Huawei rep: 5G, Cloud, and AI - definitive pathways towards intelligent era

It is estimated that the global digital and intelligent economy will account for 37.9% of the total economy by 2030, with an annual compound growth rate of 18% for the intelligent economy, President of Huawei Carrier Business Middle East and Central Asia Region Alex Xu said at the GSMA М360 Eurasia 2024 conference in Baku, Report informs.

He noted that intelligent economy is becoming the key engine of growth.

The most effective way of boosting digital and intelligent economy is leveraging intelligent technologies like 5G, cloud computing, and AI, which can significantly enhance digital productivity, he added.

“We estimated that by 2030, the total number of connections will reach 200 billion, DoU (average handset data traffic per user per month) reaching 400GB, Giga broadband penetration reaching 55%,” he said, citing Huawei report titled "Intelligent World 2030," which provides a systematic blueprint and description of eight future outlooks.

“By 2030, 87% of enterprises’ spending will be on cloud, demanding tenfold general computing power, and 500 times AI computing power.”

Talking about the number of 5G users, he said that it exceeded 1.5 billion in just five years, a faster adoption rate than any previous generation.

“Currently, 5G accounts for 20% of connections and 40% of mobile revenue, significantly boosting data usage.

This year marks the first year of global commercialization for 5G-A, and we expect more than 10 networks to go live in 2024. It's crucial not to hesitate in rolling out 5G in the region,” he noted.

Meanwhile, Alex Xu added that AI is providing significant momentum for the development of cloud technology.

“More and more economies consider the cloud as the core infrastructure for national digital transformation. For example, in Europe, 68% of public services have been migrated to the cloud.

Over the past two years, we have witnessed the emergence of massive large language models like ChatGPT. It is estimated that the parameters of these models increase tenfold each year, enhancing AI capabilities and accelerating AI applications,” he said.

The most effective way to enhance connectivity is to set the goal of creating Giga Cities, he noted.

“Many countries, including Azerbaijan, have launched digital strategies that prioritize building robust digital infrastructure with 5G and Fiber to the Home, aiming to develop Giga Cities,” he said, adding that Huawei believes that every country could and should have at least one local cloud provider, and telecom operators are in the best position to fulfill this role.

The telecom industry is accelerating the adoption of AI, with an estimated 86% of enterprises expected to adopt AI by 2025, he noted.

“5G, Cloud, and AI are the definitive pathways towards an intelligent era, bringing more opportunities and possibilities. The region should be part of these significant changes, with regional telecom operators playing a key role.

This advancement needs supportive regulatory policies, particularly regarding 5G spectrum allocation. Considering that many countries, including numerous emerging countries, have already begun large-scale 5G rollouts, it is recommended to allocate 5G spectrum before 2025,” he added.