MWC Barcelona 2024 is currently underway at Fira Gran Via in Spain, and we are witnessing many advancements in different facets of technology being unveiled. What has been the most interesting to see is the developments announced in 5.5G technology – touted as the next generation of connectivity for our society.
A new generation of mobile communications technology emerges every ten years or so. Each generation brings with it a significant milestone in the development of mobile communications, and, in between, there is an intermediate generation, such as 2.5G, 3.5G, and 4.5G. If 5G offered seamless upload speeds of 1Gbps and low latency, 5.5G is poised to offer 10x faster speed and more efficiency.
5.5G will truly unlock an unrivaled level of productivity and intelligence for our society. This is why it was exciting to hear the updates unveiled by Huawei’s Carrier Network Business Group at MWC Barcelona.
5.5G is expected to see a commercial launch in 2024. Huawei stated that it seeks to help operators build ubiquitous networks that are efficient, collaborative, green, stable, and intelligent so that operators can deliver a premium experience. The global ICT leader has already helped operators start 5.5G commercial verification and testing in more than 20 cities worldwide. The Middle East has formed a general consensus on 5.5G development, with all six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) having completed 5.5G 10 Gbps rate verification and incubation of new services such as RedCap and passive IoT.
At MWC Barcelona 2024, Yang Chaobin, Huawei’s Board Member and President of ICT Products & Solutions, launched the industry’s first telecom foundation model. Huawei’s Telecom Foundation Model provides key intelligent technologies that support service innovation, improve operations efficiency, revolutionize network productivity, and realize 5.5G intelligence objectives.
Yang said, “The Huawei Telecom Foundation Model leverages Huawei’s strengths in intelligent technology and offers two types of applications: role-based copilots and scenario-based agents. It will help carriers empower employees and improve user satisfaction, which will, in turn, improve network productivity.”
Huawei also unveiled eight 5.5G innovation practices to help operators build 5.5G multi-path target networks. During MWC 2024, Huawei also held a new product solution launch event, where George Gao, President of Huawei Cloud Core Network Product Line, released the 5.5G intelligent core network solution.
In the downlink, the peak rate of 5.5G will be 10 Gbps, a large leap from 1 Gbps at the initial stage of 5G. With large bandwidths, low latency, and high reliability, 5.5G is well supporting innovative services such as XR and glasses-free 3D. In the uplink, 5.5G will reach 1 Gbps, up from 100 Mbps. In the age when massive data is going to clouds, live-streaming becomes popular, and interactive holograms offer a symmetric experience, this great uplink performance of 5.5G will play a paramount role across various industries.
5.5G also enables 100 billion-level connections in all scenarios. 5.5G will not only provide industrial high-speed connections but also accommodate a wide range of IoT modules such as RedCap and passive IoT devices. Passive IoT is a new generation of IoT introduced by 5.5G. It is much cheaper and applicable to tags, high-precision positioning, and micro sensors.
5.5G will also shorten the latency to only 1 ms (from 20 ms in typical toB scenarios at the initial stage of 5G), support centimeter-level positioning (instead of meter-level positioning at the initial stage of 5G), and raise the network reliability for toB services from 99.99% to 99.999% or even 99.9999%.
Working with more than 30 top operators globally, Huawei has verified various innovative 5.5G technologies, including extremely large antenna array (ELAA), multi-band serving cell (MBSC), flexible spectrum selection, and innovative capabilities such as passive IoT.
During MWC 2023, operators in the Middle East, including Zain, du, and stc, signed MoUs with Huawei to verify the network capabilities for 5.5G, testing key capabilities and scenarios such as 10 Gbps downlink, XR, and passive IoT. In July, Zain in Saudi Arabia and Huawei jointly completed the verification of passive IoT in warehouse scenarios, taking the lead in IoT deployment. In September, Zain Saudi also unveiled new developments on the 5.5G City Innovation Project, in collaboration with Huawei, at the 5.5G City Summit held in Riyadh. Both parties have defined the characteristics of 5.5G FWA experiences and identified the network construction standards for 5.5G FWA services.
At the Global Mobile Broadband Forum (Global MBBF) in October 2023, du and Huawei jointly released the world’s first 5.5G Villa to demonstrate high-value FWA service application scenarios. With Huawei’s FWA solution, high-speed home broadband networks will be created to support high-speed services such as glasses-free 3D, VR gaming, and 8K HDR videos. There will be a 5G premium route with 10 Gbps peak experience and X Gbps mobility experience.
With its extensive experience, comprehensive solutions, and unwavering commitment to collaboration, Huawei is positioned as a key driver of the 5.5G ecosystem. The company is dedicated to fostering a thriving industry landscape, accelerating 5G business opportunities, and ultimately shaping a connected and intelligent future for all.
