Guo Ping, Huawei’s rotating Chairman has likened the development of the 5th generation of networks (5G) to the growth of electricity 100 years ago.
In 1875, electric lighting was used at a train station for the first time in Paris. In 1879, electricity was transmitted for the first time in San Francisco. Since then, the use of electricity has extended far beyond lighting and it has been widely applied in home appliances and industrial equipment. This brought tremendous changes to industrial production and took humanity forward into the era of electrification.
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Since the pandemic broke out, the social value of ICT had significantly grown with applications developed based on 5G, artificial intelligence (AI); cloud; and big data playing significant roles in addressing problems for businesses and individuals. Areas that ICT has been most pervasive are remote education, telework, and, entertainment.
For the health sector, remote consultation has solved the pain points of temporary medical resources, and applications like temperature checks and pandemic tracking have effectively helped contain the spread of the COVID-19.
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“South Korea has done an excellent job in containing the spread of the coronavirus and reopening the economy. The country has set a record of developing one million 5G users within 69 days. I should say ICT infrastructure in South Korea is highly developed, giving the country a solid foundation upon which to fight the pandemic. To a great extent, South Korea’s success in containing the virus can be attributed to the efficient use of ICT,” Ping said.
According to him, 5G is developing very rapidly in today’s world. There are already 81 commercial 5G networks worldwide, supporting 72 per cent of the world’s GDP and 9 million 5G users, and enabling all kinds of digital lifestyles. With the help of 5G, many industries are rapidly going digital. 5G has been widely used in sectors like entertainment, business travel, medical services, mining, ports, and manufacturing.
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He sees collaboration further extending the benefits of 5G technology. He pledged that Huawei will be willing to work with partners and also leverage its capabilities in domains like networks, cloud, AI, and devices to help customers unleash the potential of 5G, generating the first round of dividends from major 5G applications.
“Global vendors, research institutes, and industry associations should all participate in activities related to technologies and standards, and work towards inclusiveness and collaboration, as this will better promote the development of technology standards, industries, and the global economy at large,” he said.
