Prior to the annual Mobile World Congress (MWC), Huawei held press conference in Beijing and a pre-event briefing in London to share its strategic outlook on the global telecom industry. MWC 2016 opens in Barcelona, Spain on February 22.
The press conference had the focus on 4.5G, a core component of Huawei’s technology blueprint. In a keynote speech, Mr. Ryan Ding, executive director and president of Products & Solutions, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., said that 2016, as the initial year of global large-scale commercialisation of 4.5G, will commence a “golden five-year period” of the 4.5G technology towards the year of 2020. He predicted that more than 60 commercial 4.5G networks will be deployed worldwide in 2016 as the 4.5G technology becomes increasingly mature and standardised.
“4.5G as defined by Huawei consists of three cores: ‘Gbps’ provides users with instantaneously delivered services; ‘Experience 4.0’ makes HD audios and videos accessible from anywhere; and ‘Connection+’ will open up a new world of ubiquitous connectivity,” said Ding. “Based on new terminals, new services and new experiences currently available, 4.5G will deliver a larger bandwidth, shorter time delay and more extensive connections.”
Speaking of the value of 4.5G to global telecom operators, Ryan Ding said: “4.5G is the natural evolution of 4G and necessary transition to the 5G. It can effectively protect operators’ investments and enable them to provide faster services and better user experience on the basis of existing infrastructures. In 2016, which marks the beginning of the global large-scale commercialisation of 4.5, Huawei remains committed to helping global operators tap into and create new business opportunities and broaden the market potential.”
Since 2014, when Huawei put forward the 4.5G concept for the first time, more than 20 operators worldwide have demonstrated or tested the commercial 4.5G in collaboration with Huawei. As of the end of 2015, 4.5G 1Gbps transmission had been demonstrated by operators in markets including Norway, Germany, Kuwait, Turkey, UAE, Mainland China, Hong Kong, Canada and Singapore. UK and Korea have started construction of their LTE integrated Trunked Radio (LiTRA) networks. Countries including Spain, Korea, China, UAE and Germany have launched the commercial trial of NB-IoT networks.
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