5GInterviews

The Impact of 5G Will Promote the Middle East Countries’ Plans for Economic Diversification

An Jian, the President of Carrier Networks Business Group at Huawei Middle East, speaks about the adoption of 5G technology in the region

Is 5G really ready for mass adoption?
The industry is already prepared with 5G mature technology, terminals, and commercial uses cases. As large-scale 5G rollout has begun worldwide, GCC countries already deployed thousands of 5G sites to cover the cities. 5G devices such as 5G CPE/ Routers and 5G smartphones are being sold in the GCC countries.

5G services such as Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) are on air. So yes. 5G is gearing up and ready for mass adoption. Beyond that, Huawei Middle East looks forward to furthering 5G collaborations with operators and local partners to innovate more local 5G business cases to build a fully connected, intelligent the Middle East.

What benefits does 5G bring along for end-users?
End users will not only experience ultra-high speed with low latency through their 5G smartphone but be able to enjoy the new eMBB services including high-definition 5G live broadcast, 8K VR live broadcast, 5G mobile game and much more.

In China, Huawei has cooperated with operators and partners to perform 4K/8K live broadcast for several times. With Intelligent connectivity formed by 5G + AI, we believe 5G-enabled new services such as e-health, smart education, remote driving and more will definitely change the lifestyle of human beings.

How will 5G revolutionise Industry 4.0, Smart Cities and Automation?
We all believe that the impacts of 5G + AI will be able to promote the Middle East countries’ plan for economic diversification, from boosting industrial processes to enhancing sustainability. With the advancement of the 5G commercial process, 5G innovative applications emerge in an endless stream, including smart media, smart manufacturing, smart agriculture, intelligent transportation, and more.

Through fruitful explorations with our partners, 5G-enabled services such as 2B Dedicated Access, Virtual Campus Network, and CCTV backhaul are already launched in the Middle East. We hope that with our continuous efforts, more and more industries can embrace 5G and realize digital transformation in the near future.

What sort of challenges can companies face when deploying 5G services and networks?
The first challenge is talents and 5G partnerships. To explore more 5G new business, more collaborations from vertical industries is crucial. However, most entrepreneurs have limited knowledge and a good platform to join the 5G business.

Hence, Huawei launched the 5G OpenLab in the Middle East to focus on the B2B market, providing the local vertical industries with a real 5G network environment in which they can experience and innovate the latest 5G applications. By doing so, we hope more and more local vertical partners can join the 5G journey with us.

Second is the high-cost 5G spectrum. Currently, few countries are still offering expensive spectrum. This will cause financial stress, especially in the initial stage. Aligned with GSMA’s opinion, we think that a reasonable price is essential to promote the 5G industries so that governments will obtain greater benefits in the long run.

The third is the challenges of difficulties in 5G site deployment, limited footprint or load, and high OPEX. An advanced site solution that has the leanest space and better performance, such as massive MIMO, 3D beam-forming, and so on, will enable rapid 5G deployment and guarantee the best coverage and capacity; consequently protecting customers’ investments.

In response to these issues, Huawei offers a broad range of modular and full-series solutions, including Massive MIMO, Blade Site, and BookRRU, to help our customers build green, converged, and ultra-lean 5G networks and achieve full coverage with their existing site resources so as to better serve users in hotspots and fulfill the diverse needs of various industries.

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Chris Fernando

Chris N. Fernando is an experienced media professional with over two decades of journalistic experience. He is the Editor of Arabian Reseller magazine, the authoritative guide to the regional IT industry. Follow him on Twitter (@chris508) and Instagram (@chris2508).

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