Building a safer and stronger normal in Thailand with 5G

[rooster59]

Building a safer and stronger normal in Thailand with 5G

By David Oxford
Special to The Nation

 

David Oxford, Country Director, Nokia Thailand

 

The Covid-19 pandemic is the biggest health emergency the world has faced in generations. The unprecedented magnitude of this crisis means everyone is making a concerted effort to improve safety while trying to keep social and economic activities running – from governments and businesses to communities and individuals.

 

 

As Thailand is gradually easing movement and business restrictions, the question now is: where does the nation go from here? Talk of a ‘new normal’ is commonplace now, but how exactly will Thailand transition towards it, and how can the nation harness new technologies such as 5G to create a smarter and safer society?

 

Why Thailand’s technological ambitions are not derailed

 

Before the pandemic, countries around the world were moving full steam ahead with digital transformation to bring societies to the future and unlock new economic possibilities.

 

From the outset, it may seem that the Covid-19 outbreak dampened Thailand’s digitalisation ambitions, but the pandemic is, instead, accelerating them. This includes the creation of mobile apps that can identify Covid-19 hotspots and allow people to self-assess their health, in addition to the development of chatbots that the public can communicate with to find out information on the coronavirus and steps to prevent its spread.

 

These efforts are solidifying the robustness of Thailand’s national healthcare system, which is ranked sixth in the 2019 Global Health Security Index and has been vital to the country's readiness to weather the pandemic.

 

Thailand is already working towards building a smarter world. Yet, the challenge now – as the country gears up for its ‘new normal’ – is jumpstarting digital transformation across other key sectors, especially enterprises, although that may require more radical changes.

 

Adapting for efficiency

 

Going the radical route is often precipitated by critical periods such as the current pandemic. We have seen drastic changes by global enterprises to support relief efforts, such as scent manufacturers reworking operations to make sanitisers and luxury automakers retooling production lines to create respirators. These may be novel, unprecedented circumstances borne by the Covid-19 spread, but it highlights how important it is for manufacturing and supply chain actors to adapt their resources quickly to solve pressing societal problems.

 

We need to double down on what these enterprises are already doing, yet at speeds which can help improve their adaptability and supplying solutions to society more quickly. This requires communication service providers (CSPs) – and the enterprises they work with – to harness the move to 5G.

 

This is – as 5G can give connected enterprises the flexibility and adaptability that provides the gift of time – a valuable commodity under normal circumstances, but an extremely vital one in times like now. With 5G, the digitalisation of industries will reduce the time taken to design and build solutions.

 

A ‘connected’ enterprise gives it flexibility to quickly retool and change systems on demand. That ‘on-demand change’ can mean leveraging automation and remote operations to rapidly increase output, improve employee safety, and ensure the business continuity that is crucial to the production and distribution of essential products and services.

 

Network slicing – the essential ingredient to 5G transformation

 

‘Time to market’ is just as important as ‘time to manufacture’, and the key to 5G enabling rapid deployment of solutions is network slicing. Slicing is not a new concept. Virtual network capabilities have been part of packet networking for decades. However, 5G deployments will extend this virtualisation to an end-to-end and top-to-bottom functional scope, and then embed slicing as a core function of the network. The benefits include the ability to differentiate broad classes of services that require certain characteristics or resource parameters with performance characteristics that fit the needs of new segments – something that conventional one-size-fits-all networks cannot achieve.

 

With network slicing, 5G can support diverse and extreme requirements for latency, throughput, capacity, and availability. It will enable services that were impractical with previous wireless technologies.

 

For instance, 5G networks will connect ‘factories of the future’ by creating fully automated and flexible production systems – something that Thailand’s automotive manufacturing sector can leverage to improve its competitive regional position. In healthcare, hospitals can arrange greater telemedicine distribution and even arrange robotic surgeries whereas city governments can use 5G to transform urban transport management via real-time traffic management.

 

All of this will be possible with 5G – with network slicing support – as it helps aggregate vast amounts of data from multiple, dispersed sources for better insight into operational status. It also allows for new levels of supply chain visibility and transparency, an attribute that could prove highly valuable in pandemic tracing.

 

Coming out better, faster, and stronger

 

Fortunately, CSPs in Thailand are taking advantage of 5G’s potential to support efforts to flatten the curve and provide relief to those impacted by lockdown measures.

