Nov.21,2024, Fiber optics online reports from Bangkok, On a panel discussion section about investment on Telecom World Asia held at the Bangkok Central Exhibition Center on Nov.19，the moderator asked the panelists to answer which country is the most promising telecom market in Asia? Most of the panelists gave priority to Indonesia, with several mentioning the Philippines, Thailand, and Cambodia. Most of these guests have been deeply involved in the telecommunications field in Asia for many years, and their answers reveal the current prosperity of the Asian telecommunications market from one side.
Telecom World Asia, known as Asia's largest exhibition for telecom operators, is hosted by Singapore's Terrapinn and brings together representatives of many telecom operators across Asia. As soon as I entered the field, the editor found an attendee from a Sino-Laos join-ventured telecom operator, this Asian operator conference is worthy of its name. The show was invitation-only. The organizer offered a very nice lunch and coffee break, even a evening party. Everything shows the high quality of the event and the promising future of Asian's telecom operators.
Let's talk about the exhibition hall first. There are about 100 booths in the exhibition, including China Unicom and Telecom, the host Thailand National Telecom NT, as well as Japan's NTT, Malaysia Telecom TM. On data center field, there is Digital Reality. Other booths basically focus on software and hardware suppliers in the telecommunications industry. The equipment manufacturers we are familiar with include Nokia, Ribbon, Ekinops, and Smartoptics, China's C-Data, etc. Nokia showcased their 800G and 1.6T PSE engines, and France's Ekinops( I previously interviewed them on OFC), told the editor that many of Thailand's True Telecom routers are from them, and they are optimistic about the opportunities in the Asian market. First time exhibitor, C-Data said their equipment has reached a new level with the introduction of their CMS system. In the field of wiring, CommScope of the United States and Green Communications from Ningbo China participated in the exhibition. In addition, other exhibitors focus more on applications, security, network management, and other fields. One of the more distinctive features of the exhibition is the setting up of a special exhibition area for start-ups, where there are many young faces just like students attending academic conferences.
Four venues were set up around the exhibition hall, and presentations and discussions were arranged in the morning and afternoon. The topics discussed revolved around current concerns in the telecom industry, including AI applications, cloud and data centers, investment opportunities, and more. From the theme of the report, AI and data centers are mentioned everywhere, and how telecom operators can integrate and how to take advantage of the opportunities brought by the development of new technologies are of concern to everyone. At the conference, I heard a meaningful new phrase about the transition from traditional Telco to the emerging Techo, which is a technology company. In the future, operators will no longer only provide phone calls, but also provide various technology services, including data centers. As a conference for telecom operators, the theme of the conference is to promote universal connectivity and bridge the digital divide. From this point of view, telecom operators all over the world have an innate sense of mission in economic development, and they are not destined to make money as the first purpose. The editors were particularly touched by the statement made by the representative of a Nepalese operator called Worldlink. They built a fiber-optic network in the foothills of the Himalayas, connecting the previously closed small mountain country to the world.
Representatives of Thailand's Ture Telecom also repeatedly talked about how reliable their telecommunications network was during the recent floods in northern Thailand. That's what the telecommunications industry is all about.
When I recalled the biggest feelings of the day, the first is that everyone is mentioning optical fiber. Amar Amar, Group CEO of Telekom Malaysia, said that today's communication networks are inseparable from fiber, especially 5G. Sharad, deputy CEO of Thailand's True Telecom, also said that they have buried a lot of fiber. The fiber-optic communications industry is in its infancy throughout Asia. The second point is how important it is to speak English well in this world, and there may not be a complete manufacturing ecosystem in Southeast Asia, but an industrial operation ecology is really there. If our Chinese enterprises want to integrate into the world, we have to work hard. Let's start with telecom and Unicom. At the exhibition, there was always a long queue in front of Unicom's coffee stand, and China Telecom's network lounge was also hard to find a seat.
