5G to drive Vietnam’s Industry 4.0 vision

Denis Brunetti, president of Ericsson Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos

Vietnam is driving 4G and future 5G capabilities, recognising that 4G/5G mobile broadband networks are the critical national infrastructure and innovation platform supporting the enablement of Industry 4.0 and industry digitalisation across a wide range of industries.

In fact, Resolution No.52-NQ/TW, released in 2019 by the Politburo, relates to the accelerated adoption of Industry 4.0 for the digital transformation of Vietnam and is a great initiative that clearly highlights the strategic and visionary focus of the Vietnamese government and Party leaders towards achieving sustainable GDP growth in the years to come.

It aims to ensure that a significant proportion of GDP is progressively attributed to the digital economy – 20 per cent of GDP by 2025, and 30 per cent by 2030. The resolution also aims to ensure 100 per cent of communes have access to broadband internet capabilities by 2025, and 4G and 5G mobile broadband infrastructure will play a pivotal role in fast tracking the achievement of this important goal.

As a trusted and long term strategic partner in Vietnam’s ICT industry, Ericsson is committed to working alongside Vietnam’s leading mobile service providers, such as Viettel, VNPT, MobiFone, and Vietnamobile, to expand 4G network coverage and capacity whilst also jointly preparing for the commercial introduction of 5G through a series of technical and commercial trials.

Indeed, success in the digital age, fuelled by data and enabled by Industry 4.0, AI, and 4G/5G Internet of Things (IoT) is as much about forging trusted cross-industry and government ecosystem collaborations as it is about technology. As an example, Ericsson has been supporting mobile service providers in Vietnam with 5G technical trials since 2019, leveraging our 5G technology leadership, Industry 4.0 and IoT strategic partnerships, coupled with our expansive 4G installed base, which can seamlessly and efficiently upgrade to 5G capabilities when required.

The journey towards Industry 4.0

We see digital transformation taking place both in developing and developed economies around the globe. 5G, with its exponentially faster data speeds, high reliability, and low latency, is set to become the single most significant contributor to digitalising and transforming the manufacturing and production sector.

This is especially beneficial for emerging economies like Vietnam which has experienced rapid industrialisation over the past three decades, and is one of the preferred manufacturing hubs for multinational companies in Southeast Asia. This is also particularly important given the manufacturing sector contributed over 16 per cent to Vietnam’s GDP in 2019.

With today’s business and product lifecycles becoming shorter and margins under increased pressure, manufacturers are increasingly exploring innovations in processes to gain competitiveness and much-needed efficiency and profitability. Here, 5G networks, driven by cellular IoT, will be the key to enhancing and enabling advances in manufacturing.

Given Vietnam’s desire to increase labour productivity growth rates by 7 per cent per annum by 2025, we encourage mobile service providers to accelerate the expansion and upgrade of existing 4G networks supported by additional spectrums, whilst continuing to embrace the early commercial launch of 5G within the 2020 timeframe.

Ericsson’s partnerships

The manufacturing industry is evolving fast and industry leaders are looking to have increased flexibility in the production, automation, and assembly processes while also reducing personnel safety risks. Automotive 5G manufacturing production is now a reality for German electric microcar company e.GO Mobile AG at its Aachen complex, enabled by 5G connectivity from Ericsson and Vodafone Germany.

Ericsson is also teaming up with Telefónica Germany to enable 5G car production via a private 5G network for Mercedes-Benz at the company’s Sindelfingen plant in southern Germany. The 5G network will enable Mercedes-Benz to boost flexibility, production precision, and efficiency as industry digitalisation becomes a reality in car production.

In Vietnam, Ericsson is also partnering with ABB to assist it in establishing a state-of-the-art smart manufacturing showcase facility in Vietnam by 2021.

5G’s role in Industry 4.0

Ericsson’s 5G Business Potential report highlights that mobile service providers around the world stand to gain an additional $700 billion in revenue opportunities by 2030 from industry digitalisation. 5G has superior capabilities such as low latency, high bandwidth, data speeds, spectral efficiency, and reliability, which can in turn support a variety of Industry 4.0 use cases in the manufacturing environment.

As the technology proliferates, early movers stand to benefit by gaining the right experience and creating new use cases of relevance to their business.

Ericsson’s commitment

In May last year, Ericsson partnered with Vietnam’s leading telecommunications company, Viettel, to make the first 5G call in Vietnam, aligning the country with other early adopter 5G global markets, such as Australia, USA, Japan, and South Korea. This was a highly strategic milestone for Vietnam as 5G is the critical national infrastructure and enabling innovation platform for Industry 4.0.

Ericsson has since partnered with other mobile service providers in Vietnam, such as VNPT and MobiFone, to conduct 5G trials that aim to further advance Vietnam’s ambitions towards the accelerated adoption of Industry 4.0 and in support of startups, promoting innovation-based entrepreneurship.

Focusing on science, technology, and innovation, and embracing the accelerated adoption of Industry 4.0 through 4G NB-IoT and 5G capabilities, Vietnam is well on its way to creating a digital ecosystem that will attract high-tech foreign direct investment and drive the next wave of inclusive and environmentally-sustainable socio-economic development across the nation.