Global tech giant Huawei has called for accelerating the progress in network deployment, consumer services and industry applications to fully unlock the value of 5G networks and enrich users' experience of 5G.
James Chen, president of the Global Sales Dept of Huawei Carrier BG, made this remark while delivering a keynote at the Global Mobile Broadband Forum, which began in Bangkok on Tuesday.
Chen said, "We've seen fast progress in 5G. To fully unlock the value of 5G, we need to accelerate deployment, and make the most of every band, every hertz, and every watt. Together, we can take 5G from a leading brand and leading technology, to a leading experience and a leading business. And we can make 5G a commercial success."
Chen described how 5G is driving industry development in many aspects. Compared with 4G, 5G networks are 10-times faster, delivering speeds greater than 1 Gbps.
5G users also consume two times more data than 4G users – more than 20 GB per month – and that amount is expected to keep growing. This creates huge opportunities for carriers in three areas: user experience, the Internet of Things (IoT), and industrial digitalization.
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It means user experience can generate more revenue than ever before, as carriers shift away from traffic-based business models. This can be achieved by offering 5G packages priced based on other factors like speed, latency, and uplink experience.
The IoT is also a booming market with a rapid growth in both consumer and industrial IoT services, which is expected to create 100 billion IoT connections.
As for industrial digitalization, 5G provides high-quality connections, and services like private lines and networks that are helping carriers expand into the B2B market. With 5G, carriers can diversify their portfolios beyond connectivity, and identify new sources of revenue.
Despite these opportunities, 5G rollout is still inconsistent across different countries. Right now, 5G coverage is only available for 29% of the global population – much lower than 4G, which covers 92%.
According to Chen, to fully unlock the value of 5G and make it a commercial success, it is necessary to accelerate 5G network deployment, and make the most of "every band, every hertz, and every watt."
The spectrum will have to be better utilized. All spectrum bands can be used for 5G, but different bands produce optimal performance in different scenarios.
Besides, building on the 10x energy efficiency of 5G over 4G, ongoing innovation will need to be made at three separate layers – equipment, sites, and networks – to enable every watt to carry more bits, and help build 5G networks with optimal performance and energy efficiency. Artificial Intelligence will also need to be applied in 5G networks to make the most of limited network resources, Chen added.
At the end of his speech, Chen said, "5G is changing the mobile landscape, but this is just the beginning. Huawei will continue to innovate in technologies to maximize the value of each band, hertz, and watt, help global customers build 5G networks with the best experience, optimal energy efficiency, and highest efficiency, and continuously create value for customers."
The Global Mobile Broadband Forum 2022 is hosted by Huawei, together with its industry partners GSMA and GTI. This annual forum gathers mobile network carriers, vertical industry leaders, and ecosystem partners from around the world to discuss how to make 5G a commercial success and other hot topics like green development, intelligence, and 5G evolution.
The 13th Global Mobile Broadband Forum 2022 began in Bangkok, Thailand today.
Huawei is the host of the two-day event with 5G in focus. It may be mentioned that in December 2021, state telecoms regulator BTRC launched the initial 5G network in Bangladesh in collaboration with state-owned mobile operator Teletalk.
But the initial coverage remains extremely limited, extending only to the Prime Minister's Office, Parliament, Secretariat, Bangabandhu Museum on Dhanmondi 32, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's birth place Tungipara in Gopalganj, and the National Martyrs' Memorial in Savar.
The country however has big ambitions with 5G and its expanded capabilities in the near future, as coverage expands. Till now, it has partnered with Huawei in bringing 5G to Bangladesh.