CYBERJAYA: Putrajaya and Cyberjaya are set to become the test bed in showcasing the 5G technology application in April, said Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo.

“While we are developing the infrastructure that is of high quality and affordable, the country will start a testbed in April where we will showcase Putrajaya and Cyberjaya as two locations initiating the 5G technology.

“I will be making announcement on the details soon,” he told reporters on the sidelines of Cyberjaya Infra Conference and Exhibition, here, today.

Gobind said there are also future plans to increase these testbedding activities, which will require the participation of both public and private sector players.

“Among them are MDEC, which continues to build enabling ecosystems in championing Malaysia’s digital economy agenda; and Futurise, whose National Regulatory Sandbox enables innovation and adaptive policy making to accelerate lab-to-market adoption for local technology solutions.

“All of these advancements are, again, only possible with a robust broadband network and reliable infrastructure,” he said.

On security concern raised recently by the prime minister’s adviser Tun Daim Zainuddin, Gobind said the government cannot ignore the fact that the world is moving towards 5G.

“This is something that recognised by countries all over the world. in addition, we also recognise that 5G has a lot more to offer in terms of services. We have latency and speed problem that we had dealt with.

“We have to look at this new application that will be created in the future – completely if not substantially, reliant to this technology. This is something that we need to embrace, think carefully, adopt as far as we possibly can,” he said.

Having said that, Gobind said security concern are at top most of the government’s consideration.

“This is the reason why MCMC (Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission) is in the process of doing the study and that report has yet to come to me.

“We are concern. We want to provide infrastructure that is accessible, of high quality, at reasonable cost, but at the same time, we want to provide an infrastructure that is secure.

“The government is looking into this seriously, and when I have the information with me through reports prepared by necessary authorities, a decision will be made and we will then make an announcement,” he said.

Source: https://www.nst.com.my/business/2019/03/465786/putrajaya-and-cyberjaya-set-become-5g-test-bed-april