M’sia can benefit from Telenor’s experience in 5G in the maritime sector: Fahmi

Norwegian company highlights potential 5G applications in various commercial industries

Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil together with the Malaysian delegation made their first visit to the state-of-the-art Remote Operations Center (ROC) to experience for themselves the advancement of 5G technology in Norwegian maritime operations in Horten Harbor. – Bernama pic, February 29, 2024

OSLO – The advancement of 5G technology in Norwegian maritime operations provided by Telenor Maritime could benefit the Malaysian shipping industry, especially in the oil and gas as well as logistics sectors, according to Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil.

The minister today visited a state-of-the-art remote operation centre (ROC) in Horten Harbour, near here where Telenor Maritime showcased its autonomous vessel and how different communication links, including a private 5G system, connect the vessel to the ROC.

Telenor Maritime provides a high-speed connection in a closed and secure network to Massterly, the world’s first company to operate autonomous vessels at sea.

According to Fahmi, there are some practical applications of private 5G network usage, particularly involving the operation of autonomous vessels that Malaysian corporations could leverage on.

“Some clever use of the technology, which I can see perhaps some of it being adopted in Malaysia… there are probably some regulatory aspects that we need to pay attention to, and also maybe some potential use cases.

“Given that we have not yet fully rolled out private 5G networks in Malaysia, I think there is a lot of potential and in the long run, it benefits Malaysia,” he told Bernama, here today.

Fahmi is currently on a two-day working visit to Norway to attend the Next Generation Communications Roundtable organised by Telenor Group from February 29 until March 1.

Telenor senior vice-president and deputy head of Asia, Håkon Bruaset Kjøl noted that Malaysia has a lot of experience with strong industries which could make use of such partnerships to take full advantage of 5G.

To enable this, collaboration among the whole ecosystem is vital, he said.

“The 5G network is not necessarily a consumer network only, as most probably it is the industrial Internet and the use cases coming out of 5G that will help businesses.

“It will not only optimise their own operations but should be embedded in solutions being provided to other businesses to ensure that happens… it is important to bring all partners together,” he added. – February 29, 2024