For SMBs in Singapore, 5G is not as complicated as it seems

While large enterprises and manufacturers in Singapore have been exploring more 5G use cases, small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are also hoping to make the most out of the network to enhance their business productivity.

For example, with 5G, SMBs in Singapore can look to use emerging technologies like augmented reality and virtual reality to create immersive experiences for customers. With e-commerce being a key sector for SMBs, 5G would also enable them to add more value to their products, especially when it comes to improving the customer experience.

According to Dennis Wong, Vice President, Enterprise 5G & Platforms at Singtel, as 5G in Singapore becomes more accessible, it is important to have an ecosystem that is not dependent on others, be it for enterprises or SMBs. He explained that Singtel is working with local SMBs in enabling them to be able to adopt 5G and also use the network as an arena for them to showcase their products as well as create new opportunities for them.

“As most SMBs are startups, I think this is the first step to creating a 5G ecosystem that enables more understanding of use cases for the integration. If you look at it, there are factories, and campus networks with different ecosystems or different entities in the entire chain. What we are doing is trying to make all these different parts of the industry work together, from logistics to manufacturing to the e-commerce industry.”

While SMBs and these industries probably use the same products or tools, Wong pointed out that they all have different sets of data. Hence Singtel hopes to provide them with a seamless flow in exchanging and making sense of this data. But when it comes to data, be it from SMBs or enterprises, there will issue with complexity, which leads to issues on data protection as well as cybersecurity. He added that Singtel is looking to ensure that their customers can use 5G with peace of mind.

In May 2022, Singtel partnered Allot, a provider of network intelligence and security-as-a-service to offer cybersecurity services to Singtel’s SMB customers. Allot’s NetworkSecure is a network-based solution that offers a zero-touch, clientless operation, that requires no application installation by the end customer. It also provides a unified user experience on all devices for cybersecurity and content filtering, including configuration, reporting, and alarm management.

When it comes to the pricing of the 5G network for SMBs, Wong explained that Singtel has a very granular, progressive payment system. As such, this would provide SMBs the opportunity to use 5G without having the break the bank to build a 5G network.

“Together with our network colleagues, we are actually building the nationwide coverage. All this is basically available with a monthly subscription. Certainly, for each of their use cases, they are going to make sure they have applications and AI.

And this is the reason why Paragon comes into play. SMBs don’t have to worry about the expensive design, to coordinate, onboard, or orchestrate the network including stitching everything together or system integration. Paragon can do this for them. Hence, in that sense, we have made it much more accessible and make it much more affordable for the SMBs.” Concluded Wong.

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