5G at a Crossroads: From Infrastructure to Intelligence
The year, 2025, marks a pivotal moment in the global evolution of 5G. Since its commercial debut in 2019, 5G has matured significantly—but what distinguishes 2025 is the powerful convergence of two forces: the scaling of 5G infrastructure and the acceleration of artificial intelligence (AI). Together, they are unlocking unprecedented opportunities for digital transformation.
A vivid illustration of this convergence is Tuas Port in Singapore. Since its launch in 2022, Tuas has handled over 10 million TEUs, powered by a triple-band 5G network, AI-enabled automation, and real-time orchestration of cranes, autonomous vehicles, and drones. You see cranes, but no operators. Trucks, but no drivers. Containers, but no paperwork.
Yet behind this automation is a transformed workforce - reskilled, empowered, and focused on safer, smarter, higher-value tasks.
Tuas exemplifies how vision, experimentation, and ecosystem alignment can turn infrastructure into intelligence - and ambition into results. It is not just a port—it is a blueprint for how nations can lead with vision, powered by AI, enabled by 5G, and eventually amplified by 6G, building not just capacity, but resilience, competitiveness, and systemic agility.
As the second half of the 5G decade (2025–2030) begins, expectations are high. After years of laying groundwork, 5G is now poised to deliver real impact. Standalone networks are expanding. 5G-Advanced is gaining traction. Key innovations—including private networks, RedCap, V2X, Fixed Wireless Access, and AI-native infrastructure—are moving from pilot to scale. Integration with network APIs, low-altitude platforms, and non-terrestrial networks is expected to accelerate innovation even further.
In ASEAN, the potential is enormous, but progress remains uneven. While countries like Singapore are pushing the frontier with robust infrastructure and strong public, private collaboration, others face policy, financing, or institutional hurdles that slow adoption.
To better understand these divergent paths, a new report by the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, in collaboration with Qualcomm, explores the evolving 5G-AI landscape in Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. Drawing on in-depth interviews with about 100 senior policymakers, telecom executives, and technology leaders, the report distills key insights on how the region can close the digital gap, foster inclusive innovation, and harness 5G as a catalyst—not just for growth, but for transformation with resilience.
Key Insights from ASEAN Stakeholders
Through these consultations, a set of key insights has emerged—detailing how countries are navigating the complex terrain of 5G deployment, enterprise adoption, and digital ecosystem development, alongside the fast-moving AI landscape.
1. Smart Follower Strategies Are Enabling Cost-Effective Value Creation
Rather than racing to be first movers, countries like Vietnam are adopting smart follower strategies, leveraging declining infrastructure costs, mature technology standards, and lessons from early adopters. This approach allows them to deploy 5G more affordably and effectively, particularly in priority areas such as high-tech zones, ports, and industrial parks.
2. Enterprises—Not Consumers—Are the Real Drivers of 5G Monetization
Unlike 4G, which created explosive growth in consumer markets through video streaming and mobile apps, 5G’s most compelling use cases lie in the enterprise domain. Stakeholders across ASEAN point to smart factories, precision logistics, remote healthcare, and predictive maintenance as high-impact areas where 5G, when combined with AI, offers transformative potential.
3. Digital Foundations Are Prerequisites for Effective 5G Deployment
Stakeholders consistently emphasized that 5G cannot succeed in isolation. Without digital foundations—such as cloud infrastructure, digital skills, enterprise IT systems, and regulatory readiness—5G risks becoming underutilised. Countries that prioritise digital transformation (DX) are better positioned to scale intelligent systems and AI applications.
4. ASEAN’s Geopolitical Neutrality Is an Emerging Strategic Asset
In a world increasingly defined by U.S.-China technology tensions, ASEAN’s geopolitical neutrality offers a unique value proposition. Countries like Malaysia and Vietnam are attracting global investment in semiconductor manufacturing, telecom infrastructure, and AI innovation. At the same time, Singapore and Thailand are positioning themselves as regional hubs for AI-enabled services and advanced digital infrastructure.
5. Ten Drivers of AI-5G Led Digital Transformation
Stakeholders identified ten key enablers of successful 5G deployment, including coordinated policy frameworks, government leadership, spectrum reform, enterprise use cases, fixed wireless access, digital inclusion strategies, cybersecurity readiness, global partnerships, and regional harmonisation. These drivers collectively determine whether 5G can evolve beyond infrastructure into a foundation for AI-powered economic growth.
Synthesising the Findings: Three Strategic Shifts
These insights reveal a deeper transformation in how ASEAN countries approach 5G—not as an end in itself, but as a catalyst for value creation, solution delivery, and ecosystem development.
