Ken Hu, Huawei Rotating Chairman, "Ultra-Cooperation to Build 5.5G Ecosystem"

230 Mobile Operators Worldwide Commercialize 5G, Serving 700 Million Users
Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) Increases by 20-40%

Ken Hu, Rotating Chairman of Huawei. Photo by Huawei

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Su-yeon] Telecommunications equipment company Huawei announced that the growth rate of 5G technology over the past three years has evolved faster than previous generation communication technologies. It stated that it will accelerate the development of 5.5G, the pre-generation of 6G, while speeding up digital transformation based on 5G.

230 Mobile Operators Worldwide Commercialize 5G, Serving 700 Million Users

On the 25th (local time), Huawei held the 13th 'Global Mobile Broadband Forum' in Bangkok. Ken Hu, Huawei's rotating chairman, who delivered the keynote speech, said, "5G is growing faster than any previous generation mobile technology," adding, "We have seen significant progress in network deployment, consumer services, and industrial applications within a short period of three years."

He also stated, "To maximize the value of 5G, it is important to collaborate so that 5G networks can exert their full power and expand into services such as cloud and system integration," and "5G will lead new applications and new growth in the ICT sector."

As of October, more than 230 mobile operators worldwide have launched commercial 5G services. Over 3 million 5G base stations have been installed, providing services to more than 700 million 5G subscribers.

Services based on 5G account for the majority of revenue generated by mobile operators. The superior customer experience provided by 5G is showing new media consumption patterns, such as a sharp increase in high-definition video traffic. Huawei stated that new mobile applications leveraging the faster speeds and lower latency offered by 5G have doubled the average mobile data usage (DOU) and increased average revenue per user (ARPU) by 20-40%.

At the same time, 5G applications for business-to-business (B2B) transactions are emerging as a new growth engine for telecom operators' revenue, creating significant value in industries such as oil, gas, manufacturing, and transportation.

For example, in 2021, Chinese mobile operators carried out more than 3,000 industrial 5G projects, generating over 3.4 billion yuan (approximately 500 million USD) in new revenue. Additionally, related data and integrated ICT services from these projects generated more than ten times that revenue.

B2B 5G applications are poised to become the fastest-growing revenue source for mobile operators. 5G offers unprecedented growth opportunities through new service scenarios, applications, and business models.

"Now Preparing for 5.5G, Industry-wide Cooperation Needed to Build Ecosystem"

In his keynote speech at MBBF 2022, Ken Hu emphasized that to seize the opportunities provided by 5G, three requirements must be met: network deployment, leading 5.5G development, and driving service innovation.

Networks should be built not only to expand coverage but also to optimize various user experiences. For example, Chinese mobile operators optimized networks for popular video services including TikTok, reducing First Input Delay (FID) and frame freezes by 50% and 90%, respectively. This provided a much smoother video experience, doubling data consumption and attracting new users to 5G services.

Huawei is collaborating with telecom operators and industry partners to support 5.5G, the next stage of 5G, which offers 10Gbps downlink, 1Gbps uplink, supports 100 billion connections, and native intelligence. Ken Hu stressed, "The industry must cooperate to define standards, prepare spectrum, and build the ecosystem."

5G, with its wide bandwidth and low latency, can integrate with cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) to provide entirely new services to both consumers and enterprises. Mobile operators can offer new experiences such as extended reality (XR), cloud gaming, and enhanced calling services to individual consumers, and provide more comprehensive digital transformation solutions to enterprise customers. This opens the door to new revenue streams, offering mobile operators the opportunity to transition beyond connectivity to cloud services and system integration.

Industrial digitalization is a wave of change sweeping the global economy. 5G, as a core element of digital transformation, opens new opportunities, and cooperation is necessary for the ICT ecosystem to fully leverage this. Ken Hu concluded his keynote by emphasizing, "If we collaborate together, we can drive remarkable progress across 5G networks, applications, and industries."

Meanwhile, MBBF 2022 was jointly hosted by Huawei, the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA), and the Global TD-LTE Initiative (GTI). Through this annual forum, Huawei discusses with global mobile operators, vertical industry leaders, and partners how to commercially grow 5G, as well as key industry topics such as green development, intelligence, and 5G evolution.