 

Such efforts should be lauded, and we are doing our own part to help CSPs and their enterprise customers stay prepared amid the pandemic. Through our Covid-19 network traffic dashboard, we are analysing global network traffic to help them anticipate capacity requirements and optimise resources.

 

Right now, we must all remain steadfast in enduring Covid-19, but I am confident that we will come out stronger. When we do, 5G is there to help us create a world that is smarter, safer, and – most importantly – prepared to weather this sort of challenge more effectively in the future.

 

The writer is country director, Nokia Thailand

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/business/30390421

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-06-28

 

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[stouricks]

How will it be SAFER when more Thais will be able to access their phone data quicker than before whilst driving or walking across the road.

 

[twocatsmac]

It’s like the explorers of old swapping beads and blankets for gold and jewels with primitive tribes. 

[Geoffggi]

This makes no sense when many Thai's are struggling to own a computer

[Snoopax]

Recovering from COVID-19 with 5G ? They must be joking.
Just google "COVID-19 and 5G", edifying...

[bluesofa]

3 hours ago, stouricks said:

How will it be SAFER when more Thais will be able to access their phone data quicker than before whilst driving or walking across the road.

 

Of course it will be safer.

Accessing a fortune-teller online faster will eliminate the need to drive, hence reducing the chance of a road traffic collision.

As for instant access to the lottery numbers - less chance of pedestrian accidents as there were with low-tech 4G, see examples below:

 

<For the hard-of-learning: The text above may contain traces of sarcasm>

 

 

[apophyss]

Every weeks thai news look like a 1st april,

but its not joke...

[Krataiboy]

The usual predictable PR twaddle from one of the outfits which stands to make a killing from a totally untried and untested technology which many consider to be a threat to our health, safety and security 

 

If 5G is safe, why does Mr Oxford imagine thousands of scientists, medical experts and environmentalists have petitioned the UN, EU and governments across the world for a moratorium on the roll-out? 

 

https://www.5gappeal.eu/

 

They say radiation from powerful new technology will be hazardous to every living thing on the planet - not least its human population. A growing number of towns, cities and regions across the world have already banned 5G.

 

https://smombiegate.org/list-of-cities-towns-councils-and-countries-that-have-banned-5g/

 

Human rights advocates see the arrival of 5G as a serious potential threat to personal freedom and privacy, as it will enable Chinese-style population surveillance and control by Western governments.

 

https://www.corbettreport.com/5g/

 

 

 

[zyphodb]

7 hours ago, rooster59 said:

For instance, 5G networks will connect ‘factories of the future’ by creating fully automated and flexible production systems – something that Thailand’s automotive manufacturing sector can leverage to improve its competitive regional position. In healthcare, hospitals can arrange greater telemedicine distribution and even arrange robotic surgeries whereas city governments can use 5G to transform urban transport management via real-time traffic management.

How is this going to do anything but make a few already fat cats richer and put 10's of thousands of people out of a job???

[simon43]

1 hour ago, Krataiboy said:

The usual predictable PR twaddle from one of the outfits which stands to make a killing from a totally untried and untested technology which many consider to be a threat to our health, safety and security 

 

Huh?  Untried technology??!!  As a microwave design engineer, I have been designing and using millimetric transmitters for more than 35 years.  I have yet to grow an extra head or die from brain cancer.....

[Deli]

5 G powered buy Huawai. The safest way ????

[simon43]

I don't work for any 5G companies, so I'm not pushing an agenda.  These types of frequencies have been used by the military and radio hams for decades and decades.  There are safety issues of course, basically to do with the power levels.  However, the power levels to be used by 5G are well within the safe limits that scientists and microwave engineers stipulate.  I have a Masters degree in microwave engineering from London University and understand the theory/data behind these safe limit levels.

 

I looked at that 5G petition, and there are some very fundamental technical errors (misleading errors) in some of their statements.

 

I'm actually not wildly in favour of 5G.  Nothing to do with safety risks at all.  It simply adds to the overall radio frequency 'hash' that's all around us.  As a radio ham trying to contact weak and distant ham stations on the other side of the world, the less RF hash there is to interfere with my flea-power radio signal, the better ????

