MCMC Chairman Visits TM’s 5G Standalone Network in Langkawi

• Has highest 5G use cases among telcos participating in 5G Demonstration Project
• Aspiration to deliver efficient and cost effective 5G infra via infrastructure sharing

Following on the heels of his now frequent visits to Langkawi island, Al-Ishsal Ishak, Chairman of Malaysia Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) found himself on the idyllic island yet again, on 5G business.

This time the chairman visited Telekom Malaysia Bhd’s (TM) 5G use cases on Langkawi, Kedah where TM’s transmission of 5G service in Langkawi is utilising the region’s first 5G Standalone (SA) network.

Commenting on the visit, Rosli Man, Chairman of TM said: “We are very honored to welcome the Chairman of MCMC to experience our 5G use cases which include UNESCO 8K Virtual Reality (VR) at Langkawi International Airport (LIA) as well as to observe TM’s 5G network, smart and innovative solution operations centre at its 5G Command Centre (5GCC).”

TM’s 5GCC serves as an integrated command centre for all its 5G network, smart and innovative solutions in Langkawi.

Other TM executives on hand were Ir. Ts. Azizi A Hadi, Chief Network Officer, Ahmad Taufek Omar, Executive Vice President/Chief Executive Officer, TM ONE; and Dr. Sharlene Thiagarajah, Chief Executive Officer, TM Research and Development Sdn Bhd.

Expressing TM’s excitement to be part of the 5G use cases being piloted, Rosli said this signifies TM’s support and capabilities to realise MCMC’s aspiration towards improving the quality of lives of the Rakyat.

“TM, via our innovative and comprehensive products and solutions will continue to work closely with the Government and MCMC to lay the foundation for Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR4.0) and rolling out 5G nationwide to serve a more digital society and lifestyle, digital businesses and industry verticals, as well as digital Government,” he said.

During the visit, Al-Ishsal was briefed on TM’s capabilities and readiness to deploy 5G network solutions as well as how the company can power the government’s Digital Malaysia aspirations through its innovative products and solutions. TM also aspires to work together with the local authorities, particularly in Langkawi to make it a safe tourist destination via TM’s solutions.

Under the 5G Demonstration Project, TM through its enterprise and public sector business solutions arm, TM ONE and its research and development arm, TM R&D are deploying 11 use cases in Langkawi as below:

• Smart Safety and Security Solutions – a real-time monitoring system consisting of cameras and related monitoring equipment placed in strategic areas to serve variety of purposes, including building/grounds security, crime prevention, and traffic observation and integrated with TM’s emergency response team.
• Smart Agriculture Solutions – a solution that offers single display and real time monitoring that provides information on indoor farming environment’s key parameters such as temperature, humidity, grow lights intensity and selected plant parameters that are critical for timely decision making and ensuring optimality of the growth conditions.
• Smart Traffic Lights Solutions – data driven solution that provides a single dashboard for monitoring and helps to improve traffic flow by reducing waiting time at traffic lights, improve traffic congestions and management of traffic.
• Smart Parking Solutions – parking system that provides real time parking bay monitoring using camera and Artificial Intelligence (AI) which enable users to search for vacant parking bay via mobile app.
• UNESCO 8K VR – 8K resolution streaming over cloud, showcasing 2 episodes focusing on (1) geopark & geosites; and (2) lifestyle in Langkawi. Tourists can have a taste of all these hidden treasures through an immersive virtual reality experience for some hard to access locations that are not for the less fit.
• Smart Tourism “My Smart City” application – a single, integrated mobile app for tourists’ convenience as it consists of several features and services such as Trip Planner, Places of Interest, Events & Happenings, Parking, and Alert Button. 
• Smart Retail Analytics – a platform that analyses customer’s experience within a physical premise and offers insights to enhance that experience. With this solution, retailers can improve customer experience, sales and brand loyalty as the platform supports customised services, targeted advertising and visitor visibility.
• Smart Water Management System – an internet of water solution that offers seamless end-to-end smart water integration that improves non-revenue water management, optimises repair and replacement of ageing infra as well as improves response to weather events such as flooding and pollution through smart water level and water quality measurements respectively.
• Smart Vehicle Management System – a fleet management solution that provides management of commercial motor vehicles for work purposes.
• Smart Safety Helmet – a data-driven smart industrial helmet that helps make worksite safer by providing live, wireless monitoring and array of sensors (i.e. accident impact and geolocation) to perform various analysis of data.
• Geolocation People Safety – the tracking solution is designed to protect and connect with people who matters the most that allows users to locate loved ones and receive alert based on safety zone and SOS button through mobile application.

With all these uses cases in place and most already up and running, TM has the highest number of 5G use cases among the telcos participating in the 5G Demonstration Project. The demonstration project is for TM to test the new 5G features, explore the 5G technology system and assess the best way to deploy 5G infrastructure nationwide.

The transmission of 5G service in Pulau Langkawi has been live since early December, where TM has deployed the first 5G Standalone network in the country and the region. The company is currently testing the implementation of a converged 5G core network which allows co-existence of Non-Stand Alone (NSA) and SA network. SA is the future of the 5G network deployment and this demonstration is crucial to fast track 5G implementation in the country. 5G speed tests conducted within TM’s 5G use cases sites have successfully achieved up to 1.5Gbps.

TM’s aspiration is to deliver efficient and cost effective 5G infrastructure via infrastructure sharing approach, through the access regulations implemented by MCMC. This is by leveraging on its extensive fibre networks, including the submarine cables, telecommunications towers, and cloud computing as well as ready Data Centres to support the 5G era in Malaysia. In terms of devices and use cases, its wholly-owned subsidiary, TM R&D is also developing and experimenting 5G related equipment to get ready for the upcoming 5G.