Globally, stakeholders across the telecom domain including governments, telecom operators, and te­le­com eq­uipment and infrastructure provi­ders are striving to enable 5G roll-outs. The Sou­theast Asian (SEA) region too is wit­nessing significant action in the 5G space with some countries already enjoying the benefits of commercial 5G net­wo­r­ks while others are eager to get on board the 5G bandwagon.

A look at the key developments in SEA’s 5G space…

Brunei, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam

Brunei has launched a 5G pilot project at The Mall in Gadong, a commercial area of the capital city, Bandar Seri Begawan. This project has reportedly been commissioned by the Ministry of Transport and Infoco­m­munications and spearheaded by the Au­th­o­rity for Infocommunications Techno­logy Industry, with involvement from telecommunication infrastructure and service providers. The Mall is one of five st­ra­tegic locations where proof of concept 5G infrastructure has been deployed as part of the pilot project.

In September 2020, the Lao Teleco­m­m­unications Company launched its 5G network, making it Laos’s first telco to do so. In Thailand, AIS partnered with Sam­sung, in October 2021, to launch a voice over 5G new radio service enabling voice calls on AIS’s 5G SA network.

In Vietnam, Samsung Electronics and Viettel announced the launch of 5G commercial trials in Da Nang during Decem­ber 2021. Viettel is piloting 5G services in 11 provinces and cities, namely Hanoi, Bac Ni­nh, Bac Giang, Vinh Phuc, Dong Nai, Ho Chi Minh City, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Binh Phuoc, Thua Thien-Hue and Da Nang.

Indonesia

In Indonesia, Telkomsel (Telekomunikasi Selular) launched 5G services in eight Indonesian cities – Balikpapan, Medan, Surakarta, Surabaya, Makassar, Bandung, Batam and Denpasar, in June 2021. With this, the telco became the first operator to launch 5G services in the country. Later, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison (IOH) anno­un­ced the commercial launch of its 5G network in the city of Surakarta while XL Axiata launched 5G in Depok, South Ja­karta, Bandung, Yogyakarta and Suraba­ya. During 2021, IOH expanded its 5G coverage to Jakarta, Surabaya, Makassar and Balikpapan; XL Axiata expanded its ser­vices to Medan; and Telkomsel launch­ed services in Papua. Recently, in March 2022, IOH and Ericsson announced the signing of a contract to further expand the former’s 5G footprint in Indonesia. Under the plan, Ericsson will extend IOH’s coverage to Jabotabek, including the cities of Bogor, Tangerang and Bekasi, augmenting its existing presence in a number of other cities such as Balikpapan, Surakarta, Jakar­ta, Surabaya and Makassar.

Malaysia

In February 2021, the Malaysian government announced its plans to invest MYR 15 billion ($3.7 billion) over a 10-year period in the nationwide deployment of 5G. It also announced that the roll-out of next-generation 5G broadband connectivity will be undertaken by a special purpose vehicle (SPV) under the Malaysian government. The SPV will be given the necessary spectrum for 5G roll-out and will manage the nation’s infrastructure, which will be accessible to all licensed telcos.

In November 2021, Digital Nasional Bhd (DNB), Malaysia’s sole 5G wholesale service operator, integrated five mobile network operators (MNOs) into its 5G network. DNB incorporated Celcom Axiata, Digi Telecommunications, Maxis, Telekom Ma­laysia and U Mobile in its 5G network.

Recently, in March 2022, the Malay­sian government confirmed its plans to deploy 5G technology via a single wholesale network (SWN), while also offering MNOs an up to 70 per cent equity stake in DNB, the company rolling out the new 5G mobile infrastructure. As per the government, the DNB-led SWN model, whi­ch is based on cost recovery, is supply-driven and involves equity participation of telcos, remains the best solution to accelerate the deployment of 5G networks by encou­raging the use of 5G.

