level that allows customers to access a multitude of services across multiple channels whenever desired, ensuring that an end-to-end experience is created for customers.

    Multi-Faceted service assurance is key, as customers expect more from their voice, text and mobile services. With pay TV growing, operators need to have a unified view of customers wants and needs, leveraging real time analytics to achieve relevant breakthroughs.

    In order to capture more subscribers, billing and payment is another area to target improvements. In one such example, countries such as Indonesia and the Philippines have implemented staggered mobile data plans so that subscribers who tend to spend in small amounts are not bound by long-term data plans. This includes giving postpaid pay-as-you-go subscribers the option to switch to volume-based plans should their data limit be exceeded, or a “pay-to-boost” option where needed.

    SaaS to Gain Competitive Advantage

    Traditional legacy models are giving way to engagement-centric SaaS models for customer engagement functions as one way to achieve scalability and quicker . Another benefit is lower set cost and increased IT cost savings, estimated by Analysys Mason to amount to as much as approximately 25% IT cost savings over the course of five years. The value of the global SaaS market for OSS and BSS is estimated to be at $10.7 billion by 2023, representing a 29.5% compound annual growth rate since 2018.

    As CSPs continue to digitally transform, SaaS spending has been growing. In 2019, SaaS accounted for 5% of CSP’s operational expenditure. This figure is expected to reach at least 11% by 2023.

    In Singapore, Circle Global recently completed the acquisition of the mobile virtual network enabler (MVNE) business, a US-based cloud software, communications platform company. With this strategic move, Circle Global aims to expand its SaaS and 5G capabilities.

    Service providers are also capturing growth opportunities in this market, as they roll out more SaaS in their service portfolios targeting CSPs that will need to update processes in the 5G era. As a cloud-first strategy takes root in the industry, CSPs step forward with a suite of easy-to-adopt solutions to take customer experience to the next level.

    Since “one” makes a “w” sound, the article is “a”

    Not sure about this: “turnaround” is a more natural process of services or fulfillment whereas “turnabout” is a more sudden move in a different direction. A turnaround is smoother and a turnabout is a sudden reaction

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  • 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.

  • NOW Telecom Partners with SBA Towers for Infrastructure Support

    NOW Telecom Partners with SBA Towers for Infrastructure Support

    According to NOW Corporation’s disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, they are in talks with SBA Towers Philippines about a lease of build-to-suit sites, towers, and passive telecommunications infrastructure and facilities to be used for the installation of NOW’s facilities and equipment in order to provide telecommunications and internet services.The company said this is included in NOW Group’s plan of beefing up its 5G wireless network technology, a strengthening that will allow the delivery of up to 20 gigabit per second speed to enterprises and homes.

    NOW Telecom President and COO Engr. Rene L. Rosales said, “It is an integral policy in NOW Group’s roadmap to partner with trusted vendors that are part of the Clean Network. We look forward to working with SBA Towers Philippines whose expertise is providing support to operators like NOW to achieve our vision.”

    NOW Telecom is a public telecommunications entity and was granted a 25-year legislative franchise to construct, install, establish, operate and maintain wire and/or wireless telecommunications systems. It also holds a cellular mobile telecommunications system license granted by the National Telecommunications Commission.

    It is one of only four cellular mobile license holders apart from Philippine telco giants SMART, Globe Telecom and Dito Telecommunity.

     

  • 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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  • 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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  • DHL teams up with Coldplay to make their tour as sustainable as possible

    DHL teams up with Coldplay to make their tour as sustainable as possible

    DHL, a pioneer in the field of sustainable transport and logistics, has announced that it will support Coldplay’s efforts to reduce CO2 emissions by more than 50% during its Music of the Spheres concert tour.

    While every global music tour requires intensive preparation and complex logistics, Coldplay has added to this complexity by setting an ambitious goal to make the tour as sustainable as possible, with the support of DHL’s extensive expertise in the field.

    “As leaders in our industries, it is our responsibility to lead the change but also inspire and facilitate sustainable solutions for other businesses and brands. We feel honored and proud that Coldplay has selected DHL to embark on this journey for change,” commented Monika Schaller, Executive Vice President of Corporate Communications, Sustainability & Brand, Deutsche Post DHL Group.

    Coldplay selected DHL as its logistics partner due to the company’s extensive expertise in sustainable logistics solutions. As the world’s leading logistics provider, DHL will support Coldplay’s efforts, especially in the field of sustainable transportation, by offering multi-faceted approach to lowering CO2 emissions.

    With its GoGreen Plus Service, DHL’s customers are offered a suite of solutions for minimizing logistics-related emissions and other environmental impacts along the entire supply chain. Ocean and air freight emissions are reduced by the use of advanced biofuels. For land transportation, DHL is able to call upon an extensive fleet of electric vehicles and trucks fueled with Bio-LNG (liquified natural gas made from organic waste). The remaining part of the supply chain is made climate neutral by full lifecycle emission compensation – drawing down and offsetting any residual carbon emissions. DHL can ensure the lower CO2 emissions of their services are transparently passed onto its customers.

    DHL and Coldplay’s shared hope is that the Music of the Spheres Tour will provide lessons and best practices for other artists to build on and push the live music industry towards an ultra-low-carbon and sustainable future.

    Coldplay’s co-manager Phil Harvey stated: “When we announced this tour, we pledged to reduce primary carbon emissions by more than 50% compared to the last tour.   This can only happen with tour partners who share this vision and are willing to invest the necessary resources to make it happen.   We’re grateful to DHL for their help in minimizing our tour’s freight emissions through their expertise and investment in sustainable logistics.”

    In line with the company’s sustainability strategy to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 (“Mission 2050”), DHL is committed to sustainable logistics solutions that will decarbonise the entire logistics sector. As part of Deutsche Post DHL Group’s mid-term sustainability roadmap for 2030, the group strives to achieve the sub-target of having at least 30 percent of fuel requirements covered by sustainable fuels. To reduce CO2 emissions in line with the Paris Climate Agreement, the Group will spend €7 billion on sustainable fuel and clean technologies by 2030.

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