The future today, delayed?

Dialog Axiata PLC has recently announced the breakthrough achievement of becoming the first in South Asia to successfully trial the 5G Standalone (5G SA) network, the most advanced 5G technology in the world. From being the first telecom in the South Asian region to demonstrate 5G capabilities in 2018, even this achievement may be marred by the lack of a sustainable infrastructure to benefit from such technology.

5G technology incorporates higher-frequency radio bands and is widely considered a revolution in mobile broadband. It is able to deliver faster internet speeds, potentially 100 times faster than 4G, which is commonplace in developed and lesser developed countries alike. Currently offered as both a mobile service i.e., mobile 5G, which can be accessed via smartphone from anywhere with adequate coverage, it is even available as a fixed wireless service. 

With the increasing speeds of mobile and fixed wireless connection speeds, the differences in the technological capabilities of the device are bridged. Across the pond, with unlimited mobile plans and mobile download speeds, users are almost indifferent between the speeds of mobile data and their traditional counterparts. In a survey conducted in 2021, over 50% of respondents felt that their smartphone delivered similar speeds to a traditional fixed Wi-Fi connection. 

The introduction of 5G fixed wireless access has the potential to beat the performance of even wired broadband connections and can reverse consumer and business gearing toward traditional fixed connections. With telecom and cable companies continuing to compete in this space, increasingly similar product offerings are centred around internet networking services. 

For example, telecoms attempt to replace their traditional copper wireline networks with faster fibre optic connections causing cable companies to gain an advantage in delivering faster broadband services. However, the reliance on physical cable connectivity has been identified as a constraint to potential future growth, only to be offset by faster internet speeds.

As identified by Axiata, 5G can provide their telecommunication companies with a competitive advantage by enabling them to offer fixed broadband internet services to areas where fibre is either unavailable or too expensive at this speed. This strategy has been incorporated by Verizon in North America with its 5G ultra-wideband service expected to reach 175 million people. 

Other countries such as South Korea and Japan have mid-band frequencies at the centre of 5G networks due to their adequate coverage and open frequency space to enable high-speed connections, which is able to accommodate consumer and workforce needs.

While there is a potential for telecoms to create synergies with the IT industry, many players including networking equipment companies, system integrators, and others, target the same large enterprises. Many service providers have developed partnerships with telecoms that are likely to offer synergies by combining the reach of telecoms.

That is why this announcement follows a range of 5G milestones by the company, including the deployment of South Asia’s first 5G trial network in 2020, the demonstration of a fully standards-based 5G mobile service for the first time in South Asia, the first 5G showcase in South Asia, the demonstration of South Asia’s fastest 5G mobile speeds in 2019, and the first standards-based 5G fixed-wireless pilot transmission in December 2018.

Implementing 5G will mean faster speeds for end consumers, as well as limitless opportunities to automate industrial and home environments. Much depends on the ability to create these synergies in the current business environment.