[stouricks]

1 hour ago, simon43 said:

As a radio ham trying to contact weak and distant ham stations on the other side of the world, the less RF hash there is to interfere with my flea-power radio signal, the better

Use Skype, Zoom, Messenger or WhatsApp instead.   PML

[mrfill]

1 hour ago, simon43 said:

I don't work for any 5G companies, so I'm not pushing an agenda.  These types of frequencies have been used by the military and radio hams for decades and decades.  There are safety issues of course, basically to do with the power levels.  However, the power levels to be used by 5G are well within the safe limits that scientists and microwave engineers stipulate.  I have a Masters degree in microwave engineering from London University and understand the theory/data behind these safe limit levels.

 

I looked at that 5G petition, and there are some very fundamental technical errors (misleading errors) in some of their statements.

 

I'm actually not wildly in favour of 5G.  Nothing to do with safety risks at all.  It simply adds to the overall radio frequency 'hash' that's all around us.  As a radio ham trying to contact weak and distant ham stations on the other side of the world, the less RF hash there is to interfere with my flea-power radio signal, the better ????

As a man who seems to actually know something about the subject, can you confirm that domestic microwave ovens produce rather more powerful but similar radiation than a 5g mast?

[Gulfsailor]

6 hours ago, Snoopax said:

Recovering from COVID-19 with 5G ? They must be joking.
Just google "COVID-19 and 5G", edifying...

Can Thaivisa please include a faceplant emoji?

[Gulfsailor]

To understand 5G and its effect on the human body, one should watch this easy to follow 15 minute video. 

 

[Krataiboy]

4 hours ago, simon43 said:

Huh?  Untried technology??!!  As a microwave design engineer, I have been designing and using millimetric transmitters for more than 35 years.  I have yet to grow an extra head or die from brain cancer.....

 

Funny you should say that.  

 

The World Health Organisation recognises EMF radiation as a possible human carcinogen.

 

https://ehtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/Scientist-5G-appeal-2017.pdf

[simon43]

1 hour ago, mrfill said:

As a man who seems to actually know something about the subject, can you confirm that domestic microwave ovens produce rather more powerful but similar radiation than a 5g mast?

Hi, microwave ovens operate at 2.45 GHz frequency, and they generate a lot of RF energy, thus cooking food from the inside.  If you sat inside a microwave oven, the effect would be the same... (hence do not put your pet cat in the microwave to dry its fur...).  In order to operate correctly, the microwave oven has to have a metal casing, which also stops the powerful radiation from leaking out (the glass door has a fine metal mesh which achieves the same result).  Early microwave ovens were shielded with lead, which explains why they were very heavy.

 

5G operates on 2 different frequency bands, typically in the 3-4 GHz band and at far higher, millimetric frequencies.  The 3- 4 GHz band has essentially the same characteristics as the 2.45 GHz frequency.  But of course, the radiated power of the 5G is far, far lower!  Current 2G, 3G and 4G operating frequencies are typically in the range 1.8 - 2.3 GHz.

 

The millimetric frequencies can only be used for short-range communications, such as within a building.  This is because the higher up the frequency band you go, the more the signal suffers from attenuation.  Millimetric frequencies cannot be used if they need to go through building walls/concrete etc.

 

Is RF radiation dangerous?  Yes, but only when the radiation intensity is high, (and the level of intensity needed varies according to the frequency). Essentially, the danger is the heating effect, especially when that heat cannot easily be dispersed by your body, (such as in your eyeballs, which have no blood vessels to convey that heat away).  You need 1,000s of watts to be dangerous at medium/short wave frequencies (I typically operate up to 1,000 watts with my radio ham equipment, but I know not to stand next to my antennas when I'm transmitting - the danger is more that a spark could jump over and give me a nasty RF burn!).  But you need lower power when operating at millimetric frequencies. Operators of satellite ground stations know very well not to stand in front of the satellite dish antenna when it's transmitting, since the RF power level will definitely be dangerous! However, the power levels that 5G will use are far lower than the current industry safety levels.

Edited June 28, 2020 by simon43

[simon43]

14 minutes ago, Krataiboy said:

 

Funny you should say that.  

 

The World Health Organisation recognises EMF radiation as a possible human carcinogen.

 

https://ehtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/Scientist-5G-appeal-2017.pdf

Of course it is!  If the radiated power level is sufficient.  That's the whole point of industry standard maximum radiation levels.  Bit like a 1.5 volt battery.  You know it's safe to touch the battery terminals, but you also know it's probably fatal to stick your fingers in a 220 volt wall socket.

 

Sometimes a little knowledge gained from watching YouTube videos is a dangerous thing.....

