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The Kingdom is on the cusp of a major technological transformation. The government is seriously mulling over transforming facilities into digital to provide better public services, scale down on costs and save time. A short answer to meeting these demands and much more is to upgrade to 5G. Prime Minister Hun Manet has already dropped a hint that changes in Cambodia are imminent and unavoidable and shall be accomplished. Khmer Times Business Reporter recently visited Yunnan province, China, to discover the profound impact of 5G in small towns and even a village. He was left awestruck! If Huawei and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) can zero in on Cambodia for its pilot project, it would be without doubt a shot in the arm
Cambodia was picked among the few pilot countries in Southeast Asia where Huawei and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) aim to bring connectivity to over 120 million people across remote areas in 80 countries by 2025, through leveraging technologies and services such as 5G and Artificial Intelligence.
The objective of the project is to ensure that everyone gets access to the internet and has basic connectivity but it also reminds the vital role that technology can play in fueling economic growth as well as protecting the natural world.
Since the project was created in 2022, there has been a steady decline in the number of people who are not yet connected to the internet, decreasing from 2.7 billion to 2.6 billion this year and the joint effort by the private and public sectors is responsible for encouraging this progress.
Investments in broadband networks and other Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure help enterprises improve production efficiency, create new business models and enhance product quality. The latest research from the ITU suggests that a 10 percent increase in mobile broadband penetration has led to an average increase of 1.5 in real GDP per capita.
Roadmap for change
During the inauguration of a new administrative building in Kampong Speu province on the sidelines of the ceremony held to announce the province as mine-free last month, Prime Minister Hun Manet said, “Transforming facilities into digital would better the public services further, reducing costs and saving time, noting that the government wants to promote public services hassle-free allowing people will be able to request public services via mobile phones without visiting the public offices.”
The Premier said that the government would set up an IT centre in Takeo province, to begin with the programme, but did not specify a date for its launch.
“We will have a test run of the project in Takeo by establishing a technology centre for citizens to register or apply for services from the provincial level. They don’t have to visit public offices. They can just request through their mobile and have their services done,” he said.
Earlier speaking to Khmer Times, So Visothy, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Post and Telecommunication said, “The Royal Government is focusing on digital transformation with all stakeholders including digital government, digital business and digital citizen which comply with the Pentagonal Strategy phase one in which the fifth strategy involves the development of economic and social digitalisation.”
“To successfully implement the transformation, the government has set out two major policies such as the Cambodia Digital Economy and Society Policy Frameworks 2021-2035 and Cambodia Digital Government Policy 2022-2035.
“The establishment of digital government aims to improve the people’s quality of life and build trust among the people through the provision of better public services by using digital technology.”
When asked by Cambodian media about the ‘experience and value of 5G technologies that can be used for Southeast Asian countries’ during the live stream of the ‘2023 Sustainability Forum’ under the theme ‘Thrive Together with Tech: Realizing Sustainable Development’ held in Dongguan, China, Sameer Sharma, Head of Special Initiatives, ITU Telecommunication Development (ITU-D) said that he has visited Cambodia several times and the country had the opportunity to develop a national broadband plan and many other initiatives.
Sharma further said, “Our Secretary-General mentioned that Cambodia is one of our first pilot countries for partners to connect.”
He added that 5G technology provides low latency, high throughput high bandwidth and strong connectivity, especially in rural areas where the farmers are struggling but with 5G sensors we can find out the soil conditions, the humidity, the temperature and also the weather pattern and condition.
“The technologies allow farmers to predict in a more certain manner so that the yield of the crops can be definitely multiplied,” he said.
On how the use of technology can be beneficial for the farmers and the crops, Sharma said that 5G technology holds great promise and along with the Internet of Things (IoT), the devices are sensing network integration with the cloud, IoT and AI would provide a real meaningful solution for the farmers which actually could be brought into the societies.
He emphasised that the projects have been successfully implemented in some other countries using vertical farming, a new technology where farmers can multiply their crop yield which brings a lot of revenue and most of them are getting rich. So, there were many promises and there are many examples that could be used anywhere as the technology is pervasive as it could be used anywhere anytime by anybody.
Speaking to Khmer Times during the questions and answers session of the digital Yunnan workshop, Shi Yun, General Manager of the Baoshan Branch of China Mobile Yunnan (CMY) said, “Rural revitalisation and digital economy is a national strategy of China, not a local strategy and we have put forward policies involving six aspects.”
Shi Yun went on to add, firstly we need to fully understand the national strategy and get it implemented and based on that we can develop applications for digital villages such as the use of the TV set in the resident’s home as a channel, deploy the ‘IPTV set-top box’ in the TV of the residents as they are very convenience to use.
“The first approach is based on the digital controller or the remote control of the TV set, which opens a date way for the user to easily connect to AI applications and voice recognition applications, allowing them to connect with the resources in their local languages and dialect. By doing this, the residents can also pick up digital literacy and skills,” he said.
In addition to the ‘IPTV set-top box’, CMY also offers learning resources to the local residents through smartphone applications, such as Douyin, the TikTok equivalent in China, and other video social platforms.
The second approach is the requirement of the facilities and technology devices provided to the local people by the government. Likewise, CMY has cooperated with equipment vendors such as Huawei to provide high-quality networks and create e-government applications for the local governments, facilitating their daily command, coordination, and training services delivered to the residents.
He emphasised that we have equipped the high-definition video conference facilities available in 1,300 villages in our city and through these facilities, the government’s agencies can easily interact and communicate with the residents, providing training resources and courses as well.
