The Malaysia 5G Task Force, which was established to study and recommend a holistic strategy for 5G deployment in Malaysia, has made significant progress since its inception in October 2018, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) claims.
Its Chairman, Dato’ Mohd Ali Hanafiah Mohd Yunus said that among the achievements of the Task Force include an increase in its membership, organising the 5G Malaysia Showcase, industry readiness in 5G implementation, as well as various plans discussed by each working group in the Task Force.
The Malaysia 5G Task Force has increased its membership from 31 during its initial stages to 110 as of 31 May 2019. The initial 31 members include:
| No. | Organisation |
| 1 | Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) |
| 2 | Collaborative Research in Engineering, Science & Technology (Crest) |
| 3 | Malaysia IoT Association (MyIoTA) |
| 4 | Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI) |
| 5 | Malaysian Automotive Institute (MAI) |
| 6 | Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) |
| 7 | MAMPU |
| 8 | MDEC |
| 9 | MIGHT |
| 10 | Ministry of Education (MOE) |
| 11 | Multimedia University Malaysia (MMU) |
| 12 | University of Technology Malaysia (UTM) |
| 13 | Maxis |
| 14 | Celcom Axiata |
| 15 | Cyberview |
| 16 | Digi |
| 17 | Edotco |
| 18 | Malaysian Public Works Department (JKR) |
| 19 | Perbadanan Putrajaya |
| 20 | TIME dotCom |
| 21 | TM |
| 22 | TNB |
| 23 | TNB IT |
| 24 | U Mobile |
| 25 | Khazanah |
| 26 | Malaysian Technical Standards Forum Berhad (MTFSB) |
| 27 | Ministry of Communications and Multimedia (KKMM) |
| 28 | Ministry of Housing and Local Government (KPKT) |
| 29 | Ericsson |
| 30 | Huawei |
| 31 | ZTE |
He also added that the 5G Malaysia Showcase in Putrajaya, which was held from 18 to 21 April 2019, received an overwhelming response when it recorded 10,000 visitors from all walks of life. Among the latest 5G technologies showcased include autonomous self-driving car, drone for emergency 1st responders, holoportation, remote surgery, and precision farming.
Dato’ Ali further explained that the four Working Groups under the Task Force; namely Business Case, Regulatory, Infrastructure, and Spectrum Management and Allocation; have all started work and are busy preparing their findings in the various areas of concern relating to 5G.
Malaysia 5G Taskforce Working Groups
| No | Group | Areas | Chair | Members |
| 1 | Business Case | User trends, requirements and demand study, 5G adoption, job creation, GDP growth, etc. | Representative from the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) | FMM, Crest, MyIoTA, MARDI, MAI, MPOC, MAMPU, MDEC, MIGHT, MOE, MMU, UTM |
| 2 | Spectrum Management and Allocation | Allocation at ITU, APT and Malaysia, required bandwidth to support national targets, identify spectrum bands for Malaysia, etc. | Representative from Celcom | Celcom, Digi, Ericsson, Huawei, Maxis, TM, Umobile, ZTE |
| 3 | Infrastructure | Requirements and coverage for optimum 5G deployment for different services, gaps analysis on current networks, costs, challenges, right-of-way, etc. | Representative from Maxis | Maxis, Celcom, Cyberview, Edotco, JKR, PJC, TIME, TM, TNB, TNB-IT, Umobile, Digi |
| 4 | Regulatory | Technical standards to be adopted, optimum number of mobile operators, accommodating future business models for network providers and relevant stakeholders | Representative from Digi | Digi, Celcom, Cyberview, Edotco, Khazanah, JKR, MTFSB, Maxis, KKMM, KPKT, Perbadanan Putrajaya, TIME, TM, Umobile |
He said that these include performing technical assessments, confirming suitable use cases and business model potential, as well as facilitating policy recommendations towards a more systematic 5G planning.
Apart from the work of the Task Force, a spectrum study is also being carried out to ensure readiness and availability of spectrum for 5G implementation. Meanwhile, MCMC said a call for collaboration for 5G Malaysia Demonstration Project with the industry will also be announced in the near future. Under this call for collaboration, industry players are invited to propose projects under verticals such as Agriculture, Automotive, Education, Media and Entertainment, Health, Manufacturing, Public Safety, Smart City, and catering for the differently-abled.
To further discuss potential collaboration in 5G technology with Ministries, MCMC will meet with various Ministries such as:
- Â Ministry of Transport (MOT),
- Ministry of Water, Land and Natural Resources (KATS),
- Ministry of Education (MOE),
- Ministry of Health (MOH),
- Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry (MOA),
- Ministry of Housing and Local Government (KPKT); and
- Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI).
Editor’s Note: We are waiting for MCMC to share with us the full list of the 5G Task Force Members. This article will be updated once/if we get the list.