Edited June 28, 2020 by simon43

[simon43]

As an additional comment, RF radiation is regularly used in medical scenarios, including at microwave frequencies:

 

"As microwaves have shorter wavelengths the choice of frequency can benefit the application, for example large volume ablations can typically be made at 915 MHz and 2.45 GHz and use of higher frequencies in the range 5.8 GHz - 10 GHz can create shallow penetration of energy resulting in very precise ablations suitable for treatments such as skin cancer, ablation of the heart to treat arrhythmia, uterine fibroids, multiple small liver metastases, corneal ablation (vision correction), spinal nerve ablation (back pain), varicose vein treatment, verrucae treatment and many other specific treatments."

 

https://www.microwaves101.com/encyclopedias/microwave-medical-applications

[Susco]

10 minutes ago, simon43 said:

Sometimes a little knowledge gained from watching YouTube videos is a dangerous thing.....

They should rename YouTube to the tin foil hat channel.

 

I really can't watch any YouTube, unless it is music or a live event, for more than 30 seconds

[Krataiboy]

1 hour ago, simon43 said:

Of course it is!  If the radiated power level is sufficient.  That's the whole point of industry standard maximum radiation levels.  Bit like a 1.5 volt battery.  You know it's safe to touch the battery terminals, but you also know it's probably fatal to stick your fingers in a 220 volt wall socket.

 

Sometimes a little knowledge gained from watching YouTube videos is a dangerous thing.....

Too technical to me. But I'm sure the scientists and doctors who researched the subject and petitioned the UN for a moratorium would be grateful for your expert input.

 

 

[simon43]

9 hours ago, Krataiboy said:

Too technical to me. 

Hence my comment about the non-technical watching YouTube videos... ????

[Mama Noodle]

So 5G so we can track you better. 

 

Thats the nexus of the whole article, using covid to justify widespread privacy intrusion. 

 

The USA is right to fight against it. 

[Mark1066]

They can't even keep the power on for more than a few days without an outage in Chiang Mai so how on earth do they expect Thailand to become a technological hub? They haven't even got to grips with the basics of the last century yet.

[Krataiboy]

11 hours ago, simon43 said:

Hence my comment about the non-technical watching YouTube videos... ????

Cheap shot. I referenced one video, because it dealt with an aspect of 5G which appears to be generally overlooked. My other three sources were all data based, with links to a great deal of technical information. 

 

One doesn't have to be "technical" (by which you apparently knowing a certain amount about a particular subject) to download, read and understand the reasons why so many scientists, doctors and environments has reservations about 5G.

 

If, as you suggest in an earlier posting, some of their concerns are groundless, then I for one shall be delighted. In the meantime, just as I defer to your expertise in your particular field, I shall assume these hundreds of scientists, doctors and environmentalists may have a case to answer.

 

21 hours ago, Susco said:

They should rename YouTube to the tin foil hat channel.

 

I really can't watch any YouTube, unless it is music or a live event, for more than 30 seconds

Obviously, for someone with a thirty second attention span, a tinfoil would be surplus to requirements.

Edited June 29, 2020 by Krataiboy

[Susco]

1 hour ago, Krataiboy said:

23 hours ago, Susco said:

They should rename YouTube to the tin foil hat channel.

 

I really can't watch any YouTube, unless it is music or a live event, for more than 30 seconds

Obviously, for someone with a thirty second attention span, a tinfoil would be surplus to requirements.

Obviously from your post history, you must have a large collection of tin foil hats, so obviously a Youtube fanboy

[Krataiboy]

4 hours ago, Susco said:

Obviously from your post history, you must have a large collection of tin foil hats, so obviously a Youtube fanboy

And checking yours, it's obvious you weren't joking about that 30 second attention span.

 

[Susco]

5 minutes ago, Krataiboy said:

And checking yours, it's obvious you weren't joking about that 30 second attention span.

 

 

Did I say I had a 30 second attention span?

 

Wasn't that you who insinuated that, because you couldn't comprehend that I was explaining I couldn't stomach those conspiracy theories longer than that.

 

That my attention span last much longer is proven by the fact that I managed to read most of the conspiracy drivel you have posted on this forum, which takes ages by the amount of it.

[johnray]

Mr David feel free to drop off a box of 5G at my house and pay the monthy charge anytime.  You seem keen to help businesses and communities.  I use the internet for my business and I am part of a community.  I'm in most days.