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Sunway Poised to Be 5G Smart City With Celcom and Huawei
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July 10, 2020 News

 

Sunway Bhd, Celcom Axiata Bhd and Huawei Technologies (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate towards advancing smart solutions encompassing IoT and AI with 5G connectivity. The proposed collaboration will see Sunway City become the model for smart cities in the country where a host of communities live, work, play and learn in a safe, healthy and connected environment.

Datuk Chew Chee Kin, President of Sunway Group said the development of smart solutions will be in the areas of public safety and security, telehealth, e-learning, hospitality, leisure and retail experience using the latest telecommunications technology.

This includes:

  • Using 5G for automated busses in Sunway’s BRT systems;
  • Enhancing safety and security through facial recognition technology capabilities for Sunway Auxiliary Police;
  • Supplying power and connecting academic activities in Sunway University’s research centres;
  • Enhancing facilities in Sunway Medical Centre; and
  • Helping reduce Sunway City’s carbon footprint further.

Idham Nawawi, CEO of Celcom Axiata said Celcom first started testing 5G in 2017 and have completed a successful demo in early 2020. They hope to release the first pilot use case for the technology in Sunway Pyramid Shopping Centre by the end of 2020 upon approval by the regulatory board, the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).

He added that Sunway City was ideal for 5G deployment as it already has 4G LTE Plus capabilities, making 5G upgrading easier. Celcom currently boasts a 93% 4G population coverage together with 83% for 4G LTE-A. Celcom had on average invested about RM1 billion annually for capital expenditure, with a significant chunk of it on 5G.

Idham added that Celcom did not see the big impact on the delay of the spectrum from MCMC, but rather urged the industry to rethink some of the strategies together with the government for the deployment of 5G technology amid the unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic.

Kevin Khoo Min Sinn, CIO of Sunway Berhad added that Sunway will be looking to implement more 5G use cases upon the successful implementation in Sunway Mall in the near future as well.

Meanwhile, Michael Yuan, CEO of Huawei Malaysia said that a solid foundation is needed anywhere to ensure full modernisation. He said, “5G together with Cloud and AI is the way towards the future. Countries looking to improve the digital economy need to build their foundation. In Malaysia, Huawei is committed to making the country a 5G hub in ASEAN. To improve digital inclusion, Huawei is also collaborating with Sunway University to develop the right skill sets needed for the future in this area”.

The MoU also marks the first tripartite collaboration in Malaysia to advance 5G and explore smart solutions. Upon successful implantation, Sunway Group hopes to expand the 5G ecosystem to all of its townships including Sunway City Ipoh and Sunway City Iskandar Puteri in Johor.

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