More enterprises are undergoing rapid digitalisation while exploring and developing tailored 5G solutions for deployment in their industries. In conjunction with Asia Tech x Singapore 2022, Telecom Review Asia interviewed Dennis Wong, Vice President Enterprise 5G and Platforms, Singtel, to learn about the value of cloudified 5G networks and Singtel’s offerings for enterprise 5G.
5G is an enabler to accelerate industrial digitalisation. Can you tell us about the use cases of 5G networks and their impact on industries?
5G technology is not an incremental improvement of 4G, but a fundamental paradigm shift. Instead of thinking of 5G as a technology that delivers faster speed and lower latency, industries should explore how 5G can enable new capabilities to accelerate digital transformation.
For instance, by combining 5G and MEC, capabilities no longer reside solely on the device, but also at the edge, to serve multiple purposes. This way, 5G results in a quantum leap in device capabilities, to support high-bandwidth and low latency use cases that could not have been enabled before. With 5G, we can now power new capabilities including network slicing on-demand, mission-critical applications and AI to deliver new value and impact to industries.
Cloudification of 5G unleashes greater 5G potential and innovation. Can you tell us more about the benefits of a cloudified 5G network?
Cloudification of 5G networks delivers three key benefits. Firstly, cloudification raises scalability, allowing 5G use cases to roll out faster and adoption amongst enterprises to accelerate. Secondly, cloudification increases the capabilities of a virtualised device as its capabilities are no longer restricted to a mere physical device. Thirdly, a cloudified 5G network is more resilient as capabilities extend beyond a single location, such that even when a single location fails, there is the assurance of a backup.
How is Singtel working with enterprises in Asia to utilize 5G?
Singtel approaches 5G from a customer’s perspective to provide end-to-end solutions. Apart from providing a 5G network, MEC and public cloud, we are also focused on providing a marketplace and orchestration platform. Through Paragon, we provide enterprises a platform that aggregates 5G networks, edge computing and public cloud, as well as access to an ecosystem of partner applications to leverage on AI and security capabilities inherent to the platform. This is one way Singtel helps enterprises adopt 5G to build the agility, flexibility and scalability needed to transform. In the region, Singtel also works closely with a group of associates to ensure that use cases are deployed in other markets.
What is Singtel’s strategy to capture the enterprise 5G market in Asia?
Singapore is at the forefront of deploying 5G in the enterprise market, across verticals such as transportation, healthcare, advanced manufacturing and the government sector. So from a technology standpoint, one of our strategies is forging close partnerships with regional associates to impart technologies and drive innovation. From an enterprise market perspective, Singtel shares our takeaways with our associates and promotes cross-learning and cross-pollination of technologies. Through a platform like Paragon, Singtel allows associates to readily adopt 5G.
Finally, Singtel is focused on providing customers of enterprises the most benefits. As the market continues to grow and mature, we are committed to working closely with our ecosystem, device partners and application partners to deliver seamless 5G services for enterprises.
