Ericsson to power SL’s 5G experience
The changing power of connectivity is empowering people, fashioning an environment that fosters innovation, and is prompting real change in business processes and in the global economy. Into the future, few things in life are certain, but one of them seems to be connectivity through 5G being the platform to build and accelerate Sri Lanka’s digitalisation which is regarded as the key to its economic growth.
Mr. Vinod Samarawickrama
The fifth generation of cellular network technology (5G) will transform the world and adopting 5G will transform Sri Lanka, Head of Ericsson Sri Lanka and Maldives, Vinod Samarawickrama told the Business Times at an interview in Colombo recently. Completing 25 years in Sri Lanka, Ericsson, for more than 140 years has been a global leader in ICT solutions from manufacturing some of the first telephones, to managing networks.
What’s in 5G?
So, 4G which is what we now operate on, normally delivers connection speeds of 2 Megabits per second (Mbps) — fast enough to browse the web, stream music, and make a video call, but not much else. 5G offers the ability for applications, devices and entities to communicate in close to real time, if not absolute real-time. With 5G, operators will have the aptitude to meet the demands of mobile data while supporting new services, applications, and use-cases, for instance the Internet of Things (IoT) and autonomous vehicles. As these prospects swell, the implementation of 5G is expected and will buttress a clear demand in the industry, Mr. Samarawickrama said.
Ericsson which is the leading 5G standardisation first started business in Colombo in 1952 by selling LM Ericsson telephone instruments to the Sri Lanka Army. “In 1994 as a result of Ericsson’s increasing commitment to Sri Lanka a local company Ericsson Telecommunications Lanka was formed,” Mr. Samarawickrama reminisced. The company has dealt long strides when in 2017 they, along with Dialog Axiata had trials on 5G for the first time in South Asia. This culminated in the two firms partnering the Ministry of Digital Infrastructure to establish Sri Lanka’s first state-of-the art 5G Innovation Centre last year.
5G, where Ericsson is a technology leader is perhaps the most warmly expected implementation of our generation because of how it will lead to change and progress across almost every industry. So it is absolutely crucial that operators plan right and employ best practices for their 5G deployments when the 5G spectrum will be awarded early next year, Mr. Samarawickrama said.
“5G should be affordable and at the right levels so that the operators can give the right level of services to their customers. It needs to be consumer accessible,” he explained. He said that local operators will benefit immensely from the new revenue streams after 5G through features such as reliability, low latency (which is the time taken for devices to respond to each other over the wireless network) etc. “Data traffic per smartphone per month in South East Asia and Oceania will grow from 3.6 gigabytes (GB) to 17 GB at a compounded annual growth rate of 29 per cent, we predict that Sri Lanka will also be in the same range.”
Automation
Also 5G can help industries to cut manufacturing cost, improve yield and efficiency quality through automation, Mr. Samarawickrama said noting that the country’s global competitiveness will depend on how it embraces digitalisation. “The country needs a connected digital strategy. It should connect the port, the airline etc which will translate into economic growth. We need to be digital ready.” He also noted that the port does not have the right infrastructure to facilitate global carrier demands. 5G will create an opportunity to enable seamless logistics at the port, he continued.
Mr. Samarawickrama also noted that it is important to encourage digital exports (products and services delivered via the Internet) which need to be looked at in a long-term strategic manner.
“5G will enable platform for Smart cities, this will become preferred locations for global high-tech leaders (such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft etc) and by attracting such global high-tech leaders, Sri Lanka will benefit creation of tech employment,” Mr. Samarawickrama said noting that 5G will transform the government and private sector of Sri Lanka.
He said that 5G is the most secure network generation ever with security built in from the start as part of the standardisation process. This is crucial as 5G will be a critical infrastructure.
5G powered Smart Cities (think Port City) can implement use-cases like smart waste management, smart public safety, smart parking, smart street lights etc and enable smart decision-making and planning to enhance the quality of life for Sri Lankan citizens and solve problems across a range of sectors—including education, transportation and logistics, healthcare, manufacturing and agriculture using a combination of devices and applications, Mr. Samarawickrama explained.
Such developments are also expected to enhance the eco-system for home-grown ICT tech start-ups. “I am passionate and confident about how Ericsson can use technology to change the future of Sri Lanka by improving economic growth, enhancing citizen experiences and creating new business opportunities for Sri Lanka,” he said in conclusion.