There are still too many obstacles that telecom operators have to overcome before they can earn high revenue from 5G.
The deployment of 5G services may help telecom operators increase their revenue by $300 million commencing from 2025, according to the latest survey from A.T. Kearney.
Naveen Menon from Cisco commented thatnow is the right time for telecom operators to deploy 5G in the business market.
However, in order to obtain revenue of $300 million in the future, the operators have to make heavy investment before persuading users to switch to use high-speed network. Even for operators capable of developing 5G, the telecom infrastructure is still a factor to consider.
According to Nguyen Viet Dung, head of the strategy division of Viettel Group, this includes physical and non-physical infrastructure.
Physical infrastructure includes connectivity, transmission equipment, and fiber optic networks with 3G, 4G and 5G networks, which play a key role. Previously, physical infrastructure was mostly developed by telcos, but now it is done by industrial zones and residential quarters as well, which account for 70-80 percent.
As for non-physical infrastructure, Vietnam is focused on laying down a legal framework, and still has not built up a culture of accepting new things. This is an important condition to develop new ideas.
Vietnam would have 6 million 5G subscribers out of total 200 million subscribers in ASEAN, as estimated by A.T. Kearney.
According to Luong Thi Le Thuy, CEO of Cisco Vietnam, when starting 5G, Vietnam’s market penetration rate in Vietnam may be lower than some other regional countries such as Indonesia and Thailand, but its growth rate would be higher.
The application of 5G in automated process management will bring two major effects. First, 5G ensures higher speed than WLAN, which uses high number of cables. Second, 5G is the platform and key factor to deploy AI and Robotic.
With what it can observe, robots can make decisions based on connections with computer and memory. With 5G, enterprises can set up a compact robotics system which is no longer bulky.
The prospect of earning $300 million could be the driving force for network operators to deploy 5G, but in fact, not many enterprises have shown interest inapplying 5G in production.
BT Lee, CEO of Informa Markets Vietnam, said the company has not thought about using 5G. The enterprise still uses fixed lined to connect machines and equipment. The utilization of 5G would push production costs up. It may take several years to popularize the use of 5G in industrial production in Vietnam.
Source: VNA
