Huawei's Ryan Ding: Maximizing Wireless Network Value for a Golden Decade of 5G

At the 2020 Global Mobile Broadband Forum (MBBF), Huawei's Executive Director and President of the Carrier Business Group Ryan Ding gave his keynote speech "Maximizing Wireless Network Value for a Golden Decade of 5G". Ding said that the coming decade will be a golden age for 5G's progress around the world, and that the whole industry must have faith in 5G, build the best 5G networks, and make the most of them for shared value.

5G is developing much faster than previous generations. Currently, there are more than 100 commercial 5G networks worldwide, and budget 5G mobile phones have dropped to CNY1,000. This is driving up the number of 5G users around the world, and leading carriers are already benefitting from 5G data plans. They are seeing an increase in the ARPU of 5G users through multi-metric service packages and upgraded services like 5G messaging and enriched calling.

To further develop 5G and encourage more people to embrace 5G, carriers need to build the best 5G networks possible. They need to provide coverage across all scenarios such as for dense urban areas, suburbs, and indoors so that users always have access to 5G services. Carriers also need to improve 5G connectivity to deliver a consistently superior experience to users.

In addition to the consumer market, the industrial market will become a new revenue stream for carriers. 5G is being applied in more and more sectors over the year since it was first deployed. Many industry applications have become increasingly commoditized and can be replicated on a larger scale. Carriers are also exploring how to use 5G to enable vertical industries.

Unlike consumers who care most about data speeds, industry customers have a variety of needs, and so it is crucial that carriers maximize network value by nurturing new capabilities. To meet these diverse needs, the telecom sector needs to provide fundamental network capabilities, highly reliable network services, and flexible networking solutions necessary for industrial 5G applications. The telecom sector will also need to make improvements from end to end, ranging from network planning, construction, maintenance, and optimization to operations. This will help reduce the costs of deploying industry applications.

Ding emphasized that developing industrial 5G applications is an industry-wide effort, rather than just carriers' responsibility. Accelerating this development is only possible when telecommunications integrates with other industries. In the recently frozen Release 16, 3GPP added an improved standard for broadcasting services and 5G functions like location and ultra-low air interface latency. Upcoming releases, including Release 17, will address additional industry needs.

At the end of his speech, Ding stated that the next decade will be a golden age for 5G. The whole industry needs to have faith, build the best networks possible for consumers, and nurture new capabilities for industry customers to maximize the value of wireless networks for a golden decade of 5G.

At the 2020 Global Mobile Broadband Forum, Huawei will share insights into global industry trends and hot topics with carriers, regulators, partners, and media analysts from around the world. They will explore how innovation in ICT technologies such as 5G and AI can be mutually beneficial to industries and society at large.