Ericsson Thailand sees 5G wireless broadband service usage by enterprise and industrial customers as a new engine of growth, accelerating Thailand’s digital transformation.
The adoption of 5G is driven by enterprises’ need for automation, increased productivity and efficiency, said the company head.
“5G will continue to be a key driver for social and economic development through Thai innovation,” said Anders Rian, president of Ericsson Thailand. He was appointed to the post in January.
Despite a challenging economic outlook, investment in digital infrastructure has been crucial and attracts foreign investment, he said.
Mr Rian said Thailand is on track to becoming a digital hub.
Apart from the availability of 5G, he said the country needs to have an open environment for co-creation and development of digital skills among a tech-savvy workforce, including digital trust and security.
Thailand is at the forefront of 5G technology adoption in Southeast Asia. 5G was set to become the dominant access technology as of 2023, as Thailand had 21 million 5G subscribers out of 96 million mobile service subscribers.
By 2025, the number is expected to reach 45 million 5G subscribers out of nearly 100 million total subscribers.
“By 2030, the number of 5G subscribers in Thailand is projected to reach 103 out of 110 million total subscriptions, accounting for 94% of the market,” said Mr Rian.
The 5G Innovation Experience Studio at Digital Valley Chonburi province.
He said 5G adoption in the consumer market has reached maturity and new growth will come from enterprise and industrial customers.
Mr Rian said 5G is estimated to unlock revenue opportunities in the enterprise and industrial markets for mobile operators in Thailand worth US$3.4 billion by 2030, led by contributions from manufacturing, automotive, healthcare, energy and utilities at 25%, 13%, 13% and 12%, respectively.
However, he said the country needs 5G standalone capabilities (a cellular infrastructure built specifically for 5G services) for ultra-low latency to have more application models, such as automation and artificial intelligence applications, to manage the complexity, network quality and security.
In addition, the mid-band frequency is crucial to increasing 5G capability, not just coverage.
In 2023, Thais used 33 gigabytes of mobile data per subscriber per month, which is expected to reach 78GB by 2030.
Data traffic will increase from 89 petabytes to 240 petabytes per day by 2030, said Mr Rian.
“We invest 18-20% of sales revenue on R&D. We have global experience providing smart factories for automotives in Europe. Our local partners will bring best practice innovation to customers here,” he said.
“Ericsson also deploys 5G and automation in our factories, increasing productivity by 2.2 times.”
The company recently collaborated with the Digital Economy Promotion Agency for a soft launch of its 5G Innovation and Experience Studio in Digital Valley, Chon Buri, to demonstrate and increase 5G use cases. The studio officially launches in August.
The studio is expected to be a testbed for new frequency use cases such as 3.5 GHz, use cases for multiple industries, and a showcase for technology solutions and co-creations with developers, local partners, customers and academics, said Mr Rian.
The 5G use cases include autonomous mobile robots for alternative machines to replace forklifts in factories.
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