THE 5G Demonstration Project (5GDP) in Penang should begin in the middle of next month, state Local Government, Housing, Town and Country Planning Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo said.
It was earlier reported that the 5GDP in Penang was scheduled to start in January next year.
Jagdeep said four smart initiatives had been identified for the implementation of 5GDP in Penang, namely – the CCTV video analytics by the Penang Island City Council, the 5G Connected Street Lights by the Collaborative Research in Engineering, Science and Technology (CREST), the Penang Smart Parking (PSP) system, and the SPARK (Sistem Amaran Paras Air Kawalan Banjir) system by the Seberang Perai City Council.
It was reported that interested telco companies must submit their proposals to Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) by Nov 30, indicating which of the four smart initiatives they prefer to work on.
It was also reported that Penang is one of the six states chosen by the Communications and Multimedia Ministry, through MCMC, as the testbed for the demonstration project of 5G technology.
The other states are Kedah, Perak, Selangor, Terengganu and Kuala Lumpur.
Jagdeep said he believed that Penang was chosen because the state has embarked on smart initiatives.
“It will make it easier for new technologies to be tested in Penang since we have the right environment for that,” he told a press conference today.
Jagdeep also gave an update on the PSP system.
“A total of 1,031 parking sensors have been installed, since the system was launched in August this year.
“We hope that the entire 36,000 parking sensors will be installed in Penang by July next year,” he said.
Jagdeep said that about 75,000 users had downloaded the PSP mobile application as of Nov 9.
“The Penang Island City Council (MBPP) has collected RM128,130.40; while the Seberang Perai City Council (MBSP) collected RM19,211.20.
Both MBPP and MBSP mayors – Datuk Yew Tung Seang and Datuk Rozali Mohamud – said that the councils are ready for the 5GDP.
Story by Tanushalini Moroter
Pix by Adleena Rahayu Ahmad Radzi