At the Mobile World Congress (MWC) Barcelona 2023, du, from Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC) and Huawei signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 5.5G strategic cooperation, marking a new phase of their long-standing partnership.
Industry sources added that as one of the swiftest-growing telecommunication operators in the UAE, du works closely with Huawei and has outstanding performance in 5G network experience and service development, capturing a large share of the Middle East market. Through this partnership, du and Huawei will strengthen cooperation in 5.5G innovation, including technological innovation, and E2E network evolution, to help du continuously enhance user experience and lead the UAE market in 5.5G development.
Saleem AlBlooshi, CTO of du UAE, Cao Ming, President of Huawei Wireless Network Product Line, CEO of Huawei UAE, Liu Jiawei, and other executives from both parties attended the signing ceremony.
Saleem AlBlooshi, CTO of du, stated, “du is committed to working with industry leaders around the world to create new solutions that help us stay at the forefront of digital innovation. In line with the UAE’s Metaverse strategy, our partnership with Huawei will enable du to achieve our goal of making 5.5G technology available for commercial use, and together we can create immersive XR experiences for users that are high-quality and reliable. Our goal is to create an ecosystem in which every aspect of life can benefit from the unique features that 5.5G technology has to offer, ranging from improved connectivity and faster speeds to full-scenario IoT and extensive coverage.”
Cao Ming, President of Huawei Wireless Network Product Line, stated, “We’re committed to provide innovative solutions based on user requirements. We will work with du on 5.5G innovation, explore and promote 5.5G technologies, and commercialize high-value use cases based on the local scenarios in UAE, to improve network experience and build a digital, intelligent world.”
Industry sources added that according to the MoU, du and Huawei will collaborate on 5.5G in three aspects. For innovation, they will focus on key technologies, including ELAA-MM (Extremely Large Antenna Array Massive MIMO), Passive IoT, Virtual Large Carrier among others, and discuss E2E network evolution roadmap. In terms of application exploration, they will conduct research on new scenarios and identify potential applications based on local requirements, such as Metaverse, holographic meeting, XR. In ecosystem construction, they will work together with local and global industry partners to build a sound 5.5G ecosystem and promote multilateral business success.
