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Makassar's road to becoming a smart city through 5G
Indosat Ooredoo recently announced the launch of 5G commercial services in Makassar, South Sulawesi, the fourth-largest city in Indonesia.
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(Courtesy of Indosat)
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ndosat Ooredoo recently announced the launch of 5G commercial services in Makassar, South Sulawesi, the fourth-largest city in Indonesia. 5G services are already available for residents in Jakarta, Surabaya and Solo. The launch of 5G in Makassar, the first city in Eastern Indonesia, is a partnership with technology giant Huawei to revive key local sectors in the country, namely agriculture, trade and tourism.
The launch was inaugurated by president director and CEO of Indosat Ooredoo, Ahmad Al-Neama, in Makassar on Nov. 19. It was attended by key dignitaries in the region, including Investment Minister and chairman of the Indonesia Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) Bahlil Lahadalia, acting South Sulawesi governor Andi Sudirman Sulaiman and CEO of Huawei Indonesia Jacky Chen.
"I am deeply humbled and proud to launch Indosat Ooredoo’s 5G commercial services in Makassar to continue the 5G revolution across the country, reaching Eastern Indonesia. This technology will open up huge opportunities for the locals to revive the economy across industries at the epicenter of trade in Eastern Indonesia, ranging from agriculture and trade to tourism. With the 5G connectivity, we continue our commitment to power digital transformation to strengthen Indonesia's economic recovery in this challenging time,” Ahmad said.
Reiterating Ahmad's point about the important benefits of 5G in Indonesia, Jacky said that it was an honor for Huawei to be trusted to support the launch of 5G services in Makassar, which is the largest city as well as the center of trade, business, and industry in Eastern Indonesia. “This is the second time we have supported the commercialization of Indosat Ooredoo's 5G services in Indonesia after previously in Solo, Central Java,” Jacky said.
"Support for our trusted partner Indosat Ooredoo is a manifestation of Huawei's ongoing commitment to helping build Indonesia as a developed country based on innovation, becoming more intelligent and connected, and opening up digital economic opportunities throughout the country, which we believe will be accelerated with the support of 5G technology," he added.
The 5G commercial service is expected to innovate Makassar as a new smart city, by enhancing lifestyle and collaboration for the people of Makassar. 5G will increase new technology, such as mixed reality entertainment, bullet moment photography, smart TV, immersive live-streaming video and interactive learning experiences.
In terms of reinventing the agriculture sector, 5G services will enable autonomous irrigation and smart farming with greater accuracy and less waste, introducing a more sustainable way of agriculture. The change will utilize technological advances such as real-time soil and climate monitoring systems, autonomous irrigation and fertigation, and automatic compound fertilizer.
Another sector that will get a boost from 5G is tourism. As exemplified by Digitiket, which offers free virtual tours within several cities and selling offline tour tickets online, thus easing travel in Indonesia.
Moreover, 5G will drive accessibility and development of other technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and the internet of things (IoT), which will offer a seamless customer experience while minimizing operational costs for traders and retailers. 5G will also support companies by making sure that their businesses can run smoothly and efficiently, based on the fleet-management system, which will be guaranteed by a faster network.
Bahlil also highlighted the movement of Indonesia toward Industry 4.0, the latest trend of automation and data exchange in factory technology. The innovation will also accelerate the shaping of Industry 4.0, using cloud-based and edge computing systems, with the hope of proving the ability to optimize processes and create value.
"The support of 5G technology provides the availability of an important communication infrastructure for investors. Of course, this also reflects the equitable distribution of development in Eastern Indonesia, which has moved toward smart city and Industry 4.0 status. We hope this 5G technology can be leveraged effectively to drive innovations across various sectors, boost exports, create jobs and enable a swift recovery. In turn, these improvements will lay the foundations for robust economic growth and digital economy in the coming years,” the minister said.
Acting governor Andi also expressed gratitude to Indosat Ooredoo and Huawei. "We believe this 5G technology will improve the productivity of local people and help boost the local economy. Such technology will transform the way industries operate, businesses create value and consumers access products and services. Hopefully, the launch of 5G commercial services can bring huge benefits to the people of Makassar and Eastern Indonesia,” Andi said.
