Huawei, a global leader in telecommunications technology, is presenting its cutting-edge 5G-Advanced (5G-A) and AI solutions at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) Shanghai 2024 under the theme “Advancing the Intelligent World.” The firm is displaying its latest products and solutions that aid commercial 5G-A deployment and the AI devices required for the mobile AI era.
Industry sources added that the year 2024 marks the start of a new era of mobile AI empowered by the commercial launch of 5G-A and rapid advances in AI. Leading operators in the Middle East and China have started to deploy 5G-A networks, with some of them already launching differentiated experience-based 5G-A packages.
Huawei’s Executive Director of the Board and Chairman of the ICT Infrastructure Managing Board, David Wang, delivered a keynote speech titled “Accelerating 5G-A and Shaping the Mobile AI Era”. He emphasized that the mobile AI era will transform human-machine interaction, content production, and mobile devices, revitalizing society and creating opportunities for the mobile industry.
Wang noted, “This month marks the fifth year since 5G’s commercial launch in China. Over the past five years, commercial 5G has achieved remarkable success and made an unprecedented impact on the global mobile industry.” He added that Huawei looks forward to working with all industry stakeholders to seize the enormous opportunities presented by the mobile AI era to shape the intelligent world.
Dr. Philip Song, Chief Marketing Officer of Huawei Carrier Business Group, explained how Open Gateway will be essential for carriers to pursue experience-driven operations based on diverse 5G-A network capabilities. Open Gateway defines unified standards, billing modes, and a global ecosystem within an interoperable framework. It will become a new engine for 5G-A experience-oriented operations and spur the creation of new business models.
Yang Chaobin, Huawei’s Board Member and President of ICT Products & Solutions, discussed how AI technology, particularly generative AI, brings new opportunities and requirements to telecom networks. He introduced Huawei’s upgraded Autonomous Driving Network (ADN) solution, now powered by the company’s Telecom Foundation Model. This solution provides five role-based copilots and five scenario-based agents to enhance network value in service enablement, maintenance, and experience assurance.
Industry sources further added that Huawei has announced reaching six separate consensuses with pioneering 5G-A operators worldwide and launched a joint initiative for high-quality mobile video development in the AI era. The telecom major will continue to invest in the R&D of network APIs, exploring new services, accelerating the development of incumbent services like fixed wireless access (FWA), and improving O&M efficiency.
Industry sources also confirmed that in today’s modern tech era, the leading operators around the world are already looking to capitalize on 5G-A. More than 30 operators have completed 5G-A technical verification, and nearly 20 mobile phone models currently support multi-carrier aggregation, with some supporting the feature by default. Around ten operators have announced commercial 5G-A plans, including the launch of 5G-A packages and related services.
The number of global 5G users has exceeded 1.8 billion, and many operators have already seen the first wave of benefits from 5G. Consumer services like New Calling, cloud phones, and glasses-free 3D have higher network requirements, such as increased speed and lower latency. In terms of industrial services, the RedCap ecosystem has matured, passive IoT is now available to a broader market, and Internet of Vehicles (IoV) applications require higher uplink speeds.