Philippines

The Philippines has been among the first movers in terms of launching 5G services in the SEA region. The efforts to launch 5G in the country started as early as 2018, with PLDT, Inc.’s mobile arm Smart Communications activating its first 5G cell sites in the Makati central business dis­trict (CBD) and at the Clark Freeport zone in Pampanga. The 5G cell sites were 3GPP standard-compliant and were the first to be activated in the country.

Later, in 2019, Globe Telecom launch­ed what it claimed was Southeast Asia’s first fifth-generation fixed-wireless broadband service, “Globe at Home Air Fiber 5G”. It was initially launched in select ar­eas in Pasig, Cavite and Bulacan. In Feb­ruary 2020, Globe Telecom announc­ed the successful completion of a 5G video call with Thailand’s mobile counterpart AIS. Globe then laun­ched 5G services in Bonifacio Global City (BGC), the Makati CBD, Rockwell Center, the Ortigas CBD and strategic areas along two major highways – EDSA and C5.

In July 2020, Smart Communications, the wireless arm of PLDT, Inc. commercially launched its 5G mobile network in the main business districts of Metro Mani­la and later began the nationwide roll-out of services.

As of February 2022, Globe Telecom has reported a 35.2 per cent month-on-mo­nth increase in data traffic on its 5G network, which is in the deployment stage. The telco has more than 2,000 5G cell si­tes and has upgraded 12,900 towers. Mean­while, Smart Communications has reported the deployment of 75,400 base tran­sceiver stations (BTSs) as of Dec­ember 31, 2021, of which around 7,200 are 5G BTSs. Fur­th­er, DITO Telecom­mu­nity, the third telco in the Philippines, is leveraging its 5G infrastructure to launch a wireless ho­me br­oadband service in select areas in Metro Manila. Curren­tly available as part of a soft-launch in 146 barangays (administrative districts) across Manila, DITO’s residential 5G offering promises download sp­eeds of up to 500 Mbps.

Singapore

In Singapore, the Infocomm Media De­ve­lopment Authority awarded provisional 2.1 GHz spectrum for 5G services to domestic operators SingTel, the M1-Star­Hub Consortium (Antina [JVCo]) and TPG Telecom (TPG Mobile), in Novem­ber 2021. As per the government, both SingTel and the M1-StarHub consortium are on track to establish two na­tionwide networks with full-fledged 5G SA capabilities with at least 50 per cent coverage by end 2022, and nationwide co­ve­rage by end 2025. Further, TPG must roll out a 5G SA network with at least 50 per cent coverage within two yea­rs and nationwide 5G SA coverage within five years from the commencement of its 2.1 GHz spectrum rights.

The way forward

Overall, operators, governments as well as telecom equipment vendors across the SEA region are excited about the 5G opp­ortunity and are actively undertaking initiatives to hasten 5G roll-outs. As per a report by Kearney, 5G offers a huge weal­th potential for telecom operators in the SEA region. In fact, 5G could add 6-9 per cent to consumer revenues and 18-22 per cent to enterprise revenues by 2025. Amo­ng the SEA countries, Indonesia is expected to capture the biggest share of these revenues, followed closely by Malaysia, Sin­gapore and Thailand. Moreover, telecom operators are expected to invest close to $10 billion in the SEA region’s 5G infrastructure by 2025.

However, the region also faces the cha­ll­enge of limited availability of 5G sp­ec­trum and consequent suboptimal network roll-out. Further, 5G progress is weighed down by the presence of satellite networks in the mid-band spectrum (3.5 GHz). Be­si­des spectrum issues, regulatory hurdles with regard to active and passive infrastructure sharing and setting up of new infrastructure models hamper the growth of the 5G ecosystem. In this rega­rd, all relevant stakeholders including governments, regulators, telecom operators and telecom equipment and infrastructure providers need to coordinate to formulate policies that enable the development of SEA’s 5G ecosystem.

Kuhu Singh Abbhi