Lighting up the future: Enrich new life and enable new opportunities with Intelligent Technologies

Anjian, President of Huawei Middle East Region Carrier Business Group writes on enabling new opportunities with intelligent technologies.

In the last four years, we have all witnessed the significant progress of 5G technology in the region. The technology has accelerated the growth of the Middle East’s digital economy, and it was 5G technologies and connectivity that helped us overcome the challenges brought by COVID-19.

GCC countries are among the first to deploy commercial 5G networks globally, which has played a critical role in the fight against the pandemic. Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) enable people to get home broadband service quickly; for example, Kuwait’s local banks could take mobile ATMs to people’s homes during lockdown; in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia’s borders, 5G enabled broadband-connected PCR test centers to check people’s identities and recorded test results in real-time.

The pandemic made us accustomed to spending more time at home, working, studying, and entertaining, which demanded much higher bandwidth. To help busy families enjoy high-speed connectivity at home, Huawei introduced Fiber To The Room (FTTR) solution which met the high volume of data and maintained the high speed demand. In countries that have deployed 5G technology, coverage has reached 95% of the population, with more than 10 million subscribers, 1 million home users, and 20 thousand business lines.

We are currently seeing how 5G technology has become the backbone of industrial digitalization. For example, 5G-enabled solutions have made oil and gas fields in Saudi Arabia and UAE safer, more secure, and generated real operational savings. Meanwhile, 5G-enabled video surveillance and remote operation of gantry cranes in Oman and Saudi ports have improved the working environment and enhanced workforce diversity. Additionally, an innovative 5G private line solution has delivered rapid deployment of low-cost broadband services for small and medium-sized enterprises in Kuwait.

Such innovations have brought healthy revenue growth for local operators, and we are committed to working closely with operators and partners across the region and globally to create simplified, green, and intelligent ICT infrastructure, allowing operators to deploy leading 5G networks.

During the recently held SAMENA, we showcased several AR/VR services presented by the global market. The Metaverse, which integrates many new technologies and service models, is entrenching on all our lives increasingly, which presents abundant exciting new opportunities for operators.

Of course, some of the most significant new opportunities for operators lie in XtoB, solutions which integrate 5G, premium private lines, intelligent cloud networks, data centers, and cloud. Huawei believes that XtoB opportunities will accelerate the industry’s digital transformation and grow the region’s digital economy.

And we are witnessing changes in government and enterprise ICT procurement models. There’s a shift from purchasing devices to purchasing services instead, from fragmented to full-stack procurement and they are focusing more on data and digital sovereignty.

Facing these new demands and with Huawei’s support, many operators are actively developing capabilities in cloud, AI, and system integration. In addition to core connectivity services, we are also working with operators to develop converged ICT solutions and offering both smart and standard portfolios to capture the commercial market.

But these exciting new opportunities need the support of new technologies.

As one of the pillars of connectivity for the new decade, the development of 5G and the future of 6G require additional mid-band spectrums to be reserved for supporting more digital services. In addition to spectrums being critical, introducing intelligence in network technology is also essential. As such, Huawei has jointly launched the IntelligentRAN solution with leading regional operators recently. The solution will integrate intelligence into RAN, and enable operators’ networks to become highly intelligent in-service provisioning, network experience, efficiency improvement, and network operation management.

We will continue to work closely with all of our regional partners under the core principle of creating value for our customers. Together, we can build a bright future with advanced technologies to help us all build a fully connected, intelligent world.