KUALA LUMPUR: 5G will be a game changer for Malaysia but not in the way most of us have been led to believe,  said Dr Vincent Chian, who helps manage Malaysia's largest network of  International Baccalaureate  schools.

"If we persist with the national objective of connectivity, getting the rural areas especially in Sabah and Sarawak connected to a national grid, then in my book the 5G  development here will be considered a great sucess," said Chian who helps manage Fairview International School.

"From an impact analysis, connectivity to the grid must be a priority over the choice of individual hardware." said Chian, who has his doubts on the recent rush to provide children with laptops.

"A child can do without a laptop by using a cheaper device like a smartphone. However, no child should be without connectivity," he added.

He added that once all the children were on the grid, how we proceed next would be crucial to the economy and politics.

"A computer alone is not going to solve the problem. It has to be a cost effective standardized device, that fits our economic context. Once this is done, we have to look at the how to continue using the devices. In the rural areas,  where many still depend on generators for power, children are going to have trouble charging their devices, let alone getting them serviced if any problems arise.

"Although we are a prosperous nation, we have to accept the facts of life. Some parents may not be able to financially maintain a computer, with added incidentals like repair costs. Some have offered the solution, that the children can charge the device at school."

However, schools might not have enough charging ports for all their students, he added.

"If all the devices were charging in the back of the classroom how are the students goign to use it during lessons?" he asked.

"Getting them equipped  will be equally as challenging as getting them on the grid. But if we can get schools connected,  and equip them, then 5G in Malaysia will usher in a new era of success for all Malaysians," said Chian.

"That being said,  I do believe that the earliest we could see and feel innovations execlusively related to 5G technology will be in 2025 or 2026."

He said apart from speed, the difference between 5G and 3G, was the 3G (and then 4G LTE) defined how we communicate with each other, while 5G would be how we communicate with machines and how machines communicate with machines.

"Based on what is out there,on a commercial platform, apart from speed, there is very little to differentiate 4G and 5G when it comes to the social user. And mind you, 4G  technology has yet to be utilised fully. Many of us think we are using 4G,  but it's one side of the coin. Most of us are using 4G LTE.  LTE here stands for Long Term Evolution," said Chian.

It was a clever workaround that allows cellular networks to advertise 4G speeds, without reaching the minimum standards set by the ITU-R (ITU Radiocommunication Sector), the body that defines what is 4G, he added.