5G leads the stride

The slowing global economy is forcing many industries to seek new sources of growth. Digitalizing their businesses with 5G can help. But how can telecom operators make the most of the opportunities 5G has created?

5G has grown faster than any previous generation of mobile technology. In just three years, telecom operators have rolled out more than 200 5G networks, creating 700 million 5G users worldwide.?

This rapid growth is driving new shifts in consumer behavior. For example, high-definition video now accounts for 60% of all 5G traffic. And new mobile applications like short videos, livestreaming, and cloud phone are driving growth in monthly data traffic per user (DOU), average revenue per user (ARPU), and overall revenue.

Even more exciting is the progress being made on the digital transformation of industry. We're seeing many new 5G-powered applications in industries such as oil and gas, mining, manufacturing, and transportation.

For example, applications such as autonomous mining trucks were not practical without the ultra-reliable low latency of 5G. Such applications are not only innovative – they're generating real commercial value for carriers.

In China, for example, the numbers are adding up fast. Last year, Chinese carriers brought in almost $500 million dollars from 5G projects for industry (Huawei calls this 5G-to-B). That's from connectivity alone.

The exciting part is that 5G-to-B projects have also generated 10 times that amount from new revenue sources, like data and integrated ICT services. We believe this momentum will continue, and that 5G-to-B services will become a powerful new growth engine for the telecommunications industry.

New opportunities for carriers

After 10 years of R&D, investment, and pilot projects, 5G is now moving swiftly in the fast lane. But more can be done to fully unleash its value.

In the consumer market, more than a billion new 5G devices have shipped. Some carriers have achieved a 5G traffic ratio greater than 50%, but many still haven't reached 20%.?There's a lot of room to push these numbers up.?

At the same time, carriers can explore new experience-based revenue models, such as premium packages that guarantee speed and latency. These are already becoming popular in Europe and South Korea.

As for the 2B market, 5G is a key enabler for digital transformation. 5G's wide coverage and fast speeds are perfect for scenarios like smart grids and smart transportation. In other domains, like mining and manufacturing, companies can leverage 5G's reliability and fast uplink speeds for scenarios such as video inspection and remote controls.

By unleashing the full capabilities of 5G, we can help industries go digital and unlock new growth for carriers.

Building out networks for a better user experience

To seize those opportunities, several things need to be done.

First, operators must keep building out networks and improving user experience. Right now, 5G only covers 30% of the global population. There's still a big gap with 4G, which is around 90% coverage now.

In addition to coverage, we need to optimize networks for different types of user experience. For example, Chinese carriers have optimized their 5G networks for TikTok and other popular video services. This has greatly reduced latency and lag for a much smoother video experience.

Also, most consumers don’t have a clear concept of the different generations of wireless – 3G, 4G, 5G – and what those designations mean.

But the difference in user experience is very clear. And better experience is a great way to attract new users to 5G services.

To keep pushing experience to the next level, we also need to push network capabilities to the next level. 5.5G provides a path toward that goal. Together with carriers and industry partners, Huawei has proposed four features for 5.5G networks: 10 Gbps downlink, 1 Gbps uplink, support for 100 billion connections, and native intelligence.

To achieve this, the industry needs to come together and define standards, prepare the spectrum, and build out the ecosystem.

Service innovation for new experiences

We need to drive service innovation to maximize 5G’s value. Better networks will help us innovate more services.

This will give consumers a brand-new experience with services like extended reality and cloud gaming. For example, three carriers in China are working on enriched 5G calling services, which include smart conferences and real-time translation.

These services will provide users with a new experience for 5G calls, such as multimedia, visualization, and more personal interaction.

For businesses, carriers can go beyond connectivity and provide more comprehensive digital transformation solutions. In Thailand, for example, carriers are working with partners to help a smart hospital in Bangkok provide new services like 5G smart ambulances and remote consultation.

In South Africa , a carrier has helped a mining company find partners to deploy applications on its 5G network. With these applications, the mine has automated many aspects of operations and maintenance.

Not only do these applications provide practical value for industries, moving forward, carriers can also leverage 5G with cloud and AI, to expand into integration services and open up new revenue streams.?

Of course, this requires new capabilities, including cloud, system integration, and also consulting and planning for digital transformation.

5G is developing fast, and there's a lot of potential out there. But we still have a lot of challenges ahead of us. Working together, I believe we can make great strides together.