The WiMAX catalyst

Michael Lai
New Straits Times
12-07-2008
The WiMAX catalyst
Byline: Michael Lai
Edition: New Sunday Times
Section: Main Section

NATIONAL development is of overwhelming importance to Malaysia, and to the rest of the developing world. Everything we do - whether it is building new industries, instituting new policies, making a change to the status quo - is viewed through the lens of national development. And in an emerging country like Malaysia it is even more important that we do so.

Over the past few decades, our nation has built robust high-tech infrastructure to support industries that use the latest technologies. Our finest minds contribute toward the development of the newest innovations in manufacturing and information technology. However, the wealth that all this growth is not shared equally among all Malaysians.
Those who live in cities take for granted the facilities and the opportunities that are available. But just a few hours drive out of Kuala Lumpur and you will find that these privileges are not universal to all Malaysians. The divide between the haves and the have-nots has remained closed and we are duty bound to bridge this gap.

One of the means of achieving a more equitable sharing of Malaysia's wealth among its people is to provide broadband Internet access to all locations in the country

According to the CIA World Factbook, it states that with every 10 per cent increase in mobile penetration equates to x amount of GDP (gross domestic product), every 10 per cent Internet penetration equates to 125 per cent more compared to the GDP contribution of mobile penetration and every 10 per cent of broadband penetration equates to 625 per cent increase in GDP compared with the GDP contributed by mobile penetration.

Our government has been a keen supporter of Internet technologies and has invested heavily in building core infrastructure such as the Multimedia Super Corridor and has liberalised the telecommunications market to encourage business to take the lead in delivering Internet access to the public.

The most recent communications technology being deployed in Malaysia is WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) and there is great expectation that this will help us reach our goal of achieving 50 per cent household broadband Internet penetration by 2010.

What will WiMAX achieve?

Delivering broadband Internet access throughout Malaysia has been a challenge because of several factors. Our population is spread out all over the land and laying fibre-optic cable to all these locations is prohibitively expensive. Wireless technologies have, until recently, not had the necessary range or lacked the bandwidth to make them a viable solution.

WiMAX has been developed from the very start with the objective to deliver broadband Internet access at great range. WiMAX can deliver up to 40Mbps bandwidth at a range between three and 10km. And because the core technologies behind WiMAX are not controlled by a single company - no company owns more than 10 per cent of the patents for technology used in WiMAX - the cost of WiMAX devices has been steadily falling as it gains worldwide popularity.

Using WiMAX, Malaysia will take a significant step toward achieving ubiquitous broadband Internet access. The impact this will have on our lives cannot be understated.

For business

In cities throughout Malaysia, broadband Internet access is a must for all businesses. You have to have phones, computers and broadband access to the Internet. You cannot do business if you cannot send and receive emails and attachments. And instant messaging and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) keep down the cost of long distance communications.

Yet there are thousands of offices in Malaysia that do not enjoy this convenience; that struggle with dial-up Internet access and bear the burden of expensive communications. Internet access through WiMAX will catapult these businesses into a whole new arena and open opportunities for them that were previously inaccessible. Through WiMAX an office in a small town will compete on a level playing field with an office in Kuala Lumpur

But it is not only offices that will benefit from WiMAX. This ubiquitous wireless broadband Internet access will give many Malaysians the option to choose to telecommute - to work from home or another location.

Just consider how much this can affect our national productivity. Telecommuting allows people, who otherwise might not work, to have professional jobs; this could be parents who want to stay at home with their children or the handicapped or infirm who cannot easily travel. These individuals can now improve their lives and contribute toward improving Malaysia.

WiMAX will also benefit small businesses. With access to the Internet and through e-commerce, every small business will have immediate access to the global marketplace.

For health

The common perception is that broadband Internet access will mean that patients in every town and village can be remotely examined and diagnosed by medical specialists in large cities.

Frankly, I think that situation will only be an exception and never the norm. Doctors and patients value human contact too much to be content with remote consultation although this may be used as a first stage procedure to spare patients needless trips to the hospital. The real benefits of broadband Internet access toward our national health will be in two other areas.

The first is education. As more Malaysians are given the means to find out and be correctly informed about how to preserve their health and wellbeing, we will start to live healthier lives.

The second will be an unseen benefit. It will be in logistics and analytics. With easy broadband access to the Internet, more of our hospitals and clinics can be brought online. Patient records can be stored online and accessed by doctors when the patient is away from home. The inventory of medicine at clinics and hospitals can be monitored from a central distribution node and replenishments sent before stocks run out so that patients can receive effective and timely treatment. And when an outbreak of illness occurs, analysis of the data being sent through the Internet from several locations will allow doctors to recognise the outbreak earlier and institute containment and begin treatment sooner.

For entertainment

All of us watch television and movies, we listen to music and we read articles, and we do many of these activities through the Internet. But because of the Internet we also create, share and consume content created by the public. We watch YouTube, we listen to podcasts and we read blogs. The Internet is an unprecedented platform for entertainment and self-expression.

As we achieve ubiquitous broadband Internet access many more interesting personalities will emerge from our ranks to share their thoughts and their experiences with us.

For education

Nothing will ever exceed the benefits to our nation from ubiquitous Internet access than the impact it will have on education.

Our universities all have broadband Internet access and most of our students have adequate access to computers. Broadband Internet access through WiMAX will allow these students to be more productive and give them more freedom.

It is the primary and secondary school children who will truly feel their lives transformed by WiMAX. Programmes like One Laptop Per Child (www.laptop.org) are working to deliver useful and affordable computers to children. And websites like the Internet Public Library (www.ipl.org) and Project Bartleby (www.bartleby.com) give free access to reference materials, literature and non- fictional classics.

The wider education of our children will mean that tomorrow's Malaysian professionals will have a greater breath of interest, skills and knowledge to establish new industries and create new innovations.

For society

Everyone knows the impact the Internet had on our last general election. But do a search online and you will find that as significant as that was, it is not the most significant social impact the Internet has had on Malaysia.

All over our country, communities are emerging online. Some are clubs with people who share a common interest and these have been around for a while, but others are of people who live in the same neighbourhood. These are the emerging communities of significance. They share concerns about safety, environment, and schools for their children among others things. And through the Internet these people are able to organise and collaborate to make their neighbourhoods better places to live.

Raising the quality of life for all Malaysians is the highest goal of national development. WiMAX will undoubtedly achieve this but it is only the beginning of the promise of things to come.

Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates once said, "If you give people tools, (and they use) their natural ability and their curiosity, they will develop things in ways that will surprise you very much beyond what you might have expected."

WiMAX will be putting mankind's greatest tool, the Internet, into the hands of all Malaysians.

* Michael Lai, with over 20 years of experience in the information and communications technology industry, is the chief executive officer of Packet One (P1), Malaysia's first WiMAX broadband service provider. P1, along with the Kuala Lumpur City Hall and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, has successfully launched the iconic Wireless@KL which uses both WiMAX and WiFi technologies to transform Kuala Lumpur into a world-class wireless city

(Copyright 2008)