Singtel debuts portable 5G technology kit

Singapore enterprises can now experience 5G capabilities and test their 5G applications in their own premises using a portable technology kit developed by Singtel, the city-state’s largest telco.

Touted as the first of its kind in the world, Genie, as the technology kit is called, will create an independent 5G network at any location where it is deployed.

Singtel said it is suitable for enterprises that want to conduct 5G trials but do not yet have a 5G network, as well as for conducting events like hackathons that require a temporary 5G network.

Genie comes in a suitcase-sized container comprising a 5G network control kit and a standing mount with 5G radio antenna. The equipment can be installed in under an hour and only requires a standard electrical outlet for power, as well as access to a window to determine its location via GPS.

Elaborating on the uses of Genie, Dennis Wong, vice-president of 5G enterprise and cloud at Singtel’s enterprise group said although many enterprises are aware of 5G, they may not fully understand how they can benefit from this technology.

By bringing 5G into their premises, Wong said Genie will help enterprises to validate their solutions with their partners or verify the performance of their 5G applications with no installation cost.

“The platform is particularly useful for large enterprises which need to test 5G before they decide to invest in their own dedicated network,” he said. “Seeing what 5G can do in their own premises will help more enterprises adopt 5G and speed up their digital transformation.”

Akin to a private 5G network, Genie, designed to work with Singtel’s 5G multi-access edge compute (MEC) infrastructure, will enable enterprises to host, deploy and connect to their 5G applications without relying on an external network like the internet.

Singtel said this will prevent leakage of sensitive information, enhance data security and maintain data integrity. For 5G application developers and device manufacturers, Genie can also be used to validate their prototypes in their customers’ premises.

Singtel has been paving the way for enterprises to adopt 5G in recent months through MEC related partnerships with Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services to support the use of public cloud services at edge locations.

In October 2020, Singtel deployed Singapore’s first 5G standalone trial network to provide enterprises with early access to the technology and to develop and test 5G applications at no charge.

The network uses the 3.5GHz spectrum and Ericsson’s massive multiple-input multiple-output technology to deliver ultra-fast speeds and low-latency or response times.

Located at Singtel’s 5G Garage testing facility, the trial network is already being used for a 5G cloud gaming trial, which delivered 85% lower latency of between eight to 11 milliseconds compared to cloud gaming on 4G networks.