M1 taps 5G to enrich waterfront lifestyle, operations

August 25, 2021 TH Author

M1 and its sister company Keppel Land have introduced 5G services that they say aim to improve maritime operations and enrich waterfront lifestyle. These include automated vessel analytics and recognition technologies to facilitate real-time surveillance.

Targeted for deployment at Marina at Keppel Bay, the new suite of services would be delivered on M1’s 5G Standalone network, said the companies in a joint statement Wednesday. M1 and Keppel Land are part of the Keppel Group.

Vessel owners at the bay would be able to tap 5G to “elevate” their waterfront lifestyle and yacht experience, as well as enhance work processes for berth operations, said M1 and Keppel. The new services would enable high speed and further automate and streamline processes, boosting productivity and efficiency for maritime operators, they said.

5G-powered monitoring devices armed with automated vessel analytics and recognition technologies, for instance, could facilitate real-time surveillance. This would ensure the safety and security of registered vessels and trigger alerts when unauthorised vessels entered the marina.

Surveillance robots also could be deployed on the docks to support onsite monitoring and remote assistance. These bots would be integrated with incident management applications so data could be automatically captured, enabling communication between relevant personnel during incidents and providing 3D visualisation to assist in risk management and planning.

The robots also could be leveraged to monitor and maintain the marina’s surroundings, automatically clearing any garbage identified in the waters. They then could reduce resources needed in maintaining water conditions.

In addition, maintenance staff could put on 5G-powered headgears to carry out checks, handsfree. The high-speed connection would further enable them to join video conferences, share videos in real-time at any location, and receive remove support.

M1 CEO Manjot Singh Mann said the mobile operator hoped to drive the use of 5G-enabled services across various industry sectors. Noting that this was in line with Keppel’s Vision 2030 strategy to accelerate smart cities, Mann said: “[The launch] heralds the beginning of our journey towards more viable commercial-ready 5G solutions that will advance our digital economy.”

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