At the 5G Malaysia Showcase, Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd (Digi), in partnership with ZTE, presented three 5G use cases to demonstrate the technology’s potential impact on emergency services, learning and eSports.
Speaking at the event yesterday, which was officiated by Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad, Chief Executive Officer Albern Murty said that the showcase was an important checkpoint for Malaysia as the country moves towards implementing 5G technology.
“The use cases we are presenting today are examples of how 5G technology can enable faster, better responses especially in emergencies that require precision data in real-time. 5G technology enables the use of 4K video, collection and transferring of data in real-time to respective emergency services such as first responders, hospitals, and the fire brigade, saving valuable time. What is equally important is 5G’s capability to network slice and dedicate a portion of the network for mission critical services such as emergencies,” he said.
Digi 5G Use case #1: Real-time Emergency Response using drones
- Feature 5G capabilities of enhanced mobile broadband with ultra-low latency, to improve real-time emergency response and human safety scenarios in a more coordinated and integrated manner
- Example of use case can be applied to smart cities for real-time emergency response. The concept is to link the Command Centre Monitoring System (CCMS) to emergency locations (i.e. accident location on the highways etc.) in order to:
- a. Receive a distress call and immediately dispatch a drone with high-density camera and use live video feed. Equipped with high-density video quality, the drone’s aerial view will be able to scout road conditions, congestions, and relay data back to CCMS in real-time via 5G network
- b. With vital real-time data, the CCMS will be able to:
- Deploy the nearest Response Unit (Ambulance/Polis/Bomba) to the emergency scene using the fastest route
- Feedback information on medical conditions of casualties to the designated hospital prior to arrival in order to prepare and expedite necessary medical treatment
Digi 5G Use case #2: Future of Learning with Augmented Reality (AR)
- Showcase 5G capabilities of enhanced mobile broadband to offer Augmented Reality (AR) applications for future educational purpose
- Example of use case can be applied for various educational aspects across different verticals (i.e. factories for training purpose), for any level of education and across geographies
- The aim is to provide elevated educational audio and visual aspects that enable greater interactivity for educators and students beyond the current 2D visualisation from projectors or TV
- With 5G and an AR goggles, educators and students will be able to visualise and interact more freely, enriching the learning experience by making it more fun and vivid
- This showcase will feature how future education using AR is applied to automotive-specific content. During the first simulation, users can change the car’s colour and rim type, zoom in on main car components and simulate the car’s movement. The second simulation will display turbine engine rotation data
Digi 5G Use case #3: eSports evolution with Virtual Reality (VR)
- The showcase aims to verify and demonstrate 5G capabilities to provide enhanced broadband and ultra-low latency through the application of virtual reality (VR) gaming or eSports
- The featured game can be applied for Winter Olympics or other big sporting events to provide interactive and exciting experiences to gamers
- The showcase simulates the experience of skiing in the mountains, and other such games. The low latency and high speed of the 5G network will demonstrate a smooth and no-lag gaming experience
As part of the Telenor Group, Digi said it has the benefit of gleaning first-hand insights from Telenor’s 5G pilots which started in November 2018. The pilots are testing several uses cases including autonomous ships, autonomous boats, and fish farms, with more in the pipeline. Digi will leverage on these learnings to accelerate 5G research and adoption for the benefit of Malaysia.
Albern added that careful planning and testing is necessary to realise the full promise of 5G. In the coming months, the company will set up base stations in the test bed at Putrajaya, and is open to partner interested organisations to carry out field trials.
“Much work still needs to be done ahead of implementing 5G. Broad multi-party collaborations are important to test as many uses cases to draw learnings that we can use to purpose-build 5G according to the needs of the country. We believe Malaysia is on the right track with its practical, consultative approach to 5G. And as part of the national 5G taskforce, we will continue to share our learnings in order to recommend a holistic strategy to accelerate local adoption of 5G.”
The 5G Malaysia showcase is hosted by the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) in collaboration with leading communication companies and higher institutions of learning. The showcase will be open to the public on 20 and 21 April at Kompleks Perbadanan Putrajaya, presenting a unique opportunity for all Malaysians to witness the potential of the next frontier in telecommunications technology.
