THE 5G Demonstration Project (5GDP) in Penang is scheduled to begin in January next year (2020).
Four smart initiatives have been identified for the implementation of 5GDP in Penang, namely – the CCTV video analytics by the Penang Island City Council, the 5G Connected Street Lights by the Collaborative Research in Engineering, Science and Technology (CREST), the Penang Smart Parking (PSP) system, and the SPARK (Sistem Amaran Paras Air Kawalan Banjir) system by the Seberang Perai City Council.
Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) Penang office head Rizal Abd Malek said the six-month demonstration exercise would be conducted up to June next year (2020).
“The fifth generation (5G) services will not be commercially available yet as we are only conducting the demonstration works until June next year (2020). The commercial launch may take place in 2021.
“We will be having a state-level meeting with the government agencies and the service providers tomorrow (Nov 21). The meeting is to pair the telco companies and government agencies.
“We are vetting at least seven telco companies. The companies must submit their proposals to MCMC by Nov 30, indicating which of the four smart initiatives they prefer to work on,” Rizal told reporters after attending the ‘Penang2030 Strategic Initiative Workshop D3 – Integrate Municipal Services with Smart Technologies’ at Cititel Penang today.
The workshop was held to draw up feasible programmes and projects that are in line with one of the 16 strategic initiatives (D3) of the Penang2030 vision.
State Local Government, Housing, Town and Country Planning Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo said Penang would prioritise three of nine verticals (fields or areas) under the 5GDP.
“The three verticals are manufacturing, tourism and smart city,” he said.
The other verticals are agriculture, education, entertainment and media, digital healthcare, oil and gas, and smart transportation.
It was reported that Penang is one of the six states chosen by the Communications and Multimedia Ministry, through MCMC, as the testbed for the demonstration project of 5G technology.
The other states are Kedah, Perak, Selangor, Terengganu and Kuala Lumpur.
Jagdeep said that it is appropriate for Penang to be 5G ready.
“It is all about 5G now as we journey towards the fourth industrial revolution,” he said, highlighting the 24th edition of the World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT 2020) which will be held in Penang in September next year.
Some 4,000 delegates from about 100 countries are expected to attend the congress next year.
Story by Christopher Tan
Pix by Alvie Cheng