The Net5.5G Imperative for Malaysia
The global telecommunications landscape is undergoing a seismic shift, transitioning from the Information Era (defined by 4G/5G and content consumption) to the Intelligent Era (defined by AI training, inference, and machine-to-machine automation). For Malaysia, this transition coincides with an influx of foreign direct investment (FDI) in data center infrastructure, with digital investments hitting a record RM163.6 billion in approved investments in 2024. However, a critical gap is emerging. While Malaysia is successfully attracting “Compute” (Data Centers), our “Connect” (Network Layer) risks becoming a bottleneck. Legacy 100GE backbones and Wi-Fi 6 campus networks cannot support the massive, bursty, and latencysensitive traffic patterns of Generative AI workloads.
This Synergizing AI & Net5.5G in Malaysia whitepaper establishes the strategic case for Net5.5G as the default connectivity standard for Malaysia’s AI ecosystem. Net5.5G is not a single technology but a comprehensive evolution of the IP network, characterized by 10Gbps ubiquitous access, 400GE/800GE converged transport, and AI-native traffic management.
Key Strategic Findings
1. The “Zero Packet Loss” Economic Multiplier
AI training clusters use the RoCEv2 (RDMA over Converged Ethernet) protocol, which is intolerant of network congestion. Analysis shows that a mere 0.1% packet loss in a data center network can degrade AI training efficiency by 50%. For a hyperscale investor spending RM1 billion on GPUs, a legacy network effectively destroys RM500 million in value. Adopting 400GE/800GE High-Efficiency Data Center Networks (DCN) is therefore an economic imperative to maximize Return on Invested Capital (ROIC).
2. The National Computing Network (NCN)
To democratize AI, Malaysia must move beyond isolated data centers. We propose a National Computing Network architecture that uses SRv6 (Segment Routing v6) to logically pool computing resources across the country. This allows a researcher in a public university to seamlessly access high-performance computing (HPC) resources located in a private data center in Johor, with the network guaranteeing bandwidth and latency SLAs (Service Level Agreements).
3. Aligning with NIMP 2030, MyDIGITAL, and JENDELA Phase 2
Net5.5G is the missing link in Malaysia’s existing policy frameworks:
• NIMP 2030: The target to transform 3,000 factories requires 10GE industrial campus networks to support digital twins and AI visual inspection.
• MyDIGITAL: Cloud-First Strategy emphasizing digital inclusivity.
• JENDELA Phase 2: The target of “gigabit access” should be upgraded to “10-Gigabit readiness” via Wi-Fi 7.
Click here to view the whitepaper document.