To build Shanghai into a high ground for 5G industry is China's plan

Chinese telecom major Huawei with other leading telcos from China recently conducted a 5G for Good Summit under the theme of New Value and New Opportunities.

The summit was attended by global operators, industry organizations, media groups, analysts, and think tanks, joined by more than 200 upstream and downstream enterprises in the industry chain that specialize in the Internet, finance, ports, mining, healthcare, and mobile modules.

Together, they had explored and shared insights about the opportunities created by 5G to five industries – connectivity, computing, cloud, AI, and industrial applications.

At this summit, Yang Chaobin, President of Huawei's Wireless Network Solution, said, "5G enables high bandwidth, low latency, and massive connections, significantly improving the mobile network infrastructure for both consumers and enterprises applications. It also supports smooth integration with AI, cloud, computing, and other new technologies, driving digital transformation across industries and providing new opportunities for the industries to create new value."

A short summary of the summit was released by Huawei, which is as below:

5G Applications Facilitate Global Economic Recovery: 5G not only technologically improves the communications industry. More importantly, it reshapes industries, particularly in the five major fields – connectivity, AI, cloud, computing, and industrial applications, creating new opportunities for global development.

The statement released by Huawei indicates that 2020 has seen accelerating commercialization of 5G. To date, China's three major operators have deployed 400,000 5G sites and acquired more than 100 million 5G users. By the end of this year, the total number of 5G sites is expected to reach 800,000 and the number of users to exceed 200 million. Both figures will be set to account for more than 70% of the world's total.

It is believed that Chinese operators are also actively promoting cross-industry collaboration. By fusing 5G with AI, cloud, and computing, they have launched multiple innovative services, including AR/VR and cloud gaming. Leveraging in-depth integration with vertical industries, including port, mining, and steel manufacturing, they have been actively exploring digital transformation to create value beyond connectivity for enterprises.

5G Brings Opportunities to Five Industries – Connectivity, Computing, Cloud, AI, and Industrial Applications

5G enables all-scenario connectivity: As a new mobile communications technology, 5G will significantly improve the experiences provided by connections. The full connectivity powered by 5G will transcend the boundaries between both devices and scenarios, enabling smartphones, smart wearables, and smart homes to make the lives and work of everyone more convenient. "The value of 5G will be shown not only through the upgrades to mobile services, but also through the new opportunities brought to the connectivity industry," said Yang Minghui, President of CITIC Securities. He added that the soaring data traffic will drive more extensive digital consumption, expanding the connectivity industry from mobile interconnections to industry interconnections in a fully connected world.

5G brings intelligent computing in touch: The explosive growth of data has raised new requirements for computing. In the 5G era, cloud-edge-device collaborative and diversified computing is becoming the trend for massive terminal access and smart applications. Andy Guo, Consulting Director of Frost & Sullivan China, said, "5G enables cloud-based mobile applications, Internet of Everything, and Smart Everything. Traditional data centers running on general-purpose CPUs will have to be upgraded for higher computing power to deliver device-edge-cloud collaborative computing."

5G, cloud, and AI drive the dawn of a new intelligent world: Peter Nie, Internet Solution CTO & 5G+X General Manager of Huawei Cloud believes that since commercial 5G rollout, new applications have been emerging. Additionally, with cloud and AI, traditional transportation is changing substantially to adapt to autonomous driving and smart logistics. 5G upgrades the development of services from human-reliant to cloud-based.

5G drives the digital transformation across industries: As an essential part of the digital foundation, 5G is bound to enable digital, networked, and intelligent modernization of various industries," said Jessie Chang, Head of Ecosystem Engagement of GSMA Greater China. According to Jessie, China is at the forefront of 5G applications and so far has made remarkable achievements in healthcare, coal mining, port, and other fields. With the evolution of the standards as well as the improvement of the module and terminal industry chains, 5G will enable the digital transformation of industries and become a new powerhouse for developing the digital economy.

Build Shanghai into a High Ground of 5G Industry: During the summit, Zhang Jianming, Deputy Director of Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology, announced the establishment of a 5G open lab in Shanghai, a milestone 5G project for the city. This initiative will accelerate the aggregation of 5G industries and help Shanghai foster a collaborative innovation ecosystem. The innovation center will provide application incubation, function testing, scenario verification, and investment conversion, thus to build a world-class 5G ecosystem open platform. With this platform, enterprises will be empowered to deeply integrate cutting-edge technologies and achieve systematic collaboration across the entire industry chain.