Peng Honghua, chief marketing officer of the Huawei Wireless Network. Photo: Courtesy of Huawei

As the first year of 5G in China is underway, the 5G wave is surging across the world faster than any previous era of mobile communications. According to the latest information disclosed at the 5th Huawei Asia-Pacific Innovation Day, Huawei has signed more than 50 5G commercial contracts globally, delivering more than 200,000 stations by the end of August.

It is said that 4G changes life and 5G changes society. How will 5G change society and are the designed business scenarios in line with the actual situation? Despite the US government's boycott and the difficulties and challenges resulting from the implementation of the new technology, Huawei is still able to lead in 5G. How can this be? Peng Honghua, chief marketing officer of the Huawei Wireless Network, revealed the answer to this question during his keynote speech titled "Gather together, maintain innovation and commence the 5G decade."

In his speech, he pointed out that Huawei always adheres to the concept of "keeping complexity for itself and simplicity for customers," and continues to innovate and cooperate with openness. He stressed that the company is committed to providing end-to-end 5G products and solutions, leading 5G business innovation, bringing the best 5G into reality together with operators, and creating greater social benefits and economic value.

Mobile communications technology has become an indispensable part of human society, and 5G will usher in a new era in the next decade.

"1G and 2G have shortened the connection distance between people through voice and text messages. 3G and 4G have enriched the way people interact with each other through mobile internet and video. 5G will bring people into the intelligent world of the internet of things through ubiquitous connectivity," Peng said. "5G brings the ultimate experience to consumers and brings new prosperity to the mobile broadband industry." Peng noted that the highlight of 5G technology is that it drives the digitalization of industries, gives rise to more industrial applications and improves the efficiency of industries.

Take 5G and new media as an example. Both China and the UK have conducted 4K or 8K live broadcasting with 5G. Traditional TV broadcasts require 50 to 80 millionyuan ($11.3 million) live broadcast vehicles and 150 on-site staff to participate in recording, editing, broadcasting and control. Moreover, it is quite expensive to rely on satellite transmission. Through 5G and new media applications, together with 5G Customer Premise Equipment, the price of a photography backpack currently priced at less than 10,000 yuan can be greatly reduced. Instead of having over a hundred staff members, just five employees would be needed on-site. The 5G network would be used to transmit real-time video data back to TV stations, realizing a high-quality; optimal experience and changing the current methods of traditional media live broadcasting.

With the establishment of standards and the maturity of the industrial chain, the pace of global, commercial 5G is increasing rapidly. In the latest report released by the Global mobile Suppliers Association in August, it said that 56 operators in 32 countries have announced the deployment of 5G technology in their existing networks, and 39 have announced the introduction of 5G services with a 3GPP standard. Meanwhile, more than 50 countries and regions are expected to issue 5G-related spectrums within the year. 5G is the first mobile communications era, in which the network and terminals are synchronized and mature. A hundred types of 5G terminal devices have been released around the world.

The Asia-Pacific region and Europe are leading the world in terms of 5G deployment. Peng said that South Korea is world's first country to achieve 5G commercial use since the launch of 5G in early April; the country has more than 2 million 5G users, but China will undoubtedly become the world's largest 5G market. "Such a story has already happened in the 4G era, in which China has 4.37 million 4G base stations and 1.2 billion users," Peng said. After 5G licenses were officially issued in June, China's three major operators began the deployment and testing of 5G networks in 30 provinces and more than 50 cities nationwide. China's 5G construction scale has been maintaining its top global position. By July this year, the three major operators had built 38,000 5G base stations, with 130,000 more to be completed by the end of the year, according to Huawei.

Peng said that Huawei will use its advantages and expertise in 5G technology, combined with global pre-commercial and commercial experience, to serve Chinese operators and help China's 5G lead the world.

Huawei will hold the 10th Global Mobile Broadband Forum in Zurich, Switzerland from Tuesday to Wednesday, with topics include the future of mobile internet, artificial intelligence, Cloud VR and AR, internet of vehicles and robotics. These new digital technologies will benefit everyone, every family and every organization.