Huawei’s pre-show industry forum at MWC2024 in Barcelona was held under the banner of “5G Beyond Growth Summit”, where key executives in the ICT industry shared their experiences in 5G business growth and 5.5G (5G-A) provided a platform for exploring the prospects of ).
The final session of the day brought together senior executives from major carriers for a panel discussion to share their 5G experiences to date and discuss how to drive business growth in the 5.5G era.
When asked about what impressed them so far about 5G, panelists pointed to a variety of aspects. Chika Ekeji, MTN Group’s Chief Strategic Transformation Officer, said the potential of 5G was the feature that impressed him the most, especially regarding use cases. Karim Benkiran, chief commercial officer of his du company in the UAE, noted the speed with which 5G has been able to gain market share.
Yelamate Mallikarjuna Rao, chief technology and information officer at Germany’s Telefonica, called for further investment in talent and skills, while referring to the 5G ecosystem. In an earlier presentation, Rao said this is essential for the industry to move away from non-standalone 5G. Quality is key to the future of networks and the future of operations, he said, because the way networks operate is so complex.
Fan Jian, chief researcher of big data at China Unicom Group, pointed to 5G’s support for private networks and how these networks could actively transform the traditional working environment.keep that in mind
He said the company has already deployed 500 private networks for its mining sector, and 5G has enabled workers who previously worked underground to operate vehicles from above ground.
Asked about network efficiency as a key focus for China’s 5G carriers, Huang Lilian, general manager of China Telecom’s 5G joint construction and sharing work team, said that although there are many 5G models, China Telecom and China He said the shared access network approach between Unicom is important. It was probably unique.
“RAN sharing has created the world’s largest (standalone) 5G shared network, with more than 1.2 million base stations currently covering towns and villages,” said Huang Lilian. “Many operators are faced with the challenge of large investments. Saved RNB 270 billion and reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 10 billion tons. This is a practice I would like to share in order to do so.”
Regarding service innovation and network experience, Fan Jian said that over the past five years, China Unicom has adopted 5G in various industries and public services such as healthcare and education. As an example of industrial innovation, Unicom built a multi-campus 5G network for Schneider Electric’s energy equipment manufacturer that uses cameras to detect components and track inventory levels on production lines.
“To do that, we need an enhanced MBB that not only supports video but also has low latency,” Fan Ji’an explained. “So the relationship between network experience and service innovation is key.”
MTN Group’s Chika Ekeji acknowledged that African operators may not yet have some of the advanced use cases that will be important to the continent, but said they are showing great potential for creativity in leveraging 5G technology. He said there is a need to find a way to demonstrate this.
In a previous presentation, Mr. Ekeji outlined how these objectives are incorporated into MTN’s “CHASE” framework. The framework is designed to address barriers to 5G in Africa through a series of measures, including timely access to new spectrum bands, financing schemes for cost-effective 5G coverage . Making mobile phones more affordable, regulatory support for more efficient spectrum usage, and collaboration with content providers to offer 5G service bundles and accelerate the adoption of cutting-edge technologies such as AR/VR; Especially continental business.
“We must find ways to unlock the value of Africa’s youth for the future,” Ekeji said. “Coverage and mobile devices are important factors, as is working with regulatory leadership on these issues.”
When asked how du will market 5.5G to its customers, Karim Benkirane said that since launching fixed wireless access (FWA) in the UAE three years ago, du has doubled its market share in terms of subscribers. He said that it has expanded to In a presentation earlier in the day, Benkiran explained that Du has already achieved a population coverage rate of 98.5 people with 5G, and the share of data volume accounted for by 5G is over 60 percent.
“5G FWA already presents a huge opportunity, and FWA with 5G Advanced can actually achieve fiber-like performance. It also achieves (optimal) latency and provides a great user experience. .”
The panel discussion concluded with all participants acknowledging the need to work together to develop a blueprint for sustainable 5G growth and embrace the new challenges and opportunities of the 5.5G era.
