Video to redefine digital landscape in Malaysia

  • Video currently stands out as the most significant slice of the data consumption pie
  • In the retail sector, video is playing a significant role in redefining online shopping

 

Video to redefine digital landscape in Malaysia

 

Video to redefine digital landscape in MalaysiaTHE digital landscape is changing at an unprecedented pace. Increase in smartphone penetration and access to high speed broadband are fueling exponential data growth by the virtue of OTT networks, increased consumption of HD content and use of advanced tech like AI, AR and VR.

This is giving rise to data economies across the world. In tandem, emerging economies are rapidly scaling up capabilities to become high-growth nations with a robust digital backbone.

Malaysia, among them, is one of the early adopters of this trend. As per MyIX, the country’s Internet traffic has been growing at 52% CAGR since 2012. The growth in the number of digitally savvy millennials and their video consumption habits, have been a key contributor to this phenomenon.

Data traffic fueled by video consumption

According to the latest Ericsson Mobility Report, video currently stands out as the most significant slice of the data consumption pie, accounting for around 60% globally and is expected to reach 74% by 2024.

In Southeast Asia and Oceania (excluding India and China), monthly mobile data traffic per active smartphone is expected to experience a six-fold increase from 3.8GB in 2018 to 19GB by 2024.

In line with this trend, Malaysians are also increasingly consuming video-rich content. Users today are spending more and more time streaming video clips on social media, tuning into shows on demand on multiple devices as well as sharing video content with friends, anytime and anywhere.

A shift from low-and standard-definition video formats to 720p HD and 1080p Full HD is also powering high-quality video consumption.

In the retail sector, video is playing a significant role in redefining online shopping with respect to product discovery and showcase as well. Brands are offering live-streaming features in e-commerce, giving consumers an immersive experience through live interactions, product demos and simultaneous shopping options.

5G is critical to manage data deluge

As user habits continue to evolve and become more reliant on data, it will have significant impact on network infrastructure. While 4G and LTE technologies can support the applications today, the current infrastructure needs to evolve to 5G to back the exponential growth in data traffic.

With data rates that are 100 times faster as well as significantly reduced network latency, 5G will greatly improve network performance. As per Ericsson Mobility Report, 25% of the data traffic will be carried by 5G networks by 2024.

In Malaysia, 5G will present immense benefits for many sectors such as agriculture, which contributed 8.09% to the overall GDP of the country in 2018. With the help of smart, wireless sensor networks and HD video feeds, farmers can regulate temperature and humidity conditions, distribute water efficiently and optimally across farms. They can further monitor and improve crop treatment, thereby building sustainable business models.

Likewise, 5G will have profound impact on industries including manufacturing, mining and healthcare. Organizations can collaborate with workers in remote locations with HD video-conferencing seamlessly and even conduct large-scale workforce training with the help of AR and VR tools. The applications will be further spread across the fields of advanced citizen services as well as smart transport systems including driverless cars.

Need of the hour

The Malaysian Government’s decision to establish a national 5G taskforce in November last year is a clear move to help Malaysia become a 5G ready nation. In fact, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission has announced preparations for commercial roll-outs of 5G in 2022.

Very recently, the country has also seen the first showcase of successful 5G use cases presented by Ericsson and Celcom during the 5G Malaysia Showcase.  

To achieve a wide scale deployment, it is imperative to foster a cohesive partnership amongst all stakeholders to lay the ground work. All this and more point in one direction - the country is primed for a faster and highly reliable network with low latency and greater capacity. 5G will serve as a critical infrastructure for Malaysia.

Todd Ashton is the head of Ericsson Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

 

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