At MWC Shanghai 2024, Huawei announced major advancements in 5G technology and network intelligence. The tech giant launched the Global 5G-A Pioneers Program and revealed its AI-driven network plans, targeting the high-quality development of 5G-Advanced (5G-A) networks.
Global 5G-A Pioneers Program Launched
Themed “Driving Shared Success with 5G-A,” the 5G-A Pioneers Program brought together leading 5G operators globally, including China’s “big three,” HKT, du, and Oman Telecommunications. This event marks a critical milestone for the 5G industry, as 2024 is the first year of commercial 5G-A deployment following the finalization of the 3GPP Release-18 standards on June 28, 2024.
David Wang, Huawei’s Executive Director of the Board, highlighted in his keynote speech, “5G-A: Paving the Way for Shared Success,” the importance of 5G-A in protecting investments and creating new business opportunities. Wang emphasized the need for the industry to enhance 5G-A technologies to support the healthy development of 5G.
Six Consensuses for 5G-A Success
Huawei and its operator partners announced six consensuses focused on:
1. Promoting Pioneer Operators
2. Developing Pioneer Cities
3. Upgrading Business Models
4. Building High-Quality Networks
5. Driving Service Innovation
6. Creating Thriving Ecosystems
These initiatives aim to maximize the value of 5G-A capabilities and propel the industry forward.
AI Integration to Elevate Network Productivity
In a separate keynote at the 5G-A & AI Roundtable, Eric Zhao, Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Huawei Wireless Solution, unveiled Huawei’s plan to integrate AI into networks. This initiative aims to build an ecosystem of RAN Intelligent Agents in collaboration with operators, increasing network productivity. The first phase will cover 1,000 site engineers and 10,000 sites across Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Bangkok, Jinan, and Shenzhen within six months.
Transforming Network Operations with AI
Huawei’s RAN Intelligent Agent is designed to revolutionize network operations and maintenance (O&M), enhance user experience, and innovate services. Key features include:
– Reshaping O&M: Simplifying processes and boosting efficiency with AI-based copilots like the field maintenance engineer copilot, which autonomously generates solution policies.
– Enhancing Experience: Autonomous optimization of network performance and energy-saving through real-time sensing and policy generation.
– Innovating Services: Enabling experience-driven service operations and new business models, such as the 5G-A livestreaming assurance package, which offers deterministic uplink speeds for services like agricultural livestreaming.
Zhao concluded, “Our goal is to bring AI to networks, transforming us from a solution provider to a co-builder of intelligent networks. This will create extensive business value and accelerate the industry into a new era of intelligence.”
Huawei at MWC Shanghai 2024
MWC Shanghai 2024, held from June 26 to June 28, sees Huawei showcasing its latest products and solutions at stands E10 and E50 in Hall N1 of the Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC). The event underscores 2024 as a pivotal year for networks, with synergies across networks, cloud, and intelligence driving the rise of intelligent applications and diverse user experiences. Huawei and industry leaders will explore topics to amplify 5G’s success in the 5G-A era and unlock revenue growth potential, accelerating the realization of an intelligent world.