Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) has announced a new S$30 million (US$22.8 million) fund to accelerate the adoption and commercialisation of 5G solutions.
The fund is part of IMDA’s 5G Innovation Programme to create a vibrant 5G ecosystem that offers exciting opportunities and benefits to individuals, workers and businesses.
Building on earlier efforts to trial 5G use cases, the new fund will support enterprises’ efforts to adopt 5G solutions to address sector challenges or enterprise level needs. The fund will also support solution providers and technology developers commercialising 5G solutions, to help make the benefits of 5G more accessible to more companies, including SMEs.
IMDA is currently supporting seven 5G innovation use-cases in strategic areas such as cloud gaming, urban mobility, smart estates, industry 4.0 and maritime operations.
In 2019, IMDA partnered with the country’s maritime sector leads, the Maritime & Port Authority of Singapore and PSA Singapore, to identify problem statements and explore how 5G technologies can be applied in the maritime sector.
The technology call to develop 5G use-cases at Pasir Panjang Terminal was awarded to mobile operators M1 and Singtel to test 5G for Automated Guided Vehicles and Automated Rubber Tyred Gantry Cranes.
Phase 1 trials results have been promising, said IMDA in a press statement, with PSA’s AGV and aRTG operations enjoying enhanced performance due to 5G’s faster speeds, lower latency and higher reliability. Phase 2 of the trials, to test use cases based on new updates of the 5G network are currently underway.
IMDA also announced that it will be supporting a new use-case by M1, Continental Automotive Singapore and Jurong Town Corporation to trial the use of autonomous mobile robots (AMR) and construction safety analytics using 5G. The trials will be carried out at the Jurong Innovation District and will look to enhance operations and drive innovation for Singapore’s logistics and construction sectors.
“5G is a key enabler for Singapore’s digital future, and I am encouraged to see our 5G partnerships with industry demonstrating good results, such as through more efficient and reliable port operations, and good progress on the ongoing trials,” said Lew Chuen Hong, Chief Executive, IMDA.
“The next phase of our 5G strategy will see us build on this momentum, to spur innovation and accelerate the adoption and commercialisation of 5G solutions with the new fund. IMDA is nurturing a 5G ecosystem that goes beyond infrastructure, including industry partnerships to develop 5G talent, as well as solutions and services to drive 5G adoption. I hope more companies will come on board to seize opportunities offered by 5G.”
