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Tech war: Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou beats the drum for global expansion of 5G mobile services as Chinese firms struggle with US sanctions
- Huawei’s rotating chairwoman told the audience at MWC Shanghai that 5G connections worldwide are expected to reach 5 billion by 2030
- She said ‘the next step forward’ will be 5.5G technology, which Huawei expects to further stimulate the market for next-generation mobile services
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Tracy Quin Shanghai
Meng Wanzhou, the deputy chairwoman, rotating chairwoman and chief financial officer at Huawei Technologies Co, on Wednesday extolled the global prospects for 5G mobile technology at the MWC Shanghai trade show, even as Chinese telecommunications equipment suppliers struggle to expand outside their home market because of US sanctions.
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In her keynote presentation at MWC Shanghai, the regional edition of the world’s largest mobile communications industry trade show, Meng said 5G connections worldwide are expected to reach 5 billion by 2030, up from an estimated 1.5 billion connections this year.
She indicated that mainland China, the world’s largest smartphone market, already had more than 561 million 5G users in 2022.
“5G has been in commercial use around the world for four years now,” Meng, who took her turn as Huawei’s rotating chairwoman in April, said. “It’s driving new value creation and 5.5G is the next step forward.”
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5.5G technology, which Huawei refers to as “5G Advanced”, is expected by the company to further stimulate 5G’s potential by serving as the bridge to next-generation 6G technology.
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Technological innovation in the 5.5G era will bring operators a tenfold increase in network performance over 5G, according to Shenzhen-based Huawei, which remains the world’s top telecoms gear vendor to network operators in spite of being under a US trade blacklist since May 2019.
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