This year, Huawei’s Mobile Broadband Forum event was held in Istanbul, a city where East meets West. The location underscored the global reach and cross-regional aspirations of Huawei’s vision for AI, 5G-Advanced and what the company calls 5.5G.
Notably, the choice of Turkiye as a venue for the forum also reminded attendees of the importance of flexible, cost-effective rural solutions. Huawei positioned its new wide-angle PanoAAU to meet this need. Not only can it offer 180-degree coverage from a single radio unit, it can also increase the vertical reach, which is important in a city like Istanbul with a hilly geography.
5G Coverage Is Still Expanding
Although Turkish operators have yet to roll out 5G commercially owing to a lack of new 5G spectrum, they continue to prepare through investments in infrastructure and trials of 5G technology. Turkcell and Vodafone Turkey laid out their ambitious plans, aiming to leap straight into 5G-Advanced, with already some discussion of 6G on the horizon.
This year’s event narrative centred on the integration of AI into next-generation mobile network infrastructure. There are three main areas: the impact on the network of new AI-enabled user devices, the integration of AI into the radio access network (RAN), and the use of AI in the core network, for example for operations, maintenance and AI-based automation.
Over the past year, AI — particularly generative AI — has advanced rapidly, with more individuals and businesses beginning to realize its transformative potential. The mass-market adoption of AI-enabled smartphones is now arriving, led by recent releases such as Apple’s iPhone 16 and Samsung’s Galaxy S24. As seen with previous technology shifts, content remains an important driver of device upgrades and data consumption, evolving from text to web, to apps, to video and now to generative AI. Yang Chaobin, Huawei’s president of ICT, projected that by 2030, over 5 billion personal AI agents will be in use on smartphones. With the number of AI agents available or in development this is a credible outlook, although it essentially means almost all smartphones will have active AI agents.
The Importance of Uplink Performance for AI
Beyond smartphones, AI is expanding into a diverse array of connected devices and services. AI in the automotive sector is reaching a pivotal moment, with autonomous driving and intelligent in-car systems on the horizon. These advances require significantly higher data capacity, with autonomous vehicles needing up to 30 times the uplink capacity of smartphones, according to speakers at the forum. Looking even further ahead, the event showcased innovations in robotics. Unitree and Leju Robot highlighted developments in robotic dogs and humanoid robots.
The surge in demand for AI-powered devices will put considerable strain on network infrastructure, particularly in terms of uplink capacity and latency. Addressing latency, Ahmed Hafez, vice president of technology at Deutsche Telekom, stressed the importance of minimizing delays not only within the network but across the broader ecosystem, including improvements in cloud infrastructure, devices and large language models. He presented research indicating that the network is only a small part of overall end-to-end latency, with the bulk being within cloud-based large language models.
Deutsche Telekom’s research also cited the need for a consistent 20 Mbps upload speed as the most important network requirement for AI to support visual AI agents that upload images to the cloud for analysis. Huawei mentioned the 20 Mbps uplink requirement in its presentations, and stated that for multimodal AI agents, an even higher bar of 50 Mbps is needed.
GTI’s Intelligent RAN, Ubiquitous AI Project
The importance of AI integration within the network took centre stage in several collaborations on display at the event, including a formal launch of GTI’s Intelligent RAN, Ubiquitous AI Project, with partners including AIS, China Mobile, GSMA, Telefonica and Zain. Multiple customer operators showcased how they are using Huawei’s intelligent network equipment and the latest 5G standalone networks to drive new service innovations. For instance, HKT demonstrated a dynamic network capable of real-time adaptation to usage patterns, and AIS and LG Uplus explored much-needed opportunities to generate revenue through experience-driven packages tailored for power users in gaming, live streaming and business communications.
Marketing 5G New Calling
LG Uplus also showcased its New Calling service, which uses AI to enable live transcription, translation and multimodal calling, marking a significant innovation beyond less-adaptive 5G non-standalone networks. Huawei is likely hoping that emulating these examples will allow more operators to boost revenue streams from 5G and prompt further investment in advanced infrastructure.
