• The giant Chinese vendor might have shifted its strategy since the imposition of US sanctions but it isn’t standing still in the telecom infrastructure sector
• It is still the largest telecom vendor in the world, even beyond China
• It is currently championing, and investing in, advanced 5G network technology  
• The vendor sees its next iterations of AI-enabled mobile and fixed network infrastructure as an enabler for telcos

With so much focus these days on Huawei’s resurgence in the smartphone sector and its investments in the enterprise/B2B technology and services sector, strategic moves driven, in part, by the impact of US sanctions that ultimately blocked or restricted its involvement in multiple international markets, it’s not surprising that some might think the Chinese vendor has de-prioritised its telecom network infrastructure business – but nothing could be further from the truth.

Huawei is still by far the biggest telecom network equipment vendor in the world and has been for many years, according to research house Dell’Oro Group, which valued the sector at around $95bn in 2023, when Huawei had a 30% share of the global market, some way ahead of its closest rival Nokia (15% share). 

The market might currently be in decline, according to Dell’Oro, but it’s still a significant one and Huawei is still the biggest vendor. That position is not just courtesy of the significant market share it commands in its domestic market – it’s still the biggest telecom network equipment vendor in the world, even when the Chinese market is excluded from calculations (see Dell’Oro chart below).

And while the market might not hold up many prospects for significant future growth, Huawei, despite the pressures of ongoing sanctions and restrictions, continues to invest in its telecom network equipment portfolio and market its wares on the international stage.  

That much was apparent at the recent Global Mobile Broadband Forum 2024 event in Istanbul (a Huawei-organised event), where it was championing its “commercialised” (ie. already on sale to operators) 5.5G technology, with 10 times  the speed offered by standard 5G radio access network technology – peak downlinks can run up to 10 Gbit/s while uplinks offer connections up to 1 Gbit/s. According to the vendor, this tech can also offer much improved latency (round trip delay) making it capable of supporting 5G’s ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) capabilities, regarded as a key capability for advanced   applications.

Huawei has previously highlighted an “ultra large-scale” 5.5G commercial network deployment in Beijing for China Unicom, the third of China’s trio of major network operators. Covering more than 70% of the city (within its fourth ring road) with comprehensive 5.5G coverage for stadiums, metro stations and tunnels, residential areas, scenic spots, business districts, and universities, the ultra-large commercial 5.5G 3CC (component carrier) network consists of more than 4,000 base stations and covers well-known landmarks in Beijing, such as Wukesong, Capital Indoor Stadium, and Beijing Railway Station. With its 5.5G capabilities, claims Huawei, the network provides powerful support for services, such as immersive video, UHD live streaming and cloud gaming. 

The icing on Huawei’s 5G cake, though, may be what it has dubbed its 5G-A^A  solution, which it launched at the Istanbul event. As with everything new these days, AI is part of the pitch, with 5G-A^A offering a convergence of 5.5G and AI capabilities. According to the vendor, this marriage of AI and 5G will offer service providers the opportunity to mix and match spectrum frequencies and transmission types within the network, automatically selected and optimised for the applications that users want to use: Sometimes one frequency for downlink and a different one for the uplink, depending on local conditions, building density, signal strength and so on. 

In the medium term, Huawei’s evolution of its mobile infrastructure portfolio may well  anticipate the likely shape of 6G which, if the prevailing sentiment within the industry holds, will support an even broader mix of service types enabled by an increasing array of underlying network technologies – not just different radio access options, but fixed network paths in the access, middle-mile and long-distance segments of the data journey. Huawei is also investing in AI-enabled advances in fixed optical networks, from the access portion of the network to long-distance connections, as well. 

All of which lends itself to greater, more automated capabilities for service providers as they try to meet the increasingly diversified and cloud-oriented needs of customers. Network operators need to move beyond simply shunting user and corporate data back and forth to a “do everything cloud”.

At the same time, Huawei is also pitching network operators with new strategy ideas to tie in with their investment plans.  

Does this look like a company that isn’t committed to the telecom network infrastructure sector? Ironically, the US sanctions and resulting international pressures might just have given Huawei a new lease of life, something that will no doubt irk the incoming US administration. 

– Ian Scales, Contributing Editor, TelecomTV