‘5G developments succeeding in the region’ – Huawei President

In an exclusive group interview with journalists from across the region, Steven Yi, President of Huawei Middle East, stressed 5G as an enabler for enterprises of various industries in the region and health and security as a priority.

“Scientifically speaking, radiation in nature is divided into ionizing radiation and non-radiating ionizing radiation,” Steven Yi said in response to TECHx’s question on potential 5G hazards in light of the increased energy consumption with 5G. “The former includes X-rays and cosmic rays, and the latter includes ultraviolet radiation, radio waves and microwaves. The frequencies are usually 3KHz and 300GHz. 5G is non-ionizing radiation and is safe for human beings. And with the energy of radiation, according to the calculation, 5G energy density is far lower than solar radiation and electric blower, microwave oven and other daily necessities. Therefore, there is no health risk to 5G, and these are the low-energy practices of Huawei products and solutions.”

With digital technologies advancing rapidly, securing networks and cybersecurity continues to be Huawei’s top priority. Yi continued, “We have sound cybersecurity and privacy protection assurance structure which has leading global records. Our practices in cybersecurity have won the continuous trust of our partners including those in the Middle East. We believe that cyber security is a shared responsibility and it’s crucial to have an open discussion around cybersecurity governance architecture in line of international standards like 3GPP, GSMA NESAS and others. Last year, we unveiled the largest cybersecurity and transparency center around the world in Dongguan China, and we hope that we will be able to invite you to visit thereafter the pandemic to experience this open collaboration platform targeted at addressing cybersecurity challenges and come up with joint innovations for improving the future of cybersecurity.’

Huawei also discussed how, via ongoing technological innovation, it is assisting industries in reducing energy usage and achieving a low-carbon society. The company is now focusing on digital energy development, which combines digital and power electronics technologies to reduce energy usage in a variety of settings, including data centers and ICT infrastructure.

Yi also stressed on the importance of the telecom sector as an enabler for other industries’ sustainable development and growth in light of the evolving 5G landscape and the immense opportunities for enterprises in the 5G era. Yi also noted that Huawei, together with carriers and partners, has signed 3,000 5G commercial contracts, and that 5G saw large-scale commercial deployment in many industries, including manufacturing, mining, steel, port, chemical, cement, power grid, and healthcare. “Middle East countries are leading globally in 5G deployment. As an end-to-end leader in 5G, cloud, AI, devices and chips, Huawei will continue its commitment to help countries in the Middle East achieve their visions with digitization and sustainable development as key drivers”, Yi highlighted.

During the Summit, Huawei and leading regional operators unveiled IntelligentRAN, an advanced telecom network solution that aligns with Huawei’s goal of empowering the telecommunications sector with more advanced innovations and value for its own and other sectors and industries businesses by injecting intelligence into wireless networks and eventually achieving autonomous driving networks in the wireless domain. “The intelligentRAN architecture is constructed to develop a mobile network with intelligent service operation, intelligent network optimization, and simplified O&M. This feature helps customers and partners quickly provision services and guarantee user experience, maximize user experience, reduce energy consumption, and simplify O&M in multi-frequency and multi-mode scenarios.”

Steven Yi also stressed on Huawei’s commitment to supporting building digital economies in the Middle East region “We need to be united to establish unified laws and regulations so that the digital economy can be protected.”

“Huawei has worked with customers to deploy 5G technology and hopes to see more use cases of 5G in vertical industries in the Middle East region. We are committed to openly collaborating with our customers and partners and extending our innovations and global expertise to the region players for achieving more value in 5G deployment, in line with the ME countries’ socio-economic growth.” Yi said.

But focusing on and expanding the digital space comes with its own concerns over energy consumption, therefore, Huawei has made sustainability as a priority to achieve a low-carbon society through continuous technological innovation. “In the Middle East, Huawei Digital Energy is working with industry partners to develop the digital energy industry, building a low-carbon telecom sector, homes, factors, parks and smart cities, and moving from a low-carbon society to a zero-carbon one.” At the moment, over 100 operators from across the world have deployed Huawei’s low-carbon solutions, reducing carbon emissions by 40 million tons.

Steven Yi also highlighted that Huawei is committed to use its global knowledge and expertise in over 170 markets and in mega projects such as the 2018 World Cup in Russia and 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics to the benefit of the Middle East region mega-events, including successfully guaranteeing Saudi Arabia’s Hajj network for 16 years, accident-free and offering unprecedented experiences to the upcoming 2022 Qatar World Cup.

“We remain committed to collaborating with our suppliers and partners to provide customized, secure, reliable, stable and competitive solutions to our customers in the Middle East Region.” Yi concluded.