Spotlight on APAC: Q and A with Ken Lim, VP Sales APAC
You have worked across the globe, can you share your insight on some of the unique aspects of telecommunications in APAC specifically?
APAC region is one of the fastest-growing globally and home to over half of the total global mobile subscribers. There is a huge appetite from consumers for robust and advanced telecoms services and this drives the innovation we see across the region. It’s also worth noting that APAC encompasses a huge range of countries at various stages of development and with different priorities when it comes to delivering telecoms services. That’s one great thing about joining RFS, alongside its leading 5G innovations, it has a long heritage in the industry and so has a portfolio that can serve the diverse range of priorities operators across APAC have over the next 12 months.
Covid-19 has had a huge impact on every industry in 2020, how do you see it impacting the telecoms sector, particularly in APAC?
The COVID-19 pandemic will have a temporary impact on 5G deployments and uptake in APAC. We anticipate it will experience a short-term slow down rather than a long-term slump. In part this is because the epidemic has emphasized the strategic importance of a robust communications infrastructure. This year we have seen communications infrastructure pushed to its limits and how beneficial applications such as video conferencing have been in keeping a number of businesses operational, cushioning the economic and industrial shock government lockdowns.
This has demonstrated that both advanced and especially emerging economies in APAC need to do more to develop a resilient communication ecosystem, including accelerated 4G/5G mobile broadband adoption. Digitization and robust communications infrastructure is shifting up the priority for businesses and governments across APAC, with many now accelerating their timelines in the next 12 months.
How do you see the advancement of 5G playing out over the next 12 months?
5G provides an accelerating impact on GDP, productivity, and competitive advantages across the APAC region, so governments are speeding up digital transformation to recover their economies from the pandemic. Most governments in APAC are actively encouraging 4G/5G investment and allowing operators to extend advanced digital services to APAC subscribers hoping to expedite financial recovery.
These trends also drive demand for private 5G networks to transform industry and manufacturing for economic growth. The manufacturing, logistics, transportation, broadcast/media, smart cities, defence, government, and healthcare sectors will present the most significant opportunities for private 5G networks in APAC. Large enterprises are likely to install private 5G networks using wholly-owned infrastructure, managing these private 5G networks in-house or through an outsourced mobile operator. At RFS, we have the combination of infrastructure solutions and expertise to support private 5G networks, alongside our work with operators, and help to remove the risk of the unknown for businesses building this scale of communication infrastructure for the first time.
While the most advanced APAC markets like China, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, ANZ, and Korea often get the most attention on the growth of public and private 5G networks, it is also essential to consider the fast-growing South Asia/India and ASEAN emerging markets as well. 4G is still growing, and 5G is developing quickly in India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, Myanmar, Brunei, and Cambodia. We expect to see lessons learned by early adopters across APAC will be replicated to the ASEAN and India regions as they roll out 5G.
What do you hope to bring to RFS?
RFS has a huge range of innovative and exciting solutions that are perfectly placed to assist operators across APAC. My aim is to cement RFS’s reputation in the region as not only a supplier of equipment, but as a trusted advisor and partner that can deliver the best possible solutions and service to address the business, technology, and operational challenges of our customers.
If you’d be interested in speaking with Ken on how RFS can facilitate telecoms evolution get in touch to arrange a meeting: ken.lim@rfsworld.com