The commercial launch of fifth-generation mobile service (5G) is expected by the end of 2022, two years behind that of leading markets including China, South Korea, Japan, the US and Europe.
Although 5G technology will be a core enabler driving efficiency along with the government's Thailand 4.0 scheme, generating widespread connectivity among vertical sectors will take time, depending on the readiness of each market.
Qiang Hua, managing director of Hauwei Technologies Thailand, said the country will not be in the first
Mr Qiang says the delay of commercial 5G will not hurt Thailand's digital transformation efforts.
wave of the 5G commercial launch as it needs to have a proper ecosystem, including return on investment, end-to-end solutions for vertical industries and business use cases.
But he said delaying the commercial launch until 2022 will not hurt Thailand's digital transformation efforts.
Unlike 4G services, Mr Qiang said the 4G ecosystem has mainly been driven by mobile operators, which roll out networks and develop services based on spectrum capacity. But 5G requires cross-industry development to serve widespread adoption, he said.
5G technology exceeds 4G in three major features: speed, latency, and connections.
5G can upload data at 10 gigabits per second and promises a latency rate of 1 millisecond -- 10 times greater than 4G on both counts. 5G is also touted to offer 1 million connections per cell site -- 1,000 times higher than 4G.
The imminent technology will create opportunities for new use cases for the Internet of Things (IoT), augmented reality and virtual reality applications, smart vehicles, remote healthcare and robotics.
"5G does not primarily serve individuals, but vertical industries, especially those with Internet of Things (IoT) technology," he said.
China is a leading country among major markets to be a part of 5G's first wave commercial launch.
According to China Mobile report, there were 200 million devices connected through IoT by the end of 2017 in the Chinese market.
The implementation of 5G technology can make traditional agriculture, healthcare, manufacturing, automobiles, cities and utilities (water and gas) "smart" by using IoT and embedded technology.
Mr Qiang said Hauwei has approached major mobile operators to collaborate on developing 5G solutions for the local market.
Yesterday, Huawei kicked off Hauwei Mobile Thailand Congress 2018, which runs until April 5. The event showcases 5G technology and solutions, all-cloud network and video, and IoT.
At the event, Prawit Leethapornwongsa, a member of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), said he agrees with Mr Qiang's view that Thailand is not poised to ride the first 5G wave.
"5G needs real business cases to ensure a worthy return on investment for operators," he said.
The 5G infrastructure roll-out will be costly, while its success hinges on readiness of the related ecosystem. He said the NBTC should plan to allocate more spectrum range to ensure greater bandwidth to serve connectivity demands.