Huawei CEO recommends total 5G adoption as new technologies form foundation of digital world
We are entering a totally digital world, Huawei Technologies (Thailand) CEO Abel Deng told the seminar “5G Thailand Big Move” at Siam Kempinski Hotel Bangkok on Thursday.
Deng said new technologies are forming the foundation of the digital world. It has various characteristics, which are:
- All things sensing
- All things connected
- All things intelligent
He said the Covid-19 pandemic brought about massive disruption and impacts. People had to work, learn, and shop from home in the past one-and-a-half years. Meanwhile, companies and individuals who used the cloud have increased from 26 per cent to as much as 70 per cent.
Deng mentioned that the pandemic has disrupted industries, especially in manufacturing, due to a limited workforce. Companies in every industry have to adopt automation with artificial intelligence and robots to reduce their human workforce and costs while improving efficiency, he added.
He said the pandemic was a crisis but has also brought us opportunities, helping to accelerate the digital transformation.
Deng pointed out that 5G is the cornerstone of digital transformation, especially a digital economy, saying that the formula of connection density (5G+IoT) multiplied with computation power (AI+cloud) is equal to the strength of the digital economy.
He said 5G is not only for telecommunications but is becoming a key driver for economic resilience and economic development. More than 1.2 million base stations have been set up to support 5G, with China being the leader, building almost 900,000 stations in 18 months.
The CEO said countries with a better global connectivity index (GCI) score or relatively better digital infrastructure accommodating especially 5G suffered much less from the pandemic. For example, he claimed China’s GDP would benefit to the tune of €1.9 trillion from 5G within four years.
Deng said 5G is changing the role of new infrastructure. Every industry will come to be empowered by 5G. Massive download and upload speeds will allow smooth transportation of big data by 5G.
He said 5G will redefine digital services including messaging. We will soon be able to use a message to send multimedia or pay bills. 5G will also allow us to see a 360 degree view of competitions and performances. Moreover, 5G with AR technology will provide better navigation, education and shopping experience.
Deng revealed that in Huawei’s factory, all 500 machines and robots have been connected with a 5G network in the production line. It improves production efficiency by 300 per cent while reducing 80 per cent of the human workforce. The production yield has reached 99.05 per cent, which reduces the inspection time from two minutes to a mere six seconds.
The Huawei CEO noted that 5G is leading digital transformation in many sectors, adding that manufacturing, financial, retail, healthcare, oil and gas, agriculture, and mining are major pillars of Thailand’s GDP growth.
According to the Office of the National Digital Economy and Society Commission, 5G will account for 10 per cent of GDP, or THB2.3 trillion, by 2035.
Deng mentioned that Thailand is one of the leaders in 5G infrastructure globally. Bangkok has ranked in the top ten of 5G experience. The country has set up more than 20,000 base stations and over 4.3 million subscribers have adopted 5G. At the industrial level, Thailand has launched a host of pilot projects.
He said the following steps would make 5G successful:
- Infrastructure first: infrastructure is always the first step
- Public empowerment: make technology accessible and affordable
- Policy & investment: for example, 5G is one of China's national strategies. The Asian giant will invest CNY17 trillion, or US$2.6 trillion, in five years for infrastructure. The EU, and South Korea are also heavily adopting 5G.
- Ecosystem & platforms.
Deng proposed the setting up of a national 5G alliance. The goal is to reach people with more skills, train people for increased digital talent, share ideas and inspiration, and support each other for more technology and innovation for future 5G development.
Digital Economy and Society Minister Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn had previously mentioned that Huawei officials held a meeting with Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, aiming to improve the capability to develop the country’s digital economy and propel Thailand forward digitally.
