• AIS and Singtel continued their momentum with various initiatives to extend their enterprise 5G leaderships in their respective markets.
• Other telcos in the region had a slower start to the year with only several initiatives and collaborations.
In 2022, telcos aggressively expanded their 5G networks and built enterprise 5G capabilities through various partnerships with technology vendors and collaborations with industry players. While many initiatives were still in the proof-of-concept and trial stages, leading telcos such as Singtel and AIS have launched their respective solutions commercially in the market. For more, please see GlobalData quarterly ASEAN 5G 2022 reports here:
• ASEAN 5G Q1 2022 Roundup: Beginning of 5G Network Slicing and the Platform Play, April 8, 2022.
• ASEAN 5G Q2 2022 Roundup: Wider Partnerships Between Carriers and IT Providers, August 3, 2022.
• ASEAN 5G Q3 2022 Round-Up, October 17, 2022.
• ASEAN 5G Q4 2022 Round-Up: Wider Industry Collaborations, Private Network, and Sustainability, January 3, 2023.
In 2023, Singtel and AIS extended their enterprise 5G leaderships through various new initiatives. This includes trials of mmWave and carrier aggregation, developments of industrial applications and wider ecosystems (more below). Meanwhile, other telcos in the region had slower starts to the year with only a few initiatives. This includes TM’s partnership with ZTE to build a hybrid cloud 5G core network which provides high performance, agility, and security. This can enable TM to differentiate against competitors’ 5G capabilities and drive new use case developments. Another key initiative is Indosat Ooredoo Hutchinson’s plan to launch private wireless networks in Indonesia (for more, please see Indosat Ooredoo Hutchinson (IOH) and Nokia to Drive 5G-Led Industrial Innovation in Indonesia, With Plans to Launch a Private Wireless Network, March 3, 2023).
AIS
February 2023: AIS achieved 22 Gbps of download speeds in its 5G carrier aggregation trial using 100MHz and 1.2GHz of spectrum on the 2.6GHz and 26GHz frequency bands respectively, about a year after it achieved 8.5 Gbps speeds in a similar trial. While 5G carrier aggregation is still in the trial stage, this achievement demonstrates AIS’ capabilities to address high-bandwidth enterprise applications leveraging its 5G portfolio.
February 2023: AIS partners with Deutsche Telekom Global Carrier and Sunrise to support 5G SA roaming across the networks in Europe and Southeast Asia. The roaming services are based on GSMA’s Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP) protocol and 3GPP 5G SA Roaming standard to provide high security and privacy across the different networks. This can enable AIS to expand its enterprise 5G solutions globally (e.g., to outbound/inbound MNC) and enhance its cross-country IoT portfolio.
March 2023: AIS announced high-speed 5G (surpassing 3Gbps) on mmWave bands (26GHz) through a collaboration with Qualcomm, following the success of the New Radio Dual Connectivity (NRDC) trial last year. While the trial was done using smartphones, mmWave is also commonly used for enterprises and private networks. This will enable AIS to enhance its enterprise 5G and private network offerings in the market.
Singtel
February 2023: Singtel launched 5G-enabled smart retail showcase, leveraging 5G network and mobile edge compute (MEC), partner technologies and Apple products to enhance retail workflows, improve operational efficiency and customer experience for physical and online stores. The retail applications can be managed through Singtel Paragon, a unified 5G and ICT platform.
February 2023: Entertainment services around live events is one of the early enterprise 5G use cases with a growing number of deployments globally. In Singapore, Singtel has leveraged 5G in several major events including Formula One in the country. It recently demonstrated a 5G-enabled live stream of a concert from an underground MRT cabin. The provider also demonstrated 360-degree interactive live streaming by broadcasting a live performance in Montreal in 8K to audiences in Bangkok and Singapore. This was achieved through interconnections of Singtel and AIS MEC platforms via the Bridge Alliance Federated Edge Hub (FEH).
February 2023: Singtel announced 5G Security-as-a-Slice (SecaaS) capability, which proactively identifies and blocks cyber threats at the network level and enhances 5G user protections including IoT. The capability leverages Palo Alto Networks 5G security, ML-powered Next-gen Firewall and other cybersecurity products.
February 2023: Singtel announced the private preview of Microsoft Azure Public MEC at the 2023 MWC in Barcelona. Azure Public MEC is integrated with Singtel’s 5G network and Paragon platform. It enables Singtel to drive edge computing adoption especially with existing Azure users.
March 2023: Singtel, Ericsson and Qualcomm achieved 1.6Gbps upload speed on 5G mmWave through carrier aggregation. This can enable various industrial use cases that require high capacity and low latency such as applications in manufacturing, healthcare and transportation.
Conclusion
The enterprise 5G market in ASEAN is rapidly developing. GlobalData IT Customer Insight 2022 shows that 80% of 142 ASEAN enterprises are investing in 5G while over 90% are adding more budget on the technology. With various initiatives and industry collaborations, AIS and Singtel are in good positions to capture the early enterprise 5G market opportunity and monetize their 5G investments. Other carriers such as dtac-True and NT in Thailand as well as Starhub and M1 in Singapore should expand their 5G strategies (e.g., use case co-creation through industry collaborations or solution commercialization) to strengthen their position in the market and close the gap with AIS and Singtel respectively. Meanwhile, as there is a wider awareness among enterprises of the technology across the region, telcos in other countries should accelerate their plans to build enterprise 5G capabilities and strengthen their mind share. This can enable them to capture the early opportunity and lead in their respective markets.