However, financial realities pose a major hurdle. Mobile operators in many regions face tight budgets and flat revenue growth, making it difficult to justify large investments in new networks and equipment. To address these issues, Huawei has focused on embedding AI in its RAN products, enhancing both performance and investment efficiency.
Huawei’s PanoAAU Boosts Vertical and Horizontal Reach from a Radio Unit
One notable innovation introduced at the event was Huawei’s PanoAAU, a radio unit that uses a metamaterial lens to widen beam angles from 120 degrees to 180 degrees. This enables operators to boost coverage by 80% or deploy just two sectors with two units on a mast — instead of three — while improving traffic capacity by 40% in semi-rural areas. Huawei claims its PanoAAU solution has helped China Mobile, China Telecom and operators in Thailand to save 20% to 30% in investment costs in suburban and rural 5G deployment. The PanoAAU supports horizontal and vertical coverage, offering potential benefits for high-rise in-building connectivity. In addition, it is suitable for high-speed railway scenarios. Wide beams can cover longer lines, improving passenger experience and reducing site sorting. The product’s improved vertical coverage is also timely as Chinese operators, such as China Mobile, continue to expand investments in the low-altitude drone economy. Huawei claims that the PanoAAU offers better performance than previous solutions for ground-based users and low-altitude mobile connections, and with lower capital expenditure.
Energy Efficiency Initiatives Continue
Sustainability continues to provide a central theme, with Huawei showcasing its “0 bit 0 watt” energy-efficient products that are designed to reduce power consumption further by employing the company’s IntelligentRAN technology. And Huawei’s dual-band MetaAAU and GigaGreen Radio products exemplify a drive toward operational efficiency, combining spectrum bands and reducing equipment needs and tower rental space, for simpler, more cost-effective deployments.
These innovations reflect Huawei’s commitment to equipping operators with tools to navigate technological advancements and market constraints, providing a path to more adaptable, sustainable and financially viable network evolution.
In addition to deploying AI in their network infrastructure, operators are increasingly integrating AI into network operations. At MWC 2024, Huawei introduced its cloud-based telecom foundation model, a cornerstone of its IntelligentRAN 2.0 architecture. This model powers applications like FME CoPilot, a mobile app with an AI-driven chat bot designed to assist front-line engineers in troubleshooting network faults and reducing downtime. This tool aims to make troubleshooting more efficient and predictable, and reduce the need for as many highly skilled, costly engineering staff. Huawei estimates this could save operators up to $100 million annually.
However, effective AI integration requires vast amounts of high-quality data, and operators’ growing preference for multivendor RAN ecosystems over single-supplier solutions adds complexity. Different standards and data formats among vendors hinder consistent data aggregation, perhaps limiting AI’s full potential in multivendor environments.
Fixed Wireless Access Equipment Innovations
In Istanbul, other examples showcased AI’s role in enhancing customer service and optimizing radio network planning. South African operator rain, for example, demonstrated its impressive work in fixed wireless access using a 5G-Advanced network, employing consumer premises equipment devices with data nodes to help network planning. This data-driven approach allowed for smarter, more targeted network optimization, highlighting AI’s impact on making this process more effective and customer-centric. Notably, rain has created its own range of 5G routers with screens to improve the user experience. One model had a full Android implementation and resembled an old-fashioned portable household radio with an embedded smartphone.
Fixed wireless access remains a bright spot in the 5G landscape. At the third Elite FWA round table, held at Mobile Broadband Forum 2024, operators such as Omantel, STC Kuwait and Zain Saudi Arabia shared their successful experiments with commercial and marketing initiatives, focusing on segmenting users and delivering tailored experiences. Some of these operators claimed that by investing in all elements of fixed wireless access technology they were achieving a service quality akin to that of fibre, yet with a more favourable return on their investment.
AI Has Become a Foundation for 5G Networks and Beyond
Huawei’s Mobile Broadband Forum 2024 in Istanbul underscored the significant role that AI and 5G will play in reshaping the mobile industry, blending advanced network technologies with the demands of an increasingly digital and connected world. The event highlighted both the opportunities and challenges of AI in network infrastructure, from the company’s IntelligentRAN platform to operational efficiency and customer-focused innovations.
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