Shift 1: From Connectivity to Value-Added Services
The focus of 5G deployment is shifting from basic infrastructure to services that deliver measurable economic and social returns. Vietnam’s incentive-driven rollout, Thailand’s smart logistics initiatives, and Singapore’s 5G-enabled ports illustrate how countries are prioritizing value-added use cases over raw coverage metrics.
Shift 2: From Digital Content to Effective, Timely Solutions
Rather than chasing viral apps or consumer entertainment trends, ASEAN countries are applying 5G to solve real-world development challenges. These include improving healthcare delivery, enhancing public safety, reducing urban congestion, and transforming supply chains—areas where 5G combined with AI can produce outsized benefits. The deployment of mmWave 5G in ASEAN’s high-density industrial zones, logistics hubs, and innovation corridors is a key enabler of these benefits. With its ability to support ultra-low latency, high throughput, and massive device connectivity, mmWave has enormous potential to unlock advanced 5G AI use cases such as smart factories, digital twins, real-time robotics, and autonomous systems.
Shift 3: From ICT Assets to AI-Powered Ecosystems
The most advanced ASEAN economies now view 5G as the spinal cord of intelligent ecosystems that integrate AI, IoT, robotics, and cloud computing. This shift requires a rethinking of digital policy and investment—moving from hardware procurement to ecosystem orchestration involving diverse public and private actors.
Strategic Policy Agenda for ASEAN
To fully harness 5G as a driver of AI-powered transformation, ASEAN governments must act decisively across five strategic fronts:
1. Anchor 5G in National Development Strategies
5G should be embedded within broader economic transformation roadmaps, linked to objectives such as industrial upgrading, smart infrastructure, public service reform, and export diversification.
2. Foster Use-Case Pilots and Innovation Sandboxes
Governments should co-fund high-impact 5G-AI pilots and support testbeds in priority sectors. Regulatory sandboxes can accelerate experimentation while minimising risk and informing policy.
3. Reform Spectrum Allocation
Transparent, affordable, and timely spectrum auctions are critical. Harmonising spectrum policies across ASEAN can lower network and device costs, improve interoperability, and support regional use-case scaling.
4. Invest in Digital Readiness and Skills
Digital infrastructure is only effective when matched with human capital. Investments in SME digitalisation, cloud integration, and AI/5G skills development will ensure the broader economy is prepared to use and benefit from next-generation networks.
5. Promote Regional Coordination and Ecosystem Building
ASEAN-wide collaboration on data governance, cybersecurity, spectrum standards, and cross-border infrastructure is essential to realising economies of scale and positioning the region as a global innovation hub.
Looking Ahead: Lessons for 6G Development Post-2030
While ASEAN is still in the midst of scaling 5G, the region must already begin preparing for the next horizon: 6G development in the 2030s. Drawing from the experiences of 5G deployment, three key lessons stand out:
1. Focus on Value Creation, Not Just Technology Depth
6G efforts must avoid the trap of becoming overly technology-centric. Stakeholders cautioned that success will not be defined by theoretical speeds or spectrum capabilities, but by how effectively 6G enables meaningful applications—from climate-smart infrastructure to AI-enhanced governance and inclusive public services.
2. Ensure Early Availability of AI-Powered 6G Devices
A major bottleneck for 5G adoption was the late arrival of compatible and affordable devices. To accelerate 6G uptake, device ecosystems—including smartphones, sensors, wearables, and industrial terminals—must be ready from the outset, with embedded AI capabilities that enhance user value and simplify integration.
3. Sustain Government Support and Enabling Conditions
Just as government leadership proved vital for 5G—especially in spectrum allocation, infrastructure sharing, and ecosystem coordination—6G will require even more proactive state involvement. This includes not only infrastructure and policy alignment, but also support for R&D, cross-sector partnerships, and international collaboration to co-develop standards and shared platforms.
Conclusion: From Speed to Strategic Value—And Beyond
The real race in digital transformation is not about who deploys 5G or 6G the fastest—but who derives the greatest value from it. ASEAN is at a critical juncture where the opportunity to lead lies not in technological showmanship, but in strategic clarity, policy coherence, and ecosystem alignment.
5G has laid the foundation for intelligent systems. AI is amplifying their potential. And with the right vision, 6G can elevate this trajectory—from infrastructure to intelligence, from connectivity to capability, from digital access to digital leadership.
ASEAN has what it takes to lead the next wave—not only by adopting technologies, but by shaping them to serve development goals, empower people, and solve the region’s most pressing challenges.
The report is available for download here.