Huawei showcases 5G-A, AI integration at MWC Shanghai 2024

Doha: Huawei made a significant impact at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) Shanghai 2024, highlighting its advancements in 5G Advanced (5G A) technolog...

Doha: Huawei made a significant impact at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) Shanghai 2024, highlighting its advancements in 5G-Advanced (5G-A) technology and artificial intelligence (AI) integration. Under the theme “Advancing the Intelligent World,” the company presented a comprehensive vision for the future of mobile networks and services.

The year 2024 marks the commercial launch of 5G-A, with leading operators in the Middle East already deploying 5G-A networks. Huawei showcased its latest products and solutions supporting both 5G-A deployment and AI devices required for the mobile AI era.

Huawei’s Executive Director David Wang emphasized how 5G-A and AI devices will be key to making intelligent services ubiquitous, transforming human-machine interaction, content production, and mobile devices. Wang noted that the number of global 5G users has exceeded 1.8 billion, with many operators seeing the first wave of benefits. The company highlighted that nearly 20 mobile phone models currently support multi-carrier aggregation, with some activating the feature by default. Multiple operators in the Middle East and China have started deploying 5G-A three-carrier component (3CC) aggregation networks at scale, targeting 5 Gbit/s downlink rates.

In a significant industry initiative, Huawei launched the 5G-A Pioneers Program, reaching six consensuses with pioneering global operators, including UAE’s du, Oman Telecommunications, China’s “big three”, and HKT. These consensuses aim to maximize the value of advanced 5G-A capabilities, promote its development, and further advance the industry through various focus areas, including Pioneer Operators, Pioneer Cities, Business Model Upgrade, High-quality Networks, Service Innovation, and Thriving Ecosystems.

Huawei also unveiled plans to bring AI to networks, focusing on building an ecosystem of RAN Intelligent Agent in collaboration with operators. This initiative aims to increase network productivity by reshaping network operations and maintenance (O&M), experience, and services. Towards this end, Huawei introduced AI-powered copilots and agents to support role-based chatbots and scenario-based solution automation, significantly improving efficiency in areas such as field maintenance and network optimization. Huawei introduced the Open Gateway initiative to help carriers monetize their 5G investments. Huawei’s Chief Marketing Officer, Dr. Philip Song, presented successful use cases of global operators that have improved customer services and lowered time to market.