Digitalising villages
China is building out the digital infrastructure of its countryside and Yunnan province in particular offers two case studies that show how, and why, it’s achieving the desired result.
As a vital link of the modern economic development roadmap, rural areas and their digital transformation are a part of China’s strategy for rural development and digital China which enhanced by digital innovations aims to accelerate agricultural modernisation and upgrades.
Huawei has joined forces with carrier customers to carry out best practices and applications in agricultural and rural areas of Bashan, Dali and Chuxiong of Yunnan province, using digital technologies to explore the possibilities of empowering farmers and rural households.
The 5G, IoT, cloud computing and other ICTs provide the technical foundation for the digital infrastructure of rural areas and in recent years, the telecom service providers have stepped up rural connectivity aimed at facilitating the digital transformation of agriculture, smart village, improvement of rural area governance, consumption, entertainment and enhancing the rural ecological protection.
Providing the right digital infrastructure can be especially helpful to rural economies as the official government figures showed that in the mid of 2023, roughly 60 percent of China’s rural inhabitants had access to the internet, while the number of broadband users in the countryside was expected to exceed 190 million by the end of this year.
In a bid to revitalise rural areas, operators have stepped up the implementation of universal telecommunication services, gradually expanding 5G and fibre connectivity to remote areas and as a digital infrastructure provider, Huawei has contributed to Yunnan’s digital development.
Lei Lei, Director of Huawei’s Yunnan Carrier Business Department said, “Huawei and local operators explored innovative ways to both improve rural coverage and reduce its costs.”
5G & Zhongka Food Co Ltd
The ‘Sinloy Coffee’ brand under Zhongka Food Co Ltd known as Baoshan Zhongka Food Company (BZFC), a factory manufacturing coffee beans and powder is operating on an e-commerce platform on the 5G network and marketing its products across China through live streaming is the unique proposition.
Before its tie-up with Huawei in 2019, production was in the range of 10,000 to 15,000 coffee packages a day, raking in 80 million yuan annually. However, following the collaboration, the Baoshan City-based BZFC in Yunnan has upped production volumes to 40,000 packages based on consumer demand. This is true during festivals and high season when the factory can earn as much as 250 million yuan annually, a hike of over 300 percent.
Yin Zhengri, Operation Deputy Director of BZFC told Khmer Times that the coffee packages had their original flavour with no sugar and milk added, the longer coffee trees grow, the more sugar in the beans, he said. In the normal duration of approximately three years for the crop to fruit, the soil quality and sunlight exposure play crucial roles.
About 60 percent of the operation had already been shifted to the e-commerce platform, he said, adding the entire process was poised for transformation thanks to 5G technology.
BZFC has plans to boost productivity and is eyeing Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia for exports, he said.
Smart agriculture
Achieving a dual objective of improving the quality of coffee as well as upping tourist numbers, China Mobile Yunnan (CMY)’s collaboration with Huawei to push the ‘Baoshan small-grain coffee’ brought full 5G coverage to Xinzhai village.
The Baoshan City coffee has garnered fame beyond the Gaoligong mountain across China. It has now become a shining example of the transformation the 5G technology ushers in, to the rural landscape.
Since wireless network construction began in 2013, the Baoshan branch of CMY has injected approximately 22 million yuan for setting up base stations, in addition to building 55 macro base stations in Gaoligong.
Speaking to Khmer Times Su Ruiping, Director of the ICT Development Section of the Yunnan Communications Management Bureau said, “Technologies such as 5G, cloud, and AI form the foundation for upgrading rural digital infrastructure. Hence, we are eager to build on the success achieved thus far and in the coming year and beyond, Yunnan aims to narrow the digital divide, create local e-commerce brands, and improve overall levels of healthcare, energy, transport, and social services in rural areas – and to continue turning Xinzhai, Baoshan and other parts of Yunnan into a digital project that serves as a model for the rest of China, and the rest of the world.”
Technology & tourism
Heshun, an ancient cultural tourist town recently entered the 5G domain thanks to Huawei and ITU. The town located in Tengchong City, southwest of Yunnan Province has been transformed with smart facilities like self-service ticket vending machines, leisure benches with charging functions, self-service photo printers and smart water dispensers enabling tourists to avail smart experiences.
With a full 5G network coverage, Heshun boasts of a high-speed broadband network offering better service, speed and convenience. More importantly, the full 5G coverage provides the infrastructure necessary for Big Data analytics. The IoT, therefore enables all connected devices to transmit data for analysis to the intelligent platform.
While retaining its ancient city image, the town’s digital management platform ensures facilities and real-time assistance to anyone in need. This includes parking lot availability, restroom lines and tourist numbers to be monitored, adjusted and optimised.
Chang Zaifie, Deputy Director of the Tengchong Culture and Tourism Bureau told Khmer Times that in the coming years, “Yunnan aims to upgrade its digital infrastructures and narrow the digital divide by continuously driving Xinzhai, Baoshan, and other parts of Yunnan forward in the digital arena, we can serve as a model of economic development for the rest of China, and the rest of the world.”
She went on to say that “the case studies in Heshun town and Xinzhai village show how digital technology can accelerate rural growth. Building on this success we will require efforts to fill digitalisation gaps and bridge the ‘last mile,’ especially in smaller villages.”
Digital infrastructure lags in the more remote areas but the Chinese government is leaving no stone unturned to extend digital infrastructure to the remotest regions, she added.
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