Digi features 5G-powered emergency services, learning and e-sports at showcase

• Shared preliminary learnings from Telenor Group’s 5G pilots
• Set to begin field trials; will set up base stations in the test bed at Putrajaya 

STARTING April 18, Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd (Digi) is enabling Malaysians to explore the potential of 5G in the areas of emergency services, learning and e-sports at the 5G Malaysia Showcase happening over the next three days.

Speaking at the event on April 18, which was officiated by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir 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.

Powering emergency services, learning and e-sports with 5G

At the showcase, Digi, in partnership with ZTE, presented three 5G use cases to demonstrate the technology’s potential impact on emergency services, learning and e-sports.

The first showcase exhibits 5G capabilities via enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) and ultra-low latency in improving emergency response and safety in real-time, and in a more integrated manner across multi-party responders.

A 5G-powered drone is linked to a Command Centre Monitoring System (CCMS) for this showcase. The CCMS dispatches the drone, equipped with a high-density camera and live video feed, to emergency sites upon receiving a distress call. The drone will scout road and traffic conditions, and transmits this data to the CCMS, ambulance and hospital in real-time via the 5G network.

The second use case features 5G capabilities of eMBB to offer Augmented Reality (AR) applications for future learning purposes not limited by geography. Using 5G and AR goggles, users from anywhere in the world can participate and interact with each other in a virtual classroom.

At the exhibit, multiple users were able to concurrently change a car’s colour and rim type, zoom in on a main component such as an engine, take it apart and re-assemble it for a hands-on learning experience.

The third demonstration shows 5G’s ability to provide enhanced eMBB and ultra-low latency for Virtual Reality (VR) gaming or e-sports. The featured game simulated the experience of skiing on a mountain using VR goggles. The ultra-low latency and high speed of the 5G network provides seamless connectivity to improve the gaming experience.

Insights from Telenor Group’s 5G pilots

As part of the Telenor Group, Digi 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.

Telenor research head Bjørn Taale Sandberg, who spoke at the event on a topic titled “The Perfect Synergy: How 5G, IoT and AI will change everything” shared global insights on how 5G will enable the Internet of Things (IoT) that will in turn drive Artificial Intelligence (AI). He believes that the full benefit to society will come from exploring these collective technologies together.

“Early studies of our pilot projects in Norway underscore the need for close collaboration with partners in implementing 5G. There needs to be an end-to-end understanding of the ecosystem in deploying 5G technology in order to know what challenges lie ahead and the feasibility of solutions. 5G is the foundation for enabling and empowering technologies such as IoT and the actionable data collected for AI from connected things will drive economies forward tremendously,” Sandberg said.

Looking ahead for 5G

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 April 20 and 21 at Kompleks Perbadanan Putrajaya, presenting a unique opportunity for all Malaysians to witness the potential of the next frontier in telecommunications technology.