Huawei lays out business benefits of 5.5G push

LIVE FROM HUAWEI MBB FORUM 2022, BANGKOK: Huawei rotating chairman Ken Hu cited advanced consumer and business services alongside an associated boost to operator revenue, for a cross-industry effort to push so-called 5.5G technology.

During the opening event keynote, Hu noted 5G was now in the “fast lane” after a decade in development but highlighted there was still significant potential to be realised with a large number of users not yet connected to the most advanced network technology.

He added for many operators consumer uptake was still below 20 per cent, meaning there was room to “push this up”, though he noted many had made strides to offer differentiated experiences using the technology.

Here he used the example of operators in China optimising for popular applications such as short video services, while specific premium packages are guaranteeing network quality available in South Korea and parts of Europe.

Although acknowledging ongoing potential in the consumer segment, he described the business sector as a “powerful growth engine” moving forward, citing existing advanced deployments including a smart hospital in Bangkok and automated mining in South Africa.

Future digital industry technologies, he indicated, would be served by so-called 5.5G technology, with the industry needing to “come together to define the standards [and] prepare the schedule,” alongside helping create an ecosystem.

“For businesses,” he added, “carriers can go beyond connectivity and provide more comprehensive digital transformation solutions”.

However, he noted although operators also had the opportunity to “leverage 5G with cloud and AI to expand the integration services and open up new revenue streams,” this required them to use a new set of